History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Content focus 2: Major conflicts after WWII and attempts to make peace –
collapse of the USSR and Warsaw Pact
Q.1
Study Sources A, B and C carefully.
Source A
The following cartoon, published in February 1948 with the caption “The Missing
Valentines”, reflects the relationship between the Soviet Union and some other
countries in the 1940s.
Love from Rumania, Love
from Albania, Love from
Bulgaria, Love from
Hungary. Nothing yet from
Greece and Turkey?
Source B
The following map shows the member states of the Warsaw Pact Organization.
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Source C
The following is cited from Article 2 of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
The contracting parties declare their readiness to take part, in the spirit of sincere
co-operation, in all international undertakings intended to safeguard international
peace and security and they shall use all their energies for the realization of these
aims.
Moreover, the contracting parties shall work for the adoption, in agreement with
other states desiring to co-operate in this matter, of effective measures towards a
general reduction of armaments and prohibition of atomic, hydrogen and other
weapons of mass destruction.
a. Who was the man on the right in Source A? Explain your answer with reference to
clues from the Source.
b. State the relationship between the Soviet Union, Rumania, Albania, Bulgaria and
Hungary. Explain your answer with reference to clues from Sources A, B and C.
c. State the relationship between the Soviet Union and Greece. Explain your answer
with reference to clues from Sources A and B.
d. Identify the similarity of the member states of the Warsaw Pact Organization, as
reflected in Source B. Explain your answer with reference to clues from the
Source.
e. State the political conditions of Europe in the 1950s, as reflected in Source B.
Explain your answer with reference to clues from the Source.
f. (i.) Identify the nature of the Warsaw Pact Organization, as reflected in Source
C. Explain your answer with reference to clues from the Source.
(ii) Do you agree that the Warsaw Pact Organization had the nature you
identified in (i)? Explain your answer with specific examples from your own
knowledge.
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.2
Study Sources A, B and C carefully.
Source A
The following cartoon reflects two influential concepts that were introduced to the
Soviet Union in the 1980s.
Source B
The following extract is cited from a speech entitled “Unity – for Leninism and
Communist Ideals”, given in October 1990 by Andreeva, Chairman of the Political
Executive Committee of the All-Union Society.
Faced with catastrophic consequences for the people, the country, and the party due
to M.S. Gorbachev's policy of so-called “Perestroika”, …and in consideration of the
fact that we are on the brink of an even graver national catastrophe in connection
with the planned implementation in the country of the “stabilization program” from
the International Monetary Fund, which is disguised as a transitional program toward
a market economy, the 3rd All-Union Conference of the Society “Unity, for
Leninism and Communist Ideals,” expresses its lack of confidence in the policies of
M.S. Gorbachev as General Secretary of the CC CPSU (Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union).
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Source C
The following extract is cited from a speech given on Christmas Day of 1991 by
Gorbachev when he resigned as President of the Soviet Union.
… When I found myself at the head of the state it was already clear that all was not
well in the country…
The reason could already be seen: The society was suffocating in the vise of the
command-bureaucratic system, doomed to serve ideology and bear the terrible burden
of the arms race…All attempts at partial reform, and there had been many, had suffered
defeat, one after another. The country was losing perspective…
We opened ourselves to the world, gave up interference into other people’s affairs, the
use of troops beyond the borders of the country. …
The nations and peoples (of this country) gained real freedom to choose the way of
their self-determination…
a.
Identify who the man in Source A is. Explain your answer with reference to clues
from the Source.
b.
With reference to Source C, identify the problems faced by the Soviet Union
when Gorbachev was leader of the Soviet Union. Explain your answer with
reference to clues from Source C.
c.
Do the authors of Sources B and C share the same view towards “openness”?
Explain your answer with reference to clues from Sources B and C.
d.
With which author will you agree? Explain why.
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.3
Study Sources A and B carefully.
Source A
The following extract is cited from an article on the internet.
“Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public
organization cannot live a full blooded life.” Quote from Mikhail Gorbachev's speech
in the 27th Party Congress Moscow on 25 February 1986.
…
Gorbachev delivered on his promise to introduce democracy to the Soviet Union. In
1987 Gorbachev began the process of democratization by implementing the right for
Communist Party members to elect party officials rather than have them appointed
by senior party members.
…
Democracy in the USSR proved to be a disease of the mind. The more democracy
Gorbachev sanctioned the more radical the demands became for faster, wider reform.
Source B
The following extract is cited from an article on the internet.
The break up of the USSR can be traced back to Gorbachev’s appointment and his
early reforms. Gorbachev introduced a wide-ranging program of reform. His major
reforms were glasnost, perestroika and democratization. These reforms allowed the
problems of the USSR to be uncovered and become public knowledge.
a.
What was Gorbachev’s “democratic” reform about? Support your answer with
reference to clues from Source A.
b.
What was resulted from Gorbachev’s “democratic” reform? Explain your answer
with reference to Sources A and B and using your own knowledge.
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Q.4
Study Source A carefully.
Source A
The following extract reflects the view of the people living in the former Soviet Union
towards the collapse of the regime.
A man in Estonia said:
“The collapse of the USSR opened up the world for me, and every
minute I remember and am aware that the world is open.”
A housewife in Ukraine said:
“I remember as a child I really thought: how good that I live in the
USSR, the best country in the world!? And now that great country is
no more. Even the economy is in tatters.”
A man in Moldova said:
“In spite of the fact that materially I am much better off than ten years
ago, I still feel nostalgic for the Soviet days. I had less money then,
but I slept well, not worrying about how I would provide for myself in
my old age.”
a.
What were the positive and negative changes brought to the life of the people
after the collapse of the Soviet Union? Explain your answer with reference to
Source A and using your own knowledge.
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History (S4-5)
Theme B: Conflicts and Cooperation in the Twentieth-Century World
Sub-theme d: Major conflicts and the quest for peace
Provenance of sources
Q.1
Source A: E. Rayner, R. Stapley & J. Watson, World Affairs from the Russian
Revolution to the Present (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), p.168.
Source B: Philip Sauvain, The Modern World 1914 to 1980 : A New Certificate
Approach (Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes, 1989), p.304.
Source C: Modern History Sourcebook – The Warsaw Pact, 1955, (online),
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1955warsawpact.html [accessed 19 March
2004].
Q.2
Source A: Department of History, CUHK.
Source B: N. Andreeva, “Resolution of the 3rd All-Union Conference of the Society
Unity, for Leninism and Communistic Ideals,” October 28, 1990, Leningrad, (online),
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/ab2unity.html [accessed 19 March 2004].
Source C: Gorbachev’s Speech – Dissolving the Soviet Union – Christmas 1991
(online), http://www.publicpurpose.com/lib-gorb911224.htm [accessed 19 March
2004].
Q.3
Source A: Russian Democratization (online),
http://www.historyorb.com/russia/democratisation.shtml [accessed 19 March 2004].
Source B: The Collapse of the Soviet Union (online),
http://www.historyorb.com/russia/intro.shtml [accessed 19 March 2004].
Q.4
Source A: Collapse of USSR: 10 Years On – How life has changed (online),
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/europe/2001/collapse_of_ussr/maps/d
efault.stm [accessed 19 March 2004].
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