AQA A-level HISTORY 7042/2L Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 Version: 1.0 Final IB/M/Jun23/E4 7042/2L A-level HISTORY Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 Friday 9 June 2023 QUESTION PAPER & MARKING SCHEME/ [MERGED] Mark scheme June 2023

AQA A-level HISTORY 7042/2L Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 Version: 1.0 Final IB/M/Jun23/E4 7042/2L A-level HISTORY Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 Friday 9 June 2023 Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes Materials For this paper you must have: • an AQA 16-page answer book. Instructions • Use black ink or black ball-point pen. • Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7042/2L. • Answer three questions. In Section A answer Question 01. In Section B answer two questions. Information • The marks for questions are shown in brackets. • The maximum mark for this paper is 80. • You will be marked on your ability to: – use good English – organise information clearly – use specialist vocabulary where appropriate. Advice • You are advised to spend about: – 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A – 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B. 2 IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L Section A Answer Question 01. Source A From the war memoirs of an army officer, Ardengo Soffici, published 1919. Soffici was a Nationalist and supported the war. He witnessed the defeat at Caporetto in 1917. Immediately after the defeat at Caporetto, what struck me most was the calm of many of the soldiers. Some lay stretched out in the sun, enjoying the deep sleep of young men. Being peasants, others were wandering around examining carefully the nature of the crops and the soil. Are these beaten men? No! Are they deserters, rebels or traitors? No! Are they – let us be honest – cowards? No! The soldiers are victims. The soldiers are uncomprehending. The soldiers are deceived. There is no evil in them. Italy is like a flower; a flower which is dying because its roots are in very poor soil. The evil which is destroying Italy is in the roots and the soil. The evil is the humiliation and embarrassment caused by the politicians in Rome who divide, cause disagreements, lie and bicker. The government has abandoned us. The evil is everywhere but not here at the front. Here there is only suffering. 5 10 Source B From an article by Benito Mussolini, published in his newspaper, ‘Il Popolo D’Italia’, 15 December 1917. This was after the defeat at Caporetto. What an immense moral force is contained in the patriotic spirit of the soldiers who return from Caporetto. The disabled veterans today are the first of the great Italian army to return. They await the homecoming of their brothers-in-arms: millions of demobilised soldiers. This enormous mass of men is bound to cause shifts in the balance of our society. The brutal and bloody training of the trenches will mean more courage, more faith, and more determination. The old parties and the old men who, in the future, carry on as if nothing has happened, will be swept aside. We observe with contempt everything which is said and done by the old windbags who govern us. The Italy of today has been created in the trenches at Caporetto. The millions of workers who return from the trenches will realise the importance of class and nation. Our movement is gathering together the soldiers’ passions, and we will be with them to see that the highest justice is done. 5 10 3 IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L Turn over ► Source C From ‘Memoirs of My Life’ by Giovanni Giolitti, published 1923. In 1915 Giolitti was against the war but after Caporetto he returned to parliament to support the Liberal government. Caporetto was a great misfortune, but it served to awaken in the whole country a sense of the gravity of the situation and the necessity for facing it in a spirit of strict discipline. An improvement set in, not only in public morale but also in the army, with the replacement of General Cardona by General Diaz as supreme commander. Cardona had launched the unworthy accusation of cowardice against our soldiers after their two and a half years of exemplary self-denial and cruel sacrifices. The effect of the changed method in treating the soldiers was seen in the great victory of Vittorio Veneto. This victory signified the definite overthrow of the Austrian army and the destruction of the empire of the Habsburgs. And when this end came, no one rejoiced more than I, who had clearly foreseen the frightful consequences which the war would have had for Italy had it not terminated in a complete and definite victory. 5 10 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 the impact of the defeat at Caporetto for Italy. [30 marks] Turn over for Section B 4 IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L Section B Answer two questions. 0 2 To what extent was the successful establishment of the Fascist state, in the years 1922 to 1929, due to the appeal of Fascist ideology? [25 marks] 0 3 To what extent was Mussolini committed to peace in Europe in the years 1933 to 1938? [25 marks] 0 4 ‘The most important reason for the collapse of Fascism in Italy was the weaknesses of Mussolini’s Salo Republic in the years 1943 to 1945.’ Assess the validity of this view. [25 marks] END OF QUESTIONS Copyright information For confidentiality purposes, all acknowledgements of third-party copyright material are published in a separate booklet. This booklet is published after each live examination series and is available for free download from Permission to reproduce all copyright material has been applied for. In some cases, efforts to contact copyright-holders may have been unsuccessful and AQA will be happy to rectify any omissions of acknowledgements. If you have any queries please contact the Copyright Team. Copyright © 2023 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. *236A7042/2L* A-level HISTORY 7042/2L Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945 Mark scheme June 2023 Version: 1.0 Final *236A7042/2L/MS* MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/2L – JUNE 2023 2 Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the relevant questions, by a panel of subject teachers. This mark scheme includes any amendments made at the standardisation events which all associates participate in and is the scheme which was used by them in this examination. The standardisation process ensures that the mark scheme covers the students’ responses to questions and that every associate understands and applies it in the same correct way. As preparation for standardisation each associate analyses a number of students’ scripts. Alternative answers not already covered by the mark scheme are discussed and legislated for. If, after the standardisation process, associates encounter unusual answers which have not been raised they are required to refer these to the Lead Examiner. It must be stressed that a mark scheme is a working document, in many cases further developed and expanded on the basis of students’ reactions to a particular paper. Assumptions about future mark schemes on the basis of one year’s document should be avoided; whilst the guiding principles of assessment remain constant, details will change, depending on the content of a particular examination paper. Further copies of this mark scheme are available from Copyright information AQA retains the copyright on all its publications. However, registered schools/colleges for AQA are permitted to copy material from this booklet for their own internal use, with the following important exception: AQA cannot give permission to schools/colleges to photocopy any material that is acknowledged to a third party even for internal use within the centre. Copyright © 2023 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/2L – JUNE 2023 3 Level of response marking instructions Level of response mark schemes are broken down into levels, each of which has a descriptor. The descriptor for the level shows the average performance for the level. There are marks in each level. Before you apply the mark scheme to a student’s answer read through the answer and annotate it (as instructed) to show the qualities that are being looked for. You can then apply the mark scheme. Step 1 Determine a level Start at the lowest level of the mark scheme and use it as a ladder to see whether the answer meets the descriptor for that level. The descriptor for the level indicates the different qualities that might be seen in the student’s answer for that level. If it meets the lowest level then go to the next one and decide if it meets this level, and so on, until you have a match between the level descriptor and the answer. With practice and familiarity, you will find that for better answers you will be able to quickly skip through the lower levels of the mark scheme. When assigning a level, you should look at the overall quality of the answer and not look to pick holes in small and specific parts of the answer where the student has not performed quite as well as the rest. If the answer covers different aspects of different levels of the mark scheme you should use a best fit approach for defining the level and then use the variability of the response to help decide the mark within the level, ie if the response is predominantly Level 3 with a small amount of Level 4 material it would be placed in Level 3 but be awarded a mark near the top of the level because of the Level 4 content. Step 2 Determine a mark Once you have assigned a level you need to decide on the mark. The descriptors on how to allocate marks can help with this. The exemplar materials used during standardisation will help. There will be an answer in the standardising materials which will correspond with each level of the mark scheme. This answer will have been awarded a mark by the Lead Examiner. You can compare the student’s answer with the example to determine if it is the same standard, better or worse than the example. You can then use this to allocate a mark for the answer based on the Lead Examiner’s mark on the example. You may well need to read back through the answer as you apply the mark scheme to clarify points and assure yourself that the level and the mark are appropriate. Indicative content in the mark scheme is provided as a guide for examiners. It is not intended to be exhaustive and you must credit other valid points. Students do not have to cover all of the points mentioned in the Indicative content to reach the highest level of the mark scheme. An answer which contains nothing of relevance to the question must be awarded no marks. MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/2L – JUNE 2023 4 Section A 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 the impact of the defeat at Caporetto for Italy. [30 marks] Target: AO2 Analyse and evaluate appropriate source material, primary and/or contemporary to the period, within the historical context. Generic Mark Scheme L5: Shows a very good understanding of all three sources in relation to both content and provenance and combines this with a strong awareness of the historical context to present a balanced argument on their value for the particular purpose given in the question. The answer will convey a substantiated judgement. The response demonstrates a very good understanding of context. 25–30 L4: Shows a good understanding of all three sources in relation to both content and provenance and combines this with an awareness of the historical context to provide a balanced argument on their value for the particular purpose given in the question. Judgements may, however, be partial or limited in substantiation. The response demonstrates a good understanding of context. 19–24 L3: Shows some understanding of all three sources in relation to both content and provenance together with some awareness of the historical context. There may, however, be some imbalance in the degree of breadth and depth of comment offered on all three sources and the analysis may not be fully convincing. The answer will make some attempt to consider the value of the sources for the particular purpose given in the question. The response demonstrates an understanding of context. 13–18 L2: The answer will be partial. It may, for example, provide some comment on the value of the sources for the particular purpose given in the question but only address one or two of the sources, or focus exclusively on content (or provenance), or it may consider all three sources but fail to address the value of the sources for the particular purpose given in the question. The response demonstrates some understanding of context. 7–12 L1: The answer will offer some comment on the value of at least one source in relation to the purpose given in the question but the response will be limited and may be partially inaccurate. Comments are likely to be unsupported, vague or generalist. The response demonstrates limited understanding of context. 1–6 Nothing worthy of credit. 0 MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/2L – JUNE 2023 5 Indicative content Note: This content is not prescriptive and students are not obliged to refer to the material contained in this mark scheme. Any legitimate answer will be assessed on its merits according to the generic levels scheme. Students must deploy knowledge of the historical context to show an understanding of the relationship between the sources and the issues raised in the question, when assessing the significance of provenance, the arguments deployed in the sources and the tone and emphasis of the sources. Descriptive answers which fail to do this should be awarded no more than Level 2 at best. Answers should address both the value and the limitations of the sources for the particular question and purpose given. Source A: in assessing the value of this source, students may refer to the following: Provenance, tone and emphasis • the author is valuable as Soffici experienced the war and witnessed the defeat at Caporetto directly. A weakness of the source is that he was a supporter of the war and biased against the liberal government, the ‘politicians in Rome’ who are ‘evil’. The context would be knowledge of the new political movements • the source is a memoir, so Soffici is perhaps trying to justify his choice to support the war. A strength of this memoir is that it was written immediately after the war, and so shows his view of the liberal government at that time • the source emphasises the potential strength of the Italian army and the weakness of the government. It is the government which is weakening Italy. This reflects the Nationalist background of Soffici • the tone is admiring of the soldiers, of the ‘young men’ who had been ‘d