Finding a pathway through

MULTI SOURCE QUESTIONS

• You will be required to show knowledge and understanding, compare historical sources, evaluate the reliability of sources and evaluate their contribution to the historical issue, resulting in an overall judgement.

QUESTION FORMAT

• Questions in the Multi Source will take three types:

1. Compare Sources B and D .How do these show contrasting views about....? [8]
2. Study sources A and B. How reliable are Sources A and B as evidence of.....? [16]
3. How useful are the sources to an understanding of...? [24]

• Again there is a hierarchy of difficulty here, going from comparison, to reliability, and then utility and judgement.

• You should spend about 55 minutes on this question.

• So the targets are clear. Now lets look at an example consider an approach to answering the questions, and understand the way in which the questions will be assessed.

THE MULTI SOURCE:

1) German foreign policy & involvement in the Second World War

Study the sources below carefully and answer the questions based upon them.

Source A

“ Danzig is not the subject of the dispute at all. It is a question of expanding our living space in the East, of securing our food supplies, and of the settlement of the Baltic problem... There is no question of sparing Poland ... The idea that we can get off cheaply is dangerous ... It is no longer a question of right or wrong, but of life and death for 80 million people.”

(Hitler in a speech to his generals, May 1939)

Source B

“After supper, Hitler called the group together. “We are going to conclude a non-aggression pact with Russia. Here, read this, a telegram from Stalin”. To see the names of Hitler and Stalin linked in friendship on a piece of paper was the most exciting turn of events I could have imagined. Afterwards, we were shown a film showing a Red Army parade. Hitler expressed his pleasure that this military might would not be used against him.”

(Albert Speer recalls the signing of the

Soviet-German agreement of August 1939)

Source C

“Apparently the announcement of a Soviet-German Agreement is taken in some quarters in Berlin to indicate that intervention by Great Britain on behalf of Poland is no longer a consideration that need to be reckoned with. No greater mistake could be made.”

(Neville Chamberlain in a note to Hitler, August 1939)

Source D

David Low cartoon courtesy of Evening Standard, September 1939

Source E

“He gave his word that he wanted no Polish provinces; he broke it. He has sworn to you for years that he was the mortal enemy of Bolshevism; he is now its ally. Can you wonder that his word, for us, is not worth the paper its written on.”.

(Neville Chamberlain in the House of Commons on 3rd September 1939)

(a) Compare sources B and C. How do these sources show contrasting views of the aims of the Soviet-German Agreement of August 1939? (8)

(b) Study Sources D and E. How reliable are sources D and E to an historian as evidence of the relations between Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939? (16)

(c) How useful are the sources to an understanding of the events which led to the outbreak of war in September 1939? (You are advised to use in your answer relevant background knowledge as well as information derived from the source) [ 24 ]

GUIDANCE

I again advise a systematic approach to answering this question, which in turn will lead to quality of response.

• There will be a choice of question, so you should look at question( c) in both in order to determine the nature of the topic- you will not have enough time to read both sets of sources in detail. Make up your mind which question you will answer and then commit yourself to it. Forget about the other question.

• Then consider your knowledge of the topic chosen, and make a list of the key issues related to the topic.

• Then you should read the sources and at the same time consider their attribution (i.e. date, author, circumstances and content, and think of a positive and negative interpretation of the source). Again carry out your verbal autopsy of the sources, highlighting key words , phrases and ideas. Already you are starting to think about what isn’t included in the sources, and their reliability.[This may take 10-15 minutes]

• You should now start answering the questions.

• In question (a) you are required to make a comparison. Remember to underline the key words in the question. In this case “contrasting views”, “aims of Soviet -German agreement.” You should begin by making some analytical statements regarding the aims of the agreement, this will come from your wider knowledge of the issue. Then you should compare the interpretations in the sources, making good use of the content. Take care not to simply say what is in each source, if you do this you are not comparing!! When you compare, you should consider the formula V=DAC 2 .

• In question (b) you are asked to assess the reliability of the sources. Apply V=DAC 2 , say something positive and negative about the sources in relation to the issue.

• In question (c) again identify the issue, in this case, “events which led to the outbreak of war”, but remember, you will be asked to evaluate the sources within the context of the issue. In your answer, you should show what each of the sources confirms, contradicts, or leaves out in terms of the issue. You will thus point out the relative contribution of each of the different sources to the issue. This may well depend upon when the sources were written, who wrote them, why they were written and what they have to say. Make an analytical comment and then support it from within the sources. Then point out what the sources don’t tell you. Don’t start with “The source says”.
• So in (a) to reach a level 2 [5-8 marks] you should contrast the views of Hitler and Chamberlain. Obviously you will have knowledge and understanding of their aims and views, and you will support these with detail from within the sources.

• In (b) Apply the formula to each source, in order to reach a level 2 [6-12 marks] e.g. Source D is a Low cartoon from 1939, which appeared in the “Evening Standard” in September 1939. It reveals the duplicity of Hitler and Stalin in reaching an agreement when they were so ideologically opposed. However, Low is clever to point out that this agreement may only be temporary, for there was much distrust between them, indicated in their attitude to each other in the source. Even though this is probably a reliable and accurate interpretation of events, it is still a British interpretation of events. Also remember that a cartoon is an interpretation at a moment in time. It is very unlikely to give us an overall view of events or show how the position developed. Possibly it reveals the bias and distortion of the cartoonist and yet it still could reveal the wider public and governmental position at that time. etc. Then you repeat the formula for source E, and again apply V=DAC 2 .

• Finally in (c) to reach a level 3 [17-24 marks], you should point out the strengths and weaknesses of the sources, and what they confirm, contradict and leave out about the issue. An overview of the Reliability of the evidence is also worth comment here. So, you might comment that, the sources give a fair picture of the Nazi -Soviet Pact, (explain why, with support from the sources) but fail to consider Hitler’s stated need for Lebensraum, the aims of German foreign policy in the period, and her subsequent aggressive attitude, (Czechoslovakia) etc, appeasement etc. etc.