The 8 Mark "Write an Account" Question: East & West (Q3) (AQA GCSE History)
Revision Note
Written by: Natasha Smith
Reviewed by: Bridgette Barrett
Summary of Question Three
Question Three requires you to explain the sequence or connections of the event or issue outlined
You also need to analyse how the event or issue impacted a wider development in the course
For the wider world depth study, this question will focus on cause and consequence
Amount of marks | 8 |
|---|---|
The time that you should spend on the question | No more than 10 minutes |
An example of the type of question you may encounter can be seen below:
In previous years, this question has focused on the following topics:
Year of Exam | Question Topic |
|---|---|
2018 | |
2019 | |
2020 | |
2021 | |
2022 | |
Sample 1 | Hungary in 1956 |
Sample 2 | The U-2 Spy Plane |
How to Explain Cause & Consequence
Cause and consequence is a second-order concept
Causes and consequences are like falling dominos.
The causes are what pushes the dominos over
For the example question, a cause of the events in Hungary was the unpopularity of Mátyás Rákosi
The consequences are the other dominos that fall
For the example question, a consequence of the events in Hungary was the lack of US intervention to protect Hungary
Cause and consequence can be directly linked and can be used to help explain the relationship between events, issues or developments
Cause
A cause in history is usually something that resulted in an event or issue to happen
For example, a cause of the developments of the Cold War in the 1960s was the Berlin Wall
There can be multiple causes of a single event
Some can be short-term and long-term
A cause does not always have to be something which happened before the event or issue happened
For example, a cause of tension in the space race was the interest of both the USA and the USSR to use space technology to build missiles
Consequence
A consequence in history is something which has happened in response to the cause
Consequences can be:
Different for different groups of people
E.g. the consequences of the Yalta and Potsdam conferences affected the countries in Europe in different ways
Short and long-term
Both positive and negative
When explaining cause and consequences you may want to use causation connectives such as:
Due to
As a result
Consequently
For the wider depth study, you may want to revise key events by organising them into cause and consequence, as it will help you to answer this question
“Write an Account” Question Structure
Your answer should consist of:
Specific and relevant knowledge
A demonstration of the cause and consequence of the event or issue
An explanation of how the event or issue mentioned in the question impacted the wider development of the topic
Your answers could be written in PEE paragraphs:
P- Make a point about the question
E- Include knowledge to support the point you have made
Focused on the group or development mentioned in the question
Show knowledge to demonstrate cause and/or consequence
E- Explain the question
Focus on the key demands of the questions
Include a complex explanation showing your understanding of cause and/or consequence
To achieve full marks, you need to repeat this structure
It is tempting in this question to write your answer like a story, do not do this
The question is asking you to explain the causes and consequences
Worked Example of a "Write an Account" Question
Worked Example
Write an account of how events in Hungary during 1956 affected the Cold War.
[8 marks]
Answer:
One way the events in Hungary affected the Cold War is that it demonstrated how important the sphere of influence was to the USSR. Throughout 1956, Hungary was politically unstable as they had Mátyás Rákosi replaced by Ernő Gerő due to his unpopularity with the Hungarian people. However, Ernő Gerő was more unpopular resulting in a student uprising in October 1956, and was replaced by Imre Nagy. Nagy introduced reforms allowing freedom of speech and elections. He also wanted Hungary to leave the Warsaw Pact. Nagy’s plan to withdraw from the Warsaw Pact resulted in the USSR sending approximately 60,000 troops into Hungary removing Nagy. This affected the Cold War as it demonstrated the USSR’s strong desire to maintain the sphere of influence and protect the USSR from the West by force, which continued throughout the Cold War.
Another way the Hungarian uprising affected the Cold War was the USA's lack of interest in a direct conflict with the USSR. The Hungarian leader Nagy wanted to leave the Warsaw Pact as he wanted a more liberal form of Communism. Nagy expected the USA to support it, however, the USA did not support Hungary as they did not want to risk conflict with the USSR. This resulted in the USSR regaining control over Hungary and killing 30,000 Hungarian protestors. Therefore the events in Hungary in 1956 showed that the USA did not want to have a direct conflict with the USSR as they did not want to risk a costly conflict. This desire to avoid a direct conflict continued throughout the Cold War.
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