2025 AQA A-Level HISTORY 7042/2T
Component 2T The Crisis of Communism: the USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Question paper and Marking scheme Merged
A-level
HISTORY
Component 2T The Crisis of Communism: the USSR and the
Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Friday 6 June 2025 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
7042/2T.
• 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
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From the ‘Twenty-One Demands’ put forward to the Polish government by Lech Walesa,
leader of the Gdansk strike committee, August 1980.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source A is from the Twenty-one demands which present the socio-economic
difficulties that existed in Poland at this time.
Source B
From a report of a meeting of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in
Moscow about the situation in Poland, 23 April 1981.
There is a crisis in Poland. The Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP) has lost control.
Solidarity has turned into an organised political force capable of taking power into its own
hands. The opposition has not yet gone that far, because it fears that Soviet troops will
be brought in; it hopes to achieve its aims without bloodshed. We must evaluate the
effectiveness of the Polish leadership and decide what forces we can rely on to defend 5
socialism in Poland. While Kania and Jaruzelski talk about the necessity of defending
socialism in Poland, they are doing so passively, hesitating and making concessions to
Solidarity. However, there are at present no other figures capable of leading. We must
therefore continue to support comrades Kania and Jaruzelski. We must try to get more
decisive action from them in order to overcome the crisis. In view of the difficult 10
economic situation in Poland, we must intensify our propaganda, so that every Pole
knows how dependent the country is on Soviet support.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T
, 3
Source C
From the announcement of martial law in Poland, on Warsaw Radio, by
Wojciech Jaruzelski, leader of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP),
13 December 1981.
Citizens. Great is the burden of responsibility that falls on me at this dramatic moment in
Polish history. Poland’s future is at stake. I announce that today a Military Council of
National Salvation has been established. At midnight martial law was introduced
throughout the country. I want everyone to understand the motives and aims of our
action. We are not striving for a military dictatorship. No Polish problem, in the long run, 5
can be solved through force. The Military Council of National Salvation is not replacing
constitutional organisations. Its sole task is the protection of legal order in the country
and the creation of guarantees that will make it possible to restore order and discipline.
At this difficult moment, I address our socialist allies. We value their trust and aid. The
Polish-Soviet alliance is, and will remain, the cornerstone of our national interest. Poland 10
is, and will remain, a lasting link in the Warsaw Pact, an unfailing member of the socialist
community of nations.
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 unrest in Poland in
1980/81.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T Turn over ►
Component 2T The Crisis of Communism: the USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Question paper and Marking scheme Merged
A-level
HISTORY
Component 2T The Crisis of Communism: the USSR and the
Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Friday 6 June 2025 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
7042/2T.
• 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
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From the ‘Twenty-One Demands’ put forward to the Polish government by Lech Walesa,
leader of the Gdansk strike committee, August 1980.
Source A cannot be reproduced here due to third-party copyright restrictions
Source A is from the Twenty-one demands which present the socio-economic
difficulties that existed in Poland at this time.
Source B
From a report of a meeting of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in
Moscow about the situation in Poland, 23 April 1981.
There is a crisis in Poland. The Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP) has lost control.
Solidarity has turned into an organised political force capable of taking power into its own
hands. The opposition has not yet gone that far, because it fears that Soviet troops will
be brought in; it hopes to achieve its aims without bloodshed. We must evaluate the
effectiveness of the Polish leadership and decide what forces we can rely on to defend 5
socialism in Poland. While Kania and Jaruzelski talk about the necessity of defending
socialism in Poland, they are doing so passively, hesitating and making concessions to
Solidarity. However, there are at present no other figures capable of leading. We must
therefore continue to support comrades Kania and Jaruzelski. We must try to get more
decisive action from them in order to overcome the crisis. In view of the difficult 10
economic situation in Poland, we must intensify our propaganda, so that every Pole
knows how dependent the country is on Soviet support.
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T
, 3
Source C
From the announcement of martial law in Poland, on Warsaw Radio, by
Wojciech Jaruzelski, leader of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PUWP),
13 December 1981.
Citizens. Great is the burden of responsibility that falls on me at this dramatic moment in
Polish history. Poland’s future is at stake. I announce that today a Military Council of
National Salvation has been established. At midnight martial law was introduced
throughout the country. I want everyone to understand the motives and aims of our
action. We are not striving for a military dictatorship. No Polish problem, in the long run, 5
can be solved through force. The Military Council of National Salvation is not replacing
constitutional organisations. Its sole task is the protection of legal order in the country
and the creation of guarantees that will make it possible to restore order and discipline.
At this difficult moment, I address our socialist allies. We value their trust and aid. The
Polish-Soviet alliance is, and will remain, the cornerstone of our national interest. Poland 10
is, and will remain, a lasting link in the Warsaw Pact, an unfailing member of the socialist
community of nations.
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 unrest in Poland in
1980/81.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
IB/M/Jun25/7042/2T Turn over ►
