A Level H2 History Practice Paper 4

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper - History H2 A-Level

TuitionGoWhere Practice Paper (AI) — Version 4 of 5

Subject: History H2
Level: A-Level (Pre-University)
Paper: Source Based Skills Practice Paper
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Marks: 60
Name: ________________________
Class: ________________________
Date: ________________________

Instructions:

• This practice paper tests source-based skills aligned to the H2 History (9174) syllabus Theme I (Cold War) and Paper 2 regional conflict source methods.
• Answer all questions.
• Read each source carefully before answering.
• Marks for each question are shown in brackets.
• This is a syllabus-first AI-generated practice paper (Version 4). It is not derived from official national A-Level papers.

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Section A: Source Comprehension and Comparison (Questions 1–8) [20 marks]

1. Source A is a 1962 speech by a US State Department official. What is the explicit main concern expressed about Soviet actions in Cuba? [2]

2. Source B is a Soviet newspaper editorial from October 1962. Identify one tone feature that suggests state-controlled messaging. [1]

3. Compare the evidence in Sources A and B on the question of who threatened peace in the Caribbean in 1962. [4]

4. Source C is a telegram from the US embassy in Moscow, 22 Oct 1962. What type of source is it, and what is one limitation of using it alone? [2]

5. How does Source D (a Cuban citizen's letter, 1963) differ from Source B in terms of perspective? [2]

6. Using Sources A and C, what shared factual claim can be corroborated? [2]

7. Source E is a 1992 memoir by a Soviet officer. Why might its reliability differ from Source B? [2]

8. "Sources A and B are equally useful for understanding the Cuban Missile Crisis." Assess this claim with one reason. [3]

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Section B: Source Reliability and Utility (Questions 9–14) [18 marks]

9. Define "provenance" in source analysis. [1]

10. Source F is a declassified CIA report (1961) on Laos. Give one reason it may be reliable. [2]

11. Source G is a Hollywood film (1974) dramatising the Vietnam War. Explain why it has limited utility as factual evidence. [2]

12. Assess the usefulness of Source H (UN General Assembly voting record, 1979) for studying Cold War bloc alignment. [3]

13.

Generated table for Q13.

Using the table in Q13-fig1, explain one way ownership affects source reliability. [3]

14. Why is date of production important when evaluating Source I (a 1989 East German protest leaflet)? [2]

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Section C: Multi-Source Evaluation (Questions 15–20) [22 marks]

Read Sources J–O below (summary extracts):

• Source J (1965): Malaysian PM states confrontation with Indonesia is purely defensive.
• Source K (1965): Indonesian newspaper claims Malaysia is a neocolonial puppet of Britain.
• Source L (1966): UK Foreign Office memo notes economic strain from confrontation.
• Source M (1990): Historian argues confrontation was driven by Sukarno's domestic legitimacy needs.
• Source N (1965): Australian diplomat report warns of communist expansion via Indonesia.
• Source O (2001): Scholar critiques traditional Cold War framing of confrontation as oversimplified.

15. Which two sources agree that external powers were involved in the Konfrontasi? [2]

16. How far do Sources J and K support the view that the conflict was based on mutual misunderstanding? [4]

17. Assess the reliability of Source M for understanding Sukarno's motives. [3]

18. Using Sources L and N, what economic and security concerns are revealed? [3]

19. How does Source O challenge the interpretation in Source N? [3]

20. How far do Sources J–O support the assertion that "The Konfrontasi was fundamentally a Cold War proxy conflict rather than a genuine regional dispute"? [7]