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Describe one decision made by the Allies about the war against Germany at the Teheran Conference, 1943.

This question could ask you to describe one feature of an event including: a cause, action aim, way, decision, reaction, consequence or challenge. Here are some examples.

• describe a cause: this is asking you for a reason why the event happened

• describe an action: this is asking what they actually did

e.g. Describe one action taken by Britain and Germany in relation to their navies in the years 1900-14.

• describe a decision: this is asking you what was decided

e.g. Describe one decision which was made about Turkey at the Treaty of Sèvres.

• describe a way: this is asking you how is happened

e.g. Describe one way in which Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe affected relations with the West.

• describe a consequence: this is asking you to describe the effects of an event, what it led to

e.g. Describe one consequence of the Abyssinian Crisis, 1935-6.

e.g. Describe one reason why Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908

The point being made 1

mark

The point being made 1

mark

+1mark

Detail supporting the point

+1mark

Detail supporting the point

Unit 1: Peace and War: International Relations, 1900-91

The Unit 1 exam paper

Unit 1 investigates different periods in international relations. These are divided into six sections. You will study three sections.

Put a tick in the box against the three sections below that you are studying in class.

Section 1: Why did the war break out? International rivalry 1900-14

Section 2: The Peace Settlement: 1918-28

Section 3: Why did war break out? International Relations 1929-39

Section 4: How did the Cold War develop? 1943-56

Section 5: Three Cold War Crises: Berlin, Cuba and Czechoslovakia c 1957-69

Section 6: Why did the Cold War end? The invasion of Afghanistan (1979) to the collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

The Unit 1 exam questions

In each section in Unit 1, there are three different styles of question:

• Describe questions – these are the first questions, question a, worth 2 marks. See pages xx to xx.

• Explain questions – these are the second questions, question b, worth 6 marks. See pages xx to xx.

• Causation questions – these are the third questions, question c, worth 12 marks. See pages xx to xx.

How do I answer (a) questions?

How will I be marked?

Unit 1(a) questions are worth 2 marks. For example:

Describe one reason why Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908. (2)

You would get 1 mark for writing a brief point or a simple statement.

Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908

To get 2 marks you need to give detail to support the point that you are making. ‘Because’ is a very useful word to use to do this:

Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908 because of fears that Serbia would seize the province first. Austria was frightened of Serbian nationalism.

Part (a) is a describe question.

A describe question might look like this:

For example, you are late for school. Your tutor asks you why.

‘I was late getting up and missed the bus.’ This is a simple statement or a brief point.

However, you now support this simple statement by saying

‘I was late getting up and missed the bus because I did not go to bed until after midnight as I had to finish off my history homework.’

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1 mark for a brief point2 marks for an answer

that provides further information that supports the point being made – this is called a supported statement.

Rememberthatyoucangive:

If you have highlighted parts of an answer in green and parts of an answer in blue then the answer should get 2 marks!

Activity 1: Understanding the exam question

1. A part (a) question is worth 2 marks. Using this information, how much would you expect to write in your answer? Ring your choice.

• Two sentences

• A paragraph

• Two or three paragraphs

2. How long do you think you should spend answering this question? Ring your choice.

• 1 minute

• 3 minutes

• 10 minutes

3. Look at the questions below. Put a tick in the box against the three questions that cover the sections that you are studying in class.

Section 1: Describe one reason why Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908. (2)

Section 2: Describe one decision which was made about Turkey at the Treaty of Sèvres. (2)

Section 3 : Describe one reason why Hitler introduced conscription in 1935. (2)

Section 4: Describe one decision made by the Allies about the war against Germany at the Teheran Conference, 1943. (2)

Section 5: Describe one reason why the ‘hot line’ between the USA and the Soviet Union was set up. (2)

Section 6: Describe one reason why the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games, 1980. (2)

4. For each of the three questions that you ticked above:

• highlight key words such as dates, events or people

• underline the word that shows what you are being asked to describe. For example, it could be asking you to describe an aim or a consequence.

Activity 2: Understanding the mark scheme

You’re going to mark some students’ answers to some Unit 1(a) questions.

Look at the questions on this page and page 8. Put a tick in the box against the three sections that you are studying in class. For the student answers under those three questions:

First highlight in green a brief point

Next highlight in blue support for a brief point

Then decide how many marks you think the answer should get.

Section 1 question: Describe one reason why Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908. (2)

Student answers Mark

Austria-Hungary seized Bosnia in 1908 because of fears that Serbia would seize the province first. Austria was frightened of Serbian nationalism.

Austria-Hungary was frightened of Serbia.

Austria-Hungary wanted the province.

Austria-Hungary was determined to prevent a Serbian occupation of Bosnia because of fears of the growth of Serbian nationalism.

Section 2 question: Describe one decision which was made about Turkey at the Treaty of Sèvres. (2)

Student answers Mark

The Turkish Empire was broken up because much of it was given to France and Britain to govern as mandates on behalf of the League of Nations

The treaty took away much of the Turkish land in Europe

Turkey lost most of its empire in Europe because Greece gained Eastern Thrace and Smyrna

Austria-Hungary was determined to prevent a Serbian occupation of Bosnia because of fears of the growth of Serbian nationalism.

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Section 3 question: Describe one reason why Hitler introduced conscription in 1935. (2)

Student answers Mark

Hitler did this to defend Germany

Hitler wanted to build up a strong army

Germany had a smaller army than many of her neighbouring countries in Europe who were not prepared to disarm to Germany’s level

Hitler introduced conscription because he needed a large army as he wanted to challenge the Treaty of Versailles and expand eastwards

Section 4 question: Describe one decision made by the Allies about the war against Germany at the Teheran Conference, 1943. (2)

Student answers Mark

It was agreed that the USA and Britain would open up a second front

The Allies agreed that Britain and the USA would open up a second front in 1944 and the USSR would begin an offensive in the East

The USSR would join the war against Japan

At Tehran the Allies agreed the USSR would join the war against Japan once Germany had been defeated

Section 5 question: Describe one reason why the ‘hot line’ between the USA and the Soviet Union was set up. (2)

Student answers Mark

The ‘hot-line’ was set up because during the Missiles Crisis it had taken several hours for the two sides to communicate with each other

This was because of slow communications during the Cuban Missiles Crisis

The ‘hot-line’ was to speed up communications between the USA and the USSR

The ‘hot-line’ was set up to speed up communications between the two superpowers and ensure that their leaders could quickly and directly discuss any serious issues

Section 6 question: Describe one reason why the USA boycotted the Moscow Olympic Games, 1980. (2)

Student answers Mark

The USA was furious with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan

President Carter was furious with the invasion of Afghanistan and thought he would put pressure on the Soviet Union by setting up the boycott

The USA was determined to take a much firmer stance against the Soviet Union as a result of their invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979

The USA had decided to take a firm stance against the USSR