2024 AQA A-Level HISTORY 7042/1J Component 1J The British Empire, c1857–1967 Verified Question paper and Marking Scheme Attached

2024 AQA A-Level HISTORY 7042/1J Component 1J The British Empire, c1857–1967 Verified Question paper and Marking Scheme Attached A-level HISTORY Component 1J The British Empire, c1857–1967 Thursday 23 May 2024 Materials For this paper you must have: • an AQA 16-page answer book. Instructions • Use black ink or black ball-point pen. Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes • Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is 7042/1J. • 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/Jun24/7042/1J Section A Answer Question 01. Extract A During the interwar period, the old arguments that Britain needed India no longer carried much weight. It was pointless to regard the Indian army as vital for British power in Asia. The economic ties between the two countries had been effectively severed between the wars. It was between the wars that India’s tentative steps towards self-government had been accompanied by an economic revolution. British investment in India fell and imports from Britain also declined. The Lancashire cotton industry was squeezed out of India which had previously been a captive and highly profitable market. British manufacturers who exported to India were also under pressure and conceded the Indian market to rivals. In the 1940s, the economic cost of India increased as Britain agreed to pay the bulk of the costs of India’s war effort. At the same time, Britain had become indebted to the United States and faced a spiralling balance of payment deficit. By 1947, India had ceased to be a commercial asset to Britain of any kind. Adapted from L James, Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India, 1997 5 10 Extract B The First World War was clearly a turning-point in Indian politics and in the imperial connection. The crucial contribution that India played in the war, and the public assertion by Britain that the war was being fought to defend the rights of nations, raised Indian aspirations for appropriate recognition within the Empire. At the same time, the British became aware of the fragility of the Raj and recognised that some kind of political reform would be necessary. The Second World War was even more crucial for India than the First had been. It precipitated the ultimate crisis for British rule and for the identity of India as an independent nation. Despite Britain’s determination to hold India for the war effort, the British after 1945 calculated that an alliance with a free India within the Commonwealth was preferable to continued occupation. From 1945 to 1947, Britain’s aim was to quit India peacefully and honourably, leaving behind a strong and united country. Adapted from JM Brown, The Oxford History of the British Empire: The Twentieth Century, 1999 5 10 3 Extract C In 1918, the British government was already under intense pressure from an extremely vigorous nationalist movement, which was to grow even stronger in the years ahead. The end of war in 1918 also saw the emergence of Gandhi which meant that there was now a leader who could ensure Indian nationalism became a unified force. The mobilisation of masses of Indians to support Gandhi’s campaigns was extremely impressive and there could be no doubt that Indian nationalism became a popular force. The Indian people over the next two decades were asked by Gandhi to take non-violent action – strikes, protest marches and a refusal to cooperate with the government. As a result, the concessions Britain made between the two World Wars were ones forced upon them by nationalist pressure. However, it was the Second World War which created the conditions under which nationalism could be contained no longer and an independent India became inevitable. Adapted from PJ Marshall, British Empire, 1996 5 10 0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the arguments in these three extracts are in relation to Britain and India in the years 1914 to 1947. [30 marks] Turn over for Section B IB/M/Jun24/7042/1J Turn over ► 4 IB/M/Jun24/7042/1J Section B Answer two questions. 0 2 ‘British expansion in southern Africa, in the years 1867 to 1890, was driven by economic interests.’ Assess the validity of this view. [25 marks] 0 3 In the years 1875 to 1898, to what extent was British involvement in Egypt and the Sudan motivated by a desire to protect the Suez Canal? [25 marks] 0 4 ‘The Empire and Commonwealth remained economically very important to Britain throughout the years 1947 to 1967.’ Assess the validity of this view. [25 marks] END OF QUESTIONS A-level HISTORY 7042/1J Component 1J The British Empire, c1857–1967 Mark scheme June 2024 Version: 1.0 Final MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/1J – JUNE 2024 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. No student should be disadvantaged on the basis of their gender identity and/or how they refer to the gender identity of others in their exam responses. A consistent use of ‘they/them’ as a singular and pronouns beyond ‘she/her’ or ‘he/him’ will be credited in exam responses in line with existing mark scheme criteria. 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 © 2024 AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved. 2 MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/1J – JUNE 2024 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