2023 HKDSE History Practice Paper | DSE Mock

Source A is an extract from a British newspaper article published in 1923 regarding the Corfu Incident: 'The League of Nations, though established with high hopes, stands by like a helpless spectator while Italy bullies Greece. Dictators care little for the moral preachings of Geneva when there is no sword to enforce them. The Great Powers continue to play their own games of diplomacy outside the League's assembly.' According to Source A, what was the author's attitude towards the effectiveness of the League of Nations? Support your answer with two clues from the source.

Source B is adapted from a Japanese government decree on education in 1872: 'Henceforth, education shall be so diffused that there may not be a village with an ignorant family, nor a family with an ignorant member. Every person, regardless of class or gender, must acquire learning to improve their own station and contribute to the strength of the nation.' According to Source B, identify three characteristics of the educational reform during the early Meiji period.

Source C is adapted from a speech by US President Truman in 1947: 'At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions... The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression...' According to Source C, what was Truman's attitude towards the 'second way of life'? Support your answer with two clues from the source.

Source D is adapted from a speech by Deng Xiaoping in 1979: 'We must allow some regions and some people to become prosperous first through hard work, so that they can lead and help other regions and people to gradually achieve common prosperity. We cannot return to the old path of egalitarianism which only led to shared poverty.' According to Source D, what was Deng Xiaoping's view on the economic development of China? Support your answer with two clues from the source.

Source A: An excerpt from a Japanese intellectual's journal in 1905: 'We wear Western-style suits, build modern steamships, and adopt their legal codes. Yet, the Western powers still treat us as an inferior race, refusing to grant us equal status in international treaties.' According to Source A, explain two clues that show Japan's mixed feelings of admiration and resentment towards the West.

Source A: A British political cartoon from 1932 depicts the League of Nations as a 'paper tiger' unable to stop Japan's military actions in Manchuria. Source B: A speech by a French delegate in 1933 states, 'The League of Nations remains the sole global forum where peaceful arbitration can prevent minor frontier disputes from escalating into European wars.' Compare the views of the authors of Source A and Source B regarding the effectiveness of the League of Nations.

Source A: A memorandum from the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in 1957: 'Our local textile mills face severe hardships. The British government's sudden decision to impose voluntary export restraints restricts our market share. Meanwhile, the influx of cheap goods from neighboring regions combined with high raw material costs leaves us with narrow profit margins.' According to Source A, explain two clues that show the economic challenges of Hong Kong's industrial sector in the late 1950s.

Source A: President Kennedy's 1962 televised address: 'The Soviet nuclear buildup in Cuba is an unjustified threat to the Western Hemisphere... We must establish a naval quarantine to stop this aggressive action.' Source B: Chairman Khrushchev's 1962 letter: 'Our weapons in Cuba are intended solely for defense, to protect Cuba from potential American invasion... This is a sovereign decision.' Compare the perspectives of the USA and the USSR regarding the deployment of missiles in Cuba.

Source A: An excerpt from a speech by Japanese statesman Okuma Shigenobu in 1908.
"Our nation has made remarkable progress since the Restoration. We have adopted Western institutions, reformed our legal system, and modernized our educational institutions. Our constitution guarantees the rights of citizens. It is these intellectual and moral advancements, rather than the mere clash of arms, that have won us the respect of the civilized world and led to the revision of the unequal treaties."

Source B: A British political cartoon published in 1905.
It depicts a giant Japanese soldier in Western-style military uniform standing over a map of East Asia (with one foot on Port Arthur and another on Korea), holding a rising sun flag. Behind him, figures representing Britain, France, and Germany look on with concern, saying: "An unexpected colossus has risen in the East. Our Asian interests must now be negotiated with Tokyo."

Prompt: "Japan's international status in the period 1895–1912 was primarily enhanced by its domestic reforms rather than its military victories." Do you agree? Explain your answer with reference to Source A and Source B, and using your own knowledge.

Source A: An extract from a memoir by a French diplomat who attended the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.
"For France, the treaty is a matter of survival. We have lost more than a million of our youth. Germany must be rendered permanently incapable of invading us again. If we demand the demilitarization of the Rhineland and heavy reparations, it is not out of malice, but to secure our borders. Clemenceau fought hard for these, but the American President, with his lofty and impractical Fourteen Points, accused us of greed."

Source B: An extract from an editorial in a US newspaper published in July 1919.
"The peace treaty signed at Versailles is not a peace of justice; it is a peace of vengeance. Instead of fostering a new world order based on the League of Nations and self-determination, the European powers have scrambled to carve up territories and impose crushing indemnities on a defeated foe. We have sown the seeds of future conflict."

Prompt: "The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 was characterized more by national self-interest than by the pursuit of lasting world peace." Do you agree? Explain your answer with reference to Source A and Source B, and using your own knowledge.

Source A: An extract from a speech by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1946.
"Our policy is peaceful co-existence. However, we cannot ignore that the capitalist world is preparing for a new conflict. The establishment of friendly governments in Eastern Europe is not an act of expansion; it is a necessary defensive measure to guarantee Soviet security. We have been invaded through Poland twice in thirty years. We must ensure that these countries are no longer used as a corridor for aggression against us."

Source B: An extract from the Truman Doctrine speech delivered by US President Harry Truman in March 1947.
"At the present moment in world history, nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions and guarantees of individual liberty. The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression... I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures."

Prompt: "The Cold War in Europe in the period 1945–1949 was primarily caused by Soviet expansionism rather than US containment policy." Do you agree? Explain your answer with reference to Source A and Source B, and using your own knowledge.

Source A: An excerpt from an official report by the Chinese Communist Party in 1987 regarding economic performance.
"Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, our socialist modernization has achieved unprecedented success. From 1978 to 1986, the average annual growth rate of the national economy reached over 9%. The reform in rural areas has solved the problem of food and clothing for hundreds of millions. In urban areas, the expansion of enterprise autonomy has stimulated productivity. Consumer goods, once scarce, are now abundant in our markets."

Source B: An extract from an oral history interview with a state-owned enterprise (SOE) worker in Liaoning province, conducted in 1995, reflecting on his experience in the late 1980s.
"In the late 1980s, things began to change rapidly. Although there were more goods in the market, prices skyrocketed due to price reforms. My monthly wages could barely keep up with inflation. At the factory, they introduced the 'Contract Responsibility System' and started cutting welfare benefits. Many of my colleagues were laid off under the name of 'optimizing labor structure.' For us workers, the iron rice bowl was broken, and we felt immense anxiety about the future."

Prompt: "The economic reforms of China in the 1980s brought more challenges than benefits to the Chinese people." Do you agree? Explain your answer with reference to Source A and Source B, and using your own knowledge.

To what extent did the rise of militarism in Japan during the 1930s stem from domestic economic crises rather than its foreign policy ambitions since the Meiji period? Explain your answer with reference to Japan's development up to 1941.

Assess the view that the failure of the League of Nations in the 1930s was primarily due to the design of its own Covenant rather than the self-interested policies of Britain and France.

To what extent did the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) mark a turning point in the development of the Cold War from confrontation to coexistence? Explain your answer with reference to international relations from 1953 to 1979.

To what extent did Hong Kong's economic restructuring from the 1950s to the 1980s depend on external geopolitical developments rather than internal factors? Explain your answer.

'The introduction of "Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" after 1978 was more of a continuation of Maoist economic practices than a radical break from them.' Do you agree? Explain your answer with reference to the economic reforms in China up to 2000.

Assess the effectiveness of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in promoting global cultural preservation and mutual understanding during the Cold War era. Support your answer with relevant historical facts.

Compare the effectiveness of the Late Qing Reform (1901-1911) and the Nanjing Decade (1927-1937) in modernising China's political and economic systems.