Examiner's Specific Advice

Candidates need to evaluate the relative policies of the USSR and the USA and the western Allies and their developing positions around the issue of the division of Berlin in the period from 1945 to 1961.The Berlin Blockade of 1948 to 1949, and then the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, are likely to provide the core structure for analysis in many answers. The geographical position of Berlin could be used as an effective consideration of each side’s perspective: this was the one place where East and West faced each other so dramatically – a capitalist island in the communist East. This could be developed further to particular periods, e.g. the ‘new’ Cold War, which began in the Kennedy/Khrushchev era. Perspectives on the wider Cold War will also help answers to reach Levels I and II.

Exemplar Question

1. Assess the reasons why Berlin was such an important issue in causing the Cold War in Europe between 1945 and 1961. [50 marks]

 

View Exemplar Answer 1

View Exemplar Answer 2