ACTUAL 2025 AQA A-LEVEL HISTORY Component 2M Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906–1957
Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/M/Jun25/G4007/V6 7042/2M
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From an article by Hugh Massingham in ‘The Observer’, a centre-left newspaper,
22 June 1952. Massingham was a leading political commentator in Britain in the 1950s.
The real reason why the Conservatives are so anxious is that the government seems in a
muddle, unable to come up with popular policies. Many moderate Conservatives are saying
that Mr Churchill is the real cause of all the indecision. Certainly he must take part of the
blame for the government lacking direction. There has never been a
Prime Minister who has dominated his colleagues as he has done. Mr Churchill no doubt has 5
his faults, but he is still a giant and makes many of his colleagues look like pygmies. There are
also some MPs who are by no means certain that Mr Eden would be an improvement, even if
supported by Mr Butler and Mr Macmillan. The crisis in the Conservative Party is not only
over policy but also over conflicting personalities and ambitions. Although it is impossible to
believe in any organised rebellion, at least at the moment, it does not follow that Mr Churchill 10
can entirely ignore the genuine disquiet in his party.
Source B
From the diary of Anthony Eden, 22 December 1952.
Source B cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source B is Eden arguing that Churchill seems constantly to want to push back his
resignation.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2M
, 3
Source C
From an article entitled ‘Encounters with Winston Churchill’ by Russell Brain, a distinguished
neurologist, in 1966. It was published in ‘Medical History’, a prestigious academic journal,
shortly after Churchill’s death.
I first saw Churchill as a patient in 1949 when he had had a minor stroke and, subsequently,
following his more serious stroke in June 1953, which was kept hidden from the public. Eden
was also seriously ill at this time and it was thought that Butler would have become Prime
Minister if Churchill had had to resign. By late July, Churchill’s condition was improving. He
struck me as a man of great personality and stature with enormous willpower, with much 5
still to offer the nation. He invariably only wanted to discuss foreign affairs at our meetings
and was convinced that after filling in for Eden as Foreign Secretary, Britain’s influence in the
world had naturally increased. It was clear he believed it was his duty to go on as leader.
He still had ‘his bite’, he told me. I have always made it a practice to write down afterwards
the detail of conversations I had with people whose conversation was worth recording, and I 10
did that with Churchill.
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 Winston Churchill’s government in
the years 1951 to 1955.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2M Turn over ►
Question Paper & Mark Scheme (Merged) Friday 6 June 2025 [VERIFIED]
IB/M/Jun25/G4007/V6 7042/2M
, 2
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From an article by Hugh Massingham in ‘The Observer’, a centre-left newspaper,
22 June 1952. Massingham was a leading political commentator in Britain in the 1950s.
The real reason why the Conservatives are so anxious is that the government seems in a
muddle, unable to come up with popular policies. Many moderate Conservatives are saying
that Mr Churchill is the real cause of all the indecision. Certainly he must take part of the
blame for the government lacking direction. There has never been a
Prime Minister who has dominated his colleagues as he has done. Mr Churchill no doubt has 5
his faults, but he is still a giant and makes many of his colleagues look like pygmies. There are
also some MPs who are by no means certain that Mr Eden would be an improvement, even if
supported by Mr Butler and Mr Macmillan. The crisis in the Conservative Party is not only
over policy but also over conflicting personalities and ambitions. Although it is impossible to
believe in any organised rebellion, at least at the moment, it does not follow that Mr Churchill 10
can entirely ignore the genuine disquiet in his party.
Source B
From the diary of Anthony Eden, 22 December 1952.
Source B cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source B is Eden arguing that Churchill seems constantly to want to push back his
resignation.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2M
, 3
Source C
From an article entitled ‘Encounters with Winston Churchill’ by Russell Brain, a distinguished
neurologist, in 1966. It was published in ‘Medical History’, a prestigious academic journal,
shortly after Churchill’s death.
I first saw Churchill as a patient in 1949 when he had had a minor stroke and, subsequently,
following his more serious stroke in June 1953, which was kept hidden from the public. Eden
was also seriously ill at this time and it was thought that Butler would have become Prime
Minister if Churchill had had to resign. By late July, Churchill’s condition was improving. He
struck me as a man of great personality and stature with enormous willpower, with much 5
still to offer the nation. He invariably only wanted to discuss foreign affairs at our meetings
and was convinced that after filling in for Eden as Foreign Secretary, Britain’s influence in the
world had naturally increased. It was clear he believed it was his duty to go on as leader.
He still had ‘his bite’, he told me. I have always made it a practice to write down afterwards
the detail of conversations I had with people whose conversation was worth recording, and I 10
did that with Churchill.
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 Winston Churchill’s government in
the years 1951 to 1955.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2M Turn over ►
