AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY latest exam with
questions and answers 2026
Component 2O: Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Candidate Name: _________________________________________
Date: _________________________________________________
Total Marks: 80
Instructions:
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Answer all questions from Section A, one question from Section B, and one question from
Section C.
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided.
• You will be marked on your ability to use good English, organise information clearly, and use
specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Section A
Answer all questions in this section.
This section assesses your ability to analyse and evaluate primary sources within their historical context
(AO2).
Read the following sources A, B and C and then answer Question 01.
Source A
*From the diary of Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, 10/11 November 1938. Goebbels kept this
private diary with the intention of publishing it at a later date.*
Ernst vom Rath’s death is reported; now everything is ready. I bring the matter to the Führer. He
decides: let the demonstrations go on, withdraw the police. The Jews should get to feel the anger of the
people. Some cowards hesitate but I keep pushing on; we cannot leave unanswered this murder.
Messages are now coming in from all over the Reich: 50, then 75 synagogues are on fire. The Führer has
ordered that 30 000 Jews be arrested immediately. They should see our patience is exhausted. Now the
people’s anger is raging. Bravo! Bravo! As expected, the whole nation is in turmoil. However, if we let
this go on then there is a danger that the mob will appear. The Führer agrees that the actions must stop
, but they will have to repair their shops themselves; the insurers will pay them nothing. Then the Führer
wants to gradually take over the Jewish businesses. We are now awaiting the effects abroad.
Source B
From a report sent to the US government by the American Consul in Leipzig, Germany, 21 November
1938.
The violation of Jewish property which began on 10 November 1938, was subsequently hailed in the
Nazi press as a ‘spontaneous wave of righteous indignation’. As far as most of the German population is
concerned, such indignation is non-existent. On the contrary, all of the local crowds observed were
obviously horrified by the unprecedented fury of the Nazi acts. Three synagogues in Leipzig were fired
and silent and bewildered crowds come to view their blackened frames. The Nazis threw some
trembling Jews into a stream, commanding horrified spectators to spit at them and jeer at their plight.
This has been corroborated by several German witnesses, sickened at telling the tale. This consulate has
been a frenzied centre of humanity for the past 10 days. Victims with bloody, badly-bruised faces and
many desperate Jewish women, whose husbands and sons have been taken off, have fled here, seeking
to emigrate.
Source C
From a letter describing Reichkristallnacht to her son in Palestine, from the Jewess, Betty Scholem, March
1939. Betty had emigrated to Australia after Reichkristallnacht.
Reichskristallnacht was organised much like a military mobilisation. The Nazis were just waiting for an
excuse and, even without Paris, would have created one. The SA was ready to lead the so-called
outbreak of some collective national frenzy of ‘public outrage’. On 10 November 1938, all hell broke
loose and the fire department was only allowed to prevent the fires from spreading to neighbouring
houses, leaving the synagogues to burn to the ground. The next morning, the ‘laws’ appeared. The Jews
were to pay for the damage, not receive any insurance money and their businesses were to be taken
over by January 1939. Approximately 20,000 men were arrested in Berlin alone, some of them snatched
off the streets. People were forced to endure terrible suffering; there were so many deaths, it was
simply horrific.
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 Reichskristallnacht. [30 marks]
(Space for answer would be here in a real test paper)
Section B
Answer ONE question from this section.
This section assesses your ability to demonstrate, organise and communicate knowledge and
understanding to analyse and evaluate key features of the period (AO1).
Either
0 2 'The Weimar Republic was politically stable in the years 1924 to 1928.'
Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. [25 marks]
questions and answers 2026
Component 2O: Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Candidate Name: _________________________________________
Date: _________________________________________________
Total Marks: 80
Instructions:
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Answer all questions from Section A, one question from Section B, and one question from
Section C.
• You must answer the questions in the spaces provided.
• You will be marked on your ability to use good English, organise information clearly, and use
specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Section A
Answer all questions in this section.
This section assesses your ability to analyse and evaluate primary sources within their historical context
(AO2).
Read the following sources A, B and C and then answer Question 01.
Source A
*From the diary of Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda, 10/11 November 1938. Goebbels kept this
private diary with the intention of publishing it at a later date.*
Ernst vom Rath’s death is reported; now everything is ready. I bring the matter to the Führer. He
decides: let the demonstrations go on, withdraw the police. The Jews should get to feel the anger of the
people. Some cowards hesitate but I keep pushing on; we cannot leave unanswered this murder.
Messages are now coming in from all over the Reich: 50, then 75 synagogues are on fire. The Führer has
ordered that 30 000 Jews be arrested immediately. They should see our patience is exhausted. Now the
people’s anger is raging. Bravo! Bravo! As expected, the whole nation is in turmoil. However, if we let
this go on then there is a danger that the mob will appear. The Führer agrees that the actions must stop
, but they will have to repair their shops themselves; the insurers will pay them nothing. Then the Führer
wants to gradually take over the Jewish businesses. We are now awaiting the effects abroad.
Source B
From a report sent to the US government by the American Consul in Leipzig, Germany, 21 November
1938.
The violation of Jewish property which began on 10 November 1938, was subsequently hailed in the
Nazi press as a ‘spontaneous wave of righteous indignation’. As far as most of the German population is
concerned, such indignation is non-existent. On the contrary, all of the local crowds observed were
obviously horrified by the unprecedented fury of the Nazi acts. Three synagogues in Leipzig were fired
and silent and bewildered crowds come to view their blackened frames. The Nazis threw some
trembling Jews into a stream, commanding horrified spectators to spit at them and jeer at their plight.
This has been corroborated by several German witnesses, sickened at telling the tale. This consulate has
been a frenzied centre of humanity for the past 10 days. Victims with bloody, badly-bruised faces and
many desperate Jewish women, whose husbands and sons have been taken off, have fled here, seeking
to emigrate.
Source C
From a letter describing Reichkristallnacht to her son in Palestine, from the Jewess, Betty Scholem, March
1939. Betty had emigrated to Australia after Reichkristallnacht.
Reichskristallnacht was organised much like a military mobilisation. The Nazis were just waiting for an
excuse and, even without Paris, would have created one. The SA was ready to lead the so-called
outbreak of some collective national frenzy of ‘public outrage’. On 10 November 1938, all hell broke
loose and the fire department was only allowed to prevent the fires from spreading to neighbouring
houses, leaving the synagogues to burn to the ground. The next morning, the ‘laws’ appeared. The Jews
were to pay for the damage, not receive any insurance money and their businesses were to be taken
over by January 1939. Approximately 20,000 men were arrested in Berlin alone, some of them snatched
off the streets. People were forced to endure terrible suffering; there were so many deaths, it was
simply horrific.
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 Reichskristallnacht. [30 marks]
(Space for answer would be here in a real test paper)
Section B
Answer ONE question from this section.
This section assesses your ability to demonstrate, organise and communicate knowledge and
understanding to analyse and evaluate key features of the period (AO1).
Either
0 2 'The Weimar Republic was politically stable in the years 1924 to 1928.'
Explain why you agree or disagree with this view. [25 marks]
