AQA GCSE HISTORY PAPER 1 SECTION A/B
GERMANY 1890-1945 DEMOCRACY AND
DICTATORSHIP EXAM
(AUTHENTIC MARKING SCHEME ATTACHED)
GCSE
HISTORY
Paper 1 Section A/B: Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship
Interpretations Booklet
Interpretations A and B for use in answering Questions 01, 02 and 03
Interpretation A
Adapted from the autobiography of Irmgard Hunt, published in 2005, called ‘On Hitler’s Mountain’
. Hunt had middle-class parents who supported the Nazis. She was in the Nazi youth movement which her mother helped to
run. Her father was killed in the early years of the war when Germany invaded France. Hunt left Germany in 1958 to start a
new life, aged 24, in the USA
. The Nazis rose to power because of the promises that Hitler made to different groups. For years my family had become
poorer and Germans had been made to feel like beggars and scum. His promises of prosperity gained him followers.
Hitler also understood the power of patriotism. People listened eagerly to a man who said that Germany was a superior
nation. Furthermore, Hitler realised that creating fear of an enemy – the Jewish race – would win over desperate people,
including my parents.
5 Interpretation B
Adapted from an interview with Hans von Herwarth in 1987. Herwarth was a diplomat in the German Embassy in Moscow in
the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 he became a low-ranking officer in the German army. Herwarth was linked to the
July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler. After the war he went on to be Germany’s ambassador to Britain in 1955.
The Nazis gained power because the traditional parties failed, especially the Social Democrats. They were not used to
governing and did not try to block Brüning’s powers or actions. Despite the problem of high unemployment and hatred of
the Versailles Treaty, the traditional parties did not work together against the Nazis or the Communists. Worst of all, apart
from the Social Democrats, few Germans believed in or supported the Weimar Republic
. 5 END OF INTERPRETATIONS
*JUN2281451AB01*
IB/M/Jun22/E6 8145/1A/B
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Answer all six questions. box
Read Interpretations A and B in the Interpretations Booklet.
0 1 How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about the Nazis’ rise to
power?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
[4 marks]
4
*02*
IB/M/Jun22/8145/1A/B
, 3
Do not write
outside the
0 2 Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation box
about the Nazis’ rise to power?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.
[4 marks]
4
Turn over ►
*03*
IB/M/Jun22/8145/1A/B
GERMANY 1890-1945 DEMOCRACY AND
DICTATORSHIP EXAM
(AUTHENTIC MARKING SCHEME ATTACHED)
GCSE
HISTORY
Paper 1 Section A/B: Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship
Interpretations Booklet
Interpretations A and B for use in answering Questions 01, 02 and 03
Interpretation A
Adapted from the autobiography of Irmgard Hunt, published in 2005, called ‘On Hitler’s Mountain’
. Hunt had middle-class parents who supported the Nazis. She was in the Nazi youth movement which her mother helped to
run. Her father was killed in the early years of the war when Germany invaded France. Hunt left Germany in 1958 to start a
new life, aged 24, in the USA
. The Nazis rose to power because of the promises that Hitler made to different groups. For years my family had become
poorer and Germans had been made to feel like beggars and scum. His promises of prosperity gained him followers.
Hitler also understood the power of patriotism. People listened eagerly to a man who said that Germany was a superior
nation. Furthermore, Hitler realised that creating fear of an enemy – the Jewish race – would win over desperate people,
including my parents.
5 Interpretation B
Adapted from an interview with Hans von Herwarth in 1987. Herwarth was a diplomat in the German Embassy in Moscow in
the 1930s. When war broke out in 1939 he became a low-ranking officer in the German army. Herwarth was linked to the
July 1944 bomb plot against Hitler. After the war he went on to be Germany’s ambassador to Britain in 1955.
The Nazis gained power because the traditional parties failed, especially the Social Democrats. They were not used to
governing and did not try to block Brüning’s powers or actions. Despite the problem of high unemployment and hatred of
the Versailles Treaty, the traditional parties did not work together against the Nazis or the Communists. Worst of all, apart
from the Social Democrats, few Germans believed in or supported the Weimar Republic
. 5 END OF INTERPRETATIONS
*JUN2281451AB01*
IB/M/Jun22/E6 8145/1A/B
, 2
Do not write
outside the
Answer all six questions. box
Read Interpretations A and B in the Interpretations Booklet.
0 1 How does Interpretation B differ from Interpretation A about the Nazis’ rise to
power?
Explain your answer based on what it says in Interpretations A and B.
[4 marks]
4
*02*
IB/M/Jun22/8145/1A/B
, 3
Do not write
outside the
0 2 Why might the authors of Interpretations A and B have a different interpretation box
about the Nazis’ rise to power?
Explain your answer using Interpretations A and B and your contextual knowledge.
[4 marks]
4
Turn over ►
*03*
IB/M/Jun22/8145/1A/B
