History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
Contents
Past Papers............................................................................................................................................4
2019...................................................................................................................................................4
2018.................................................................................................................................................11
2017.................................................................................................................................................17
2016.................................................................................................................................................22
2015.................................................................................................................................................28
2014.................................................................................................................................................33
3. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)...................................................................................................43
What role did religion play in the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War?............................................43
Why did the Thirty Years’ War last so long?....................................................................................43
4. The Westphalian Settlement and the Study of International History (1648)...................................44
How did the Peace of Westphalia affect the international system?................................................44
How do political scientists and historians choose to remember 1648 and why?............................45
5. Louis XIV: Warrior King in a Changing World (1648-1715)...............................................................45
To what extent did Louis XIV either ‘challenge’ or ‘define’ the international system?....................45
Who ‘won’ the War of the Spanish Succession? (1701–1714).........................................................46
6. Eighteenth-Century Wars and the Peace of Paris (1756–1763).......................................................47
‘The geopolitical impact of the Treaty of Paris (1763) has largely been exaggerated.’ Agree or
disagree?.........................................................................................................................................47
To what extent had France ‘failed,’ at home and abroad, by 1763?................................................47
7. An Age of Empires (1775-1783).......................................................................................................48
What effect did U.S. Independence have on the international system?..........................................48
Had ‘empires’ become the key international players by the late eighteenth century?...................49
8. The French Revolution (1789)..........................................................................................................49
What was the most important cause of the French Revolution?.....................................................49
Was the Terror an unavoidable outcome of the French Revolution?..............................................50
9. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: the Climax and Collapse of Ancien Regime Politics (1803–
1815)....................................................................................................................................................51
Were wars fought differently after 1792?.......................................................................................51
How big a threat to international order was Napoleon?.................................................................52
10. The Vienna system (1815-1853)....................................................................................................53
Was the 19th Century international system based on balance of power?......................................53
Why did the Vienna system come to grief on the Eastern Question?..............................................54
11. Bismarck’s diplomatic order (1879-1890)......................................................................................55
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
Was Bismarck’s diplomacy or the actions and inactions of the other Powers more significant in the
unification of Germany between 1861 and 1870?...........................................................................55
‘Bismarck’s alliance system was a tribute to his ingenuity but lacked both utility and cohesion’.
Would you agree?............................................................................................................................56
12. Coming of War in 1914..................................................................................................................56
Having solved so many crises since 1905, why were the Great Powers unable to solve the crisis of
1914?...............................................................................................................................................56
Did the arms race cause the First World War?................................................................................58
13. Peacemaking (1919-1925).............................................................................................................59
Was the Paris Peace Settlement (1919) a peace settlement?..........................................................59
Does the history of the League of Nations tell the story of the triumph of power politics over
idealism?..........................................................................................................................................59
14. Coming of the Second World War (1929-1945).............................................................................61
How and with what consequences did the Great Depression influence international politics?......61
Was the first shot of the Second World War fired in China in 1931, in Spain in 1936, or a year later
in China?..........................................................................................................................................61
15. The Cold War system in the making (1943-1950s).........................................................................61
Was the Cold War inevitable?..........................................................................................................61
Do you agree that the two key episodes in the early evolution of the Cold War were the Marshall
Plan and the Korean War?...............................................................................................................62
16. European Integration (1945-1957)................................................................................................62
Did the formation of the European community represent a break with past forms of states
systems in Europe?..........................................................................................................................62
Do geopolitics, ideology or economics best explain the process of European integration?............63
17. Nuclear Strategy and Statecraft (1953-1968).................................................................................64
What contribution did nuclear weapons make to keeping the peace between East and West?.....64
“The Cuban Missile Crisis arose because Khrushchev understood more clearly than Kennedy that
the West was winning the Cold War.” Discuss.................................................................................65
18. The End of Empire (1945-1991).....................................................................................................66
Why did Asia decolonize before Africa?..........................................................................................66
To what extent did decolonisation alter the power hierarchy in the international system?...........67
19. The Fall of Bretton Woods (1944-1971).........................................................................................68
After 1973 were the Bretton Woods institutions still relevant?......................................................68
What impact did increasing global economic integration have on inequality?................................68
20. Superpower Coexistence and Competition (1969-1979)...............................................................69
Was détente a fundamental change in America’s post-war foreign policy?....................................69
What accounted for the resurgence of East-West tension after 1975?...........................................70
21. End of the Cold War (1980-1991)..................................................................................................71
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
When did the Cold War end?...........................................................................................................71
Is the collapse of the Soviet Empire in Central and Eastern Europe best explained with reference to
material power, the role of ideas, or something else?....................................................................72
22. New World Order (1991-2001)......................................................................................................73
What was the principal challenge to international order in the world of the 1990s?......................73
Was the unipolar moment of the 1990s a peaceful one?................................................................73
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
Past Papers
YOU MUST ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS OUT OF EIGHT
2019
1. Was the Treaty of Paris (1763) more consequential for international politics than the Peace
of Westphalia (1648)?
Peace of Westphalia claimed to have created the modern international system based on
sovereignty (IR myth)
struggle not about empire vs. sovereignty, not Habsburg trying to expand and threatening
others' independence (anti-Habsburg propaganda of the 17th century), but because other
actors (Denmark, Sweden, France) tried to diminish their power -> Peace of Westphalia not
concerned with sovereignty
treaties do not reflect sovereignty: does not mention sovereignty, concerned with
practicalities
Peace of Paris:
geopolitical impacts
o shift in politics, change in monarchical states, long-lasting effect in society (Argue its
important because no other previous conflict had this huge impact before)
o exchange of oversea territories
o War creates a change in regimes (demographical, geographical, economic, military)
leading to political changes. Also affects economy + financial state of all the powers
involved
o American revolution: Shift of the influential power to Britain, new possessions
evolving nation into British empire. Increasing importance in American colonies, also
increase of control, taxes and self-confidence and economic and political maturity
o Increase in trade: Economic factor very imp. Free market trade in Caribbean ports+
incorporation of slaves to cotton and sugar production boosts commercial sector
importance:
o global dimension
o changed the course of history: American revolution, independence movements,
French revolution, diplomatic revolution
o decline of Europe’s Ancien Regime
o rise of Britain
2. Assess the claim that “the balance of power in Europe in the 18 th century was
fundamentally unsustainable.”
balance of power was not fundamentally unstable
norms of the international system:
o war to build authority
o chasing dynastic claims, occupying the heart of the imperial system
case study: Louis VIIII
o adhered to the rules of the international system
o successful when going for his dynastic claims
o unsuccessful when violating those rules: France did not like the appointment of an
archbishop -> interfered in Holy Roman Empire -> created European backlash
not unsustainable because all actors adhered to the rules of the international system -> war
did not represent instability
Contents
Past Papers............................................................................................................................................4
2019...................................................................................................................................................4
2018.................................................................................................................................................11
2017.................................................................................................................................................17
2016.................................................................................................................................................22
2015.................................................................................................................................................28
2014.................................................................................................................................................33
3. The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)...................................................................................................43
What role did religion play in the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War?............................................43
Why did the Thirty Years’ War last so long?....................................................................................43
4. The Westphalian Settlement and the Study of International History (1648)...................................44
How did the Peace of Westphalia affect the international system?................................................44
How do political scientists and historians choose to remember 1648 and why?............................45
5. Louis XIV: Warrior King in a Changing World (1648-1715)...............................................................45
To what extent did Louis XIV either ‘challenge’ or ‘define’ the international system?....................45
Who ‘won’ the War of the Spanish Succession? (1701–1714).........................................................46
6. Eighteenth-Century Wars and the Peace of Paris (1756–1763).......................................................47
‘The geopolitical impact of the Treaty of Paris (1763) has largely been exaggerated.’ Agree or
disagree?.........................................................................................................................................47
To what extent had France ‘failed,’ at home and abroad, by 1763?................................................47
7. An Age of Empires (1775-1783).......................................................................................................48
What effect did U.S. Independence have on the international system?..........................................48
Had ‘empires’ become the key international players by the late eighteenth century?...................49
8. The French Revolution (1789)..........................................................................................................49
What was the most important cause of the French Revolution?.....................................................49
Was the Terror an unavoidable outcome of the French Revolution?..............................................50
9. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars: the Climax and Collapse of Ancien Regime Politics (1803–
1815)....................................................................................................................................................51
Were wars fought differently after 1792?.......................................................................................51
How big a threat to international order was Napoleon?.................................................................52
10. The Vienna system (1815-1853)....................................................................................................53
Was the 19th Century international system based on balance of power?......................................53
Why did the Vienna system come to grief on the Eastern Question?..............................................54
11. Bismarck’s diplomatic order (1879-1890)......................................................................................55
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
Was Bismarck’s diplomacy or the actions and inactions of the other Powers more significant in the
unification of Germany between 1861 and 1870?...........................................................................55
‘Bismarck’s alliance system was a tribute to his ingenuity but lacked both utility and cohesion’.
Would you agree?............................................................................................................................56
12. Coming of War in 1914..................................................................................................................56
Having solved so many crises since 1905, why were the Great Powers unable to solve the crisis of
1914?...............................................................................................................................................56
Did the arms race cause the First World War?................................................................................58
13. Peacemaking (1919-1925).............................................................................................................59
Was the Paris Peace Settlement (1919) a peace settlement?..........................................................59
Does the history of the League of Nations tell the story of the triumph of power politics over
idealism?..........................................................................................................................................59
14. Coming of the Second World War (1929-1945).............................................................................61
How and with what consequences did the Great Depression influence international politics?......61
Was the first shot of the Second World War fired in China in 1931, in Spain in 1936, or a year later
in China?..........................................................................................................................................61
15. The Cold War system in the making (1943-1950s).........................................................................61
Was the Cold War inevitable?..........................................................................................................61
Do you agree that the two key episodes in the early evolution of the Cold War were the Marshall
Plan and the Korean War?...............................................................................................................62
16. European Integration (1945-1957)................................................................................................62
Did the formation of the European community represent a break with past forms of states
systems in Europe?..........................................................................................................................62
Do geopolitics, ideology or economics best explain the process of European integration?............63
17. Nuclear Strategy and Statecraft (1953-1968).................................................................................64
What contribution did nuclear weapons make to keeping the peace between East and West?.....64
“The Cuban Missile Crisis arose because Khrushchev understood more clearly than Kennedy that
the West was winning the Cold War.” Discuss.................................................................................65
18. The End of Empire (1945-1991).....................................................................................................66
Why did Asia decolonize before Africa?..........................................................................................66
To what extent did decolonisation alter the power hierarchy in the international system?...........67
19. The Fall of Bretton Woods (1944-1971).........................................................................................68
After 1973 were the Bretton Woods institutions still relevant?......................................................68
What impact did increasing global economic integration have on inequality?................................68
20. Superpower Coexistence and Competition (1969-1979)...............................................................69
Was détente a fundamental change in America’s post-war foreign policy?....................................69
What accounted for the resurgence of East-West tension after 1975?...........................................70
21. End of the Cold War (1980-1991)..................................................................................................71
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
When did the Cold War end?...........................................................................................................71
Is the collapse of the Soviet Empire in Central and Eastern Europe best explained with reference to
material power, the role of ideas, or something else?....................................................................72
22. New World Order (1991-2001)......................................................................................................73
What was the principal challenge to international order in the world of the 1990s?......................73
Was the unipolar moment of the 1990s a peaceful one?................................................................73
, History of the Internati onal System: Exam Preparati on 2021
Past Papers
YOU MUST ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS OUT OF EIGHT
2019
1. Was the Treaty of Paris (1763) more consequential for international politics than the Peace
of Westphalia (1648)?
Peace of Westphalia claimed to have created the modern international system based on
sovereignty (IR myth)
struggle not about empire vs. sovereignty, not Habsburg trying to expand and threatening
others' independence (anti-Habsburg propaganda of the 17th century), but because other
actors (Denmark, Sweden, France) tried to diminish their power -> Peace of Westphalia not
concerned with sovereignty
treaties do not reflect sovereignty: does not mention sovereignty, concerned with
practicalities
Peace of Paris:
geopolitical impacts
o shift in politics, change in monarchical states, long-lasting effect in society (Argue its
important because no other previous conflict had this huge impact before)
o exchange of oversea territories
o War creates a change in regimes (demographical, geographical, economic, military)
leading to political changes. Also affects economy + financial state of all the powers
involved
o American revolution: Shift of the influential power to Britain, new possessions
evolving nation into British empire. Increasing importance in American colonies, also
increase of control, taxes and self-confidence and economic and political maturity
o Increase in trade: Economic factor very imp. Free market trade in Caribbean ports+
incorporation of slaves to cotton and sugar production boosts commercial sector
importance:
o global dimension
o changed the course of history: American revolution, independence movements,
French revolution, diplomatic revolution
o decline of Europe’s Ancien Regime
o rise of Britain
2. Assess the claim that “the balance of power in Europe in the 18 th century was
fundamentally unsustainable.”
balance of power was not fundamentally unstable
norms of the international system:
o war to build authority
o chasing dynastic claims, occupying the heart of the imperial system
case study: Louis VIIII
o adhered to the rules of the international system
o successful when going for his dynastic claims
o unsuccessful when violating those rules: France did not like the appointment of an
archbishop -> interfered in Holy Roman Empire -> created European backlash
not unsustainable because all actors adhered to the rules of the international system -> war
did not represent instability
