2025 OCR A Level History A
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Verified Question paper with Marking Scheme Attached
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
Friday 23 May 2025 – Morning
A Level History A
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
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.
© OCR 2025 [H/506/4308] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (CE) 355149/1 Turn over
, 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
, 3
Section B
Answer any two questions.
2* ‘Russia had the greatest influence of all the Great Powers in the Middle East during the period from
1908 to 2011.’
How far do you agree? [25]
3* To what extent did the nature of the Palestinian issue change during the period from 1908 to 2011? [25]
4* ‘Throughout the period from 1908 to 2011, Pan Arabism in the Middle East was weak.’
How far do you agree? [25]
END OF QUESTION PAPER
© OCR 2025 Y321/01 Jun25
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Verified Question paper with Marking Scheme Attached
Oxford Cambridge and RSA
Friday 23 May 2025 – Morning
A Level History A
Y321/01 The Middle East 1908–2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
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.
© OCR 2025 [H/506/4308] OCR is an exempt Charity
DC (CE) 355149/1 Turn over
, 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
, 3
Section B
Answer any two questions.
2* ‘Russia had the greatest influence of all the Great Powers in the Middle East during the period from
1908 to 2011.’
How far do you agree? [25]
3* To what extent did the nature of the Palestinian issue change during the period from 1908 to 2011? [25]
4* ‘Throughout the period from 1908 to 2011, Pan Arabism in the Middle East was weak.’
How far do you agree? [25]
END OF QUESTION PAPER
© OCR 2025 Y321/01 Jun25
