Conflict and Tension between East and West 1945-1972 is a wider world depth study that investigates international relations. The course focuses on the causes and course of the Cold War. It considers why the conflict occurred, as well as how it developed into a global conflict over the following quarter of a century.

This study will help you to understand the complexities and diverse interests of different states and how this affects the relationship between them. The course will enable you to analyse cause and consequence, making links between, and assessing the importance of, events in their historical context. It will also develop your critical evaluation skills.

Conflict and Tension 1945-72 is split into 3 key enquiries:

• ❖ Enquiry 1 examines the long and short term causes of the Cold War.
• ❖ Enquiry 2 looks at the development of the Cold War and how it increased international tension.
• ❖ Finally, enquiry 3 is a study of how key events led to a relaxation of tension in the Cold War.

Some of the key individuals studied on this course include:

• ❖ Joseph Stalin.
• ❖ Franklin Roosevelt.
• ❖ Winston Churchill.
• ❖ Harry Truman.
• ❖ Mao Zedong.
• ❖ Nikita Khrushchev.
• ❖ Alexander Dubček.
• ❖ John F Kennedy.
• ❖ Leonid Brezhnev.

Some of the key events and developments you will study on this course include:

• ❖ The conferences after the Second World War.
• ❖ The development of US and Soviet foreign policies.
• ❖ The Berlin Blockade.
• ❖ The Korean War.
• ❖ The Vietnam War.
• ❖ The space race.
• ❖ The nuclear arms race.
• ❖ The Berlin Wall.
• ❖ The Cuban Missile Crisis.
• ❖ The Prague Spring.
• ❖ Detente.

Conflict and Tension between East and West 1945-1972 is part of paper 1 (2 hours). You should spend 1 hour on this section of the paper. There will be 4 exam questions which will assess what you have learned from the course.

• ❖ Question 1 is worth 4 marks. This question will require you to examine a source, and explain its meaning in its historical context.
• ❖ Question 2 is worth 12 marks. This question will require you to examine 2 sources, and assesses your ability to evaluate sources for a particular purpose.
• ❖ Question 3 is worth 8 marks. It requires to you to explain and analyse historical events in relation to cause and consequence.
• ❖ Question 4 is worth 16 marks plus 4 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar. Here you will be required to make a judgement about the importance of an event or development in an extended response.