ACTUAL 2025 AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 2T The Crisis of Communism: the USSR and the Soviet
Empire, 1953–2000 Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/M/Jun25/G4001/E6 7042/2T
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From the ‘Twenty-One Demands’ put forward to the Polish government by Lech Walesa, leader of
the Gdansk strike committee, August 1980.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source A is from the Twenty-one demands which present the socio-economic difficulties that
existed in Poland at this time.
Source B
From a report of a meeting of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in Moscow
about the situation in Poland, 23 April 1981.
There is a crisis in Poland. The Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP) has lost control.
Solidarity has turned into an organised political force capable of taking power into its own
hands. The opposition has not yet gone that far, because it fears that Soviet troops will be
brought in; it hopes to achieve its aims without bloodshed. We must evaluate the
effectiveness of the Polish leadership and decide what forces we can rely on to defend 5
socialism in Poland. While Kania and Jaruzelski talk about the necessity of defending
socialism in Poland, they are doing so passively, hesitating and making concessions to
Solidarity. However, there are at present no other figures capable of leading. We must
therefore continue to support comrades Kania and Jaruzelski. We must try to get more
decisive action from them in order to overcome the crisis. In view of the difficult economic 10
situation in Poland, we must intensify our propaganda, so that every Pole knows how
dependent the country is on Soviet support.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T
, 3
Source C
From the announcement of martial law in Poland, on Warsaw Radio, by
Wojciech Jaruzelski, leader of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP), 13
December 1981.
Citizens. Great is the burden of responsibility that falls on me at this dramatic moment in
Polish history. Poland’s future is at stake. I announce that today a Military Council of
National Salvation has been established. At midnight martial law was introduced
throughout the country. I want everyone to understand the motives and aims of our action.
We are not striving for a military dictatorship. No Polish problem, in the long run, can be 5
solved through force. The Military Council of National Salvation is not replacing
constitutional organisations. Its sole task is the protection of legal order in the country and
the creation of guarantees that will make it possible to restore order and discipline. At this
difficult moment, I address our socialist allies. We value their trust and aid. The Polish-
Soviet alliance is, and will remain, the cornerstone of our national interest. Poland is, and 10
will remain, a lasting link in the Warsaw Pact, an unfailing member of the socialist
community of nations.
0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess
the value of these three sources to an historian studying unrest in Poland in 1980/81.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T Turn over ►
Empire, 1953–2000 Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/M/Jun25/G4001/E6 7042/2T
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From the ‘Twenty-One Demands’ put forward to the Polish government by Lech Walesa, leader of
the Gdansk strike committee, August 1980.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source A is from the Twenty-one demands which present the socio-economic difficulties that
existed in Poland at this time.
Source B
From a report of a meeting of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in Moscow
about the situation in Poland, 23 April 1981.
There is a crisis in Poland. The Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP) has lost control.
Solidarity has turned into an organised political force capable of taking power into its own
hands. The opposition has not yet gone that far, because it fears that Soviet troops will be
brought in; it hopes to achieve its aims without bloodshed. We must evaluate the
effectiveness of the Polish leadership and decide what forces we can rely on to defend 5
socialism in Poland. While Kania and Jaruzelski talk about the necessity of defending
socialism in Poland, they are doing so passively, hesitating and making concessions to
Solidarity. However, there are at present no other figures capable of leading. We must
therefore continue to support comrades Kania and Jaruzelski. We must try to get more
decisive action from them in order to overcome the crisis. In view of the difficult economic 10
situation in Poland, we must intensify our propaganda, so that every Pole knows how
dependent the country is on Soviet support.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T
, 3
Source C
From the announcement of martial law in Poland, on Warsaw Radio, by
Wojciech Jaruzelski, leader of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP), 13
December 1981.
Citizens. Great is the burden of responsibility that falls on me at this dramatic moment in
Polish history. Poland’s future is at stake. I announce that today a Military Council of
National Salvation has been established. At midnight martial law was introduced
throughout the country. I want everyone to understand the motives and aims of our action.
We are not striving for a military dictatorship. No Polish problem, in the long run, can be 5
solved through force. The Military Council of National Salvation is not replacing
constitutional organisations. Its sole task is the protection of legal order in the country and
the creation of guarantees that will make it possible to restore order and discipline. At this
difficult moment, I address our socialist allies. We value their trust and aid. The Polish-
Soviet alliance is, and will remain, the cornerstone of our national interest. Poland is, and 10
will remain, a lasting link in the Warsaw Pact, an unfailing member of the socialist
community of nations.
0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context, assess
the value of these three sources to an historian studying unrest in Poland in 1980/81.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T Turn over ►
