OCR A Level History A Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Combined Question Paper and Mark Scheme
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
A Level History A
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
*1411372392*
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must
be clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer the question in Section A and any two questions in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 80.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*).
• This document has 4 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
, 2
Section A
Read the two passages and answer Question 1.
1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages.
Explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of British policy towards Palestine
at the end of the First World War. [30]
Passage A
© Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History, p247, 261 and 265, Penguin, 2009. From first line "At the end of the First World War, Britain’s mastery over the Middle East was unrivalled." to last line "a failure that would condemn the whole of the region to conflict and violence." Item removed due to third party copyri
Passage B
Britain had recalculated its own strategic interests in the future status of Palestine. It was the site of
important military operations, and government officials concluded that its value as a buffer to the Suez
Canal had become too important to allow for an ill-defined international presence there after the war.
These new interests developed in tandem with the efforts of the leading members of Britain’s Jewish
community who, in pursuit of the strategies of political Zionism, sought to persuade the government
that Zionist interests complemented British interests. In addition, a complex combination of motives
led to the final decision to issue the Balfour Declaration. Contemporary explanations tended to stress
an interest in the restoration of the Jewish nation in Palestine based on their understanding of the
Bible and also their sympathy for the plight of Jews in Eastern Europe. Officials came to see Zionism
as an ally. British officials searched out Zionist support in pursuit of their own interests in Palestine.
Their main aim was to keep the French out. Within a year of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which called
for the international administration of Palestine, Britain came round to fearing any foreign presence
so close to the Suez Canal. Prejudices belied British support for Zionism. British officials drew upon a
reserve of mistaken, even anti-Semitic, ideas and of a common Jewish nation, all of which tended to
greatly exaggerate the power and influence of world Jewry.
M. Bunton, The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, published in 2013.
© OCR 2025 Y321/01 Jun25
Combined Question Paper and Mark Scheme
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
A Level History A
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
*1411372392*
You must have:
• the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink.
• Write your answer to each question in the Answer Booklet. The question numbers must
be clearly shown.
• Fill in the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet.
• Answer the question in Section A and any two questions in Section B.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 80.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*).
• This document has 4 pages.
ADVICE
• Read each question carefully before you start your answer.
, 2
Section A
Read the two passages and answer Question 1.
1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages.
Explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of British policy towards Palestine
at the end of the First World War. [30]
Passage A
© Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History, p247, 261 and 265, Penguin, 2009. From first line "At the end of the First World War, Britain’s mastery over the Middle East was unrivalled." to last line "a failure that would condemn the whole of the region to conflict and violence." Item removed due to third party copyri
Passage B
Britain had recalculated its own strategic interests in the future status of Palestine. It was the site of
important military operations, and government officials concluded that its value as a buffer to the Suez
Canal had become too important to allow for an ill-defined international presence there after the war.
These new interests developed in tandem with the efforts of the leading members of Britain’s Jewish
community who, in pursuit of the strategies of political Zionism, sought to persuade the government
that Zionist interests complemented British interests. In addition, a complex combination of motives
led to the final decision to issue the Balfour Declaration. Contemporary explanations tended to stress
an interest in the restoration of the Jewish nation in Palestine based on their understanding of the
Bible and also their sympathy for the plight of Jews in Eastern Europe. Officials came to see Zionism
as an ally. British officials searched out Zionist support in pursuit of their own interests in Palestine.
Their main aim was to keep the French out. Within a year of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which called
for the international administration of Palestine, Britain came round to fearing any foreign presence
so close to the Suez Canal. Prejudices belied British support for Zionism. British officials drew upon a
reserve of mistaken, even anti-Semitic, ideas and of a common Jewish nation, all of which tended to
greatly exaggerate the power and influence of world Jewry.
M. Bunton, The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, published in 2013.
© OCR 2025 Y321/01 Jun25
