Upper Sixth
February 1972. Time: 3 hours
HISTORY
Paper I European History, 1494-1939. Answer FOUR questions including at least ONE from each of at least ~ of the sections (i)-(5).
Section (i) - 1494-1640.
1. What were the strengths and weaknesses of Spain at the death of Ferdinand in 1516?
2. Why did the French fail to establish hegemony in Italy during the period 1494-1559?
3. Why was there religious disunity in Germany at the end.. of the reign of the Emperor Charles V?
4. Describe and account for the growth of Ottoman power during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-66).
5. Discuss the opinion that the failure of Philip II to pursue conciliatory policies was the principal reason for the outbreak of the Dutch War of Independence in 1572.
6. Why was Henry IV a popular king in France?
7. To what extent did the Peace of Westphalia provide satisfactory solutions to the issues at stake in the Thirty Years War?
8. What were the principal causes and. consequences of the European price revolution during this period?
Section (2) - 1648-1715.
9. Why was Sweden's position as an important European power of short duration?
10. Louis XIV inherited everything that made him great.' Discuss this statement.
11. Why and with what consequences ga~ the Edict of Nantes revoked?
12. Discuss the importance of the Peace of Carlowitz (1699).
13. War of the Spanish Succession could have been avoided and was unnecessarily prolonged.' Discuss this statement.
14. Assess the importance of the reign of Peter the Groat to Russia.
Section (3) 1715- 1789
15. Explain why there was no lasting revival of Spanish power between 1715 and 1789.
16. Consider Frederick II?s contribution to the position of Prussia in 1786.
17. To what extent were the parlements responsible for undermining the power of the French monarchy during the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI?
18. Explain why the rulers of many Catholic countries were hostile to the ~ociety of Jesus in the eighteenth century.
19. 'If any rulir can be described as an Enlightened Despot it is Joseph II.' Discuss this statement.
20. Discuss the part played by Russia in the Partitions of Poland.
Section (4) - 1789-1870
21. 'The creative period of the French Revolution was over by 1793.' Discuss this statement.
22. 'The best that could be devised in 1015.' Discuss this comment on the Vienna Settlement.
23. Show how the d.eOline of the Ottoman Empire threatened the peace of Europe between 1815 and 1854.
24. Examine the domestic problems of Napoleon III after 1352 and. his success in solving them.
25. How successful was Alexander II in his attempts to modernise Russia?
26. 'Coal and iron not blood and. iron was responsible for the unification of Germany.' Discuss this statement.
Section (5) - 1870-1939
27. Discuss the motives which prompted European overseas expansion between 1870 and 1914.
28. How far did. the Third Republic provide France with a satisfactory system of goveriment before 1914?
29. Account for the defeat of Germany in the First World War.
30. Analyse the factors which promoted the growth of Fascism in Italy in the immediate post-war years.
31. 'A time of experiment rather than achievement. ' Discuss this comment on Soviet Russia between 1921 and 1928.
32. What were the causes of the outbreak of war in Europe in 1959?
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