Edexcel International GCSE History: every topic, by paper

When did Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicate?

9 November 1918.

Why was the new republic called the Weimar Republic?

Its constitution was drawn up in Weimar in 1919, because Berlin was too dangerous.

Give two strengths of the Weimar Constitution.

Everyone over 20 could vote, including women, and it guaranteed rights such as free speech.

What was the full name of the Nazi Party?

The National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP).

How did the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 affect Germany?

American loans were recalled, businesses collapsed and unemployment rose to about 6 million by 1932.

How many Reichstag seats did the Nazis win in 1928, 1930 and July 1932?

12 in 1928, 107 in 1930 and 230 in July 1932, making them the largest party.

What was the SS?

The Schutzstaffel, originally Hitler's bodyguard, led by Heinrich Himmler; it became the Nazis' main force for terror and ran the concentration camps.

What was the Gestapo?

The Nazi secret police, who used informers, arrests and torture to find and remove opponents.

When and where was the first Nazi concentration camp opened?

Dachau, near Munich, in March 1933.

Who was the last Tsar of Russia?

Nicholas II.

What was Bloody Sunday (January 1905)?

Troops fired on peaceful protesters led by Father Gapon outside the Winter Palace in St Petersburg, killing many.

What did the October Manifesto (1905) promise?

An elected parliament (the Duma) and civil rights, which split the Tsar's opponents.

What post did Stalin hold that helped him win power?

General Secretary of the Communist Party (from 1922), which let him appoint his supporters to key posts.

What was Lenin's Testament?

Lenin's notes warning that Stalin was too rude and should be removed; it was not published.

How did Stalin defeat Trotsky?

He used his control of the party, presented Trotsky as divisive, and allied first with Zinoviev and Kamenev; Trotsky was expelled and exiled in 1929.

Give three causes of the US economic boom in the 1920s.

Mass production, new industries (cars, electrical goods), hire purchase and credit, advertising, and Republican policies of low tax and tariffs.

How did Henry Ford change car production?

He used the moving assembly line (from 1913), cutting the price of the Model T so millions could buy one.

What was laissez-faire?

The Republican policy that government should interfere as little as possible in business and the economy.

What was the Cold War?

A period of tension and rivalry between the USA and the USSR from about 1945 to 1991, without direct full-scale war between them.

What were the two ideologies of the Cold War?

Capitalism and democracy (USA) against communism and one-party rule (USSR).

Who attended the Yalta Conference in February 1945?

Roosevelt (USA), Churchill (Britain) and Stalin (USSR).

What happened in Hungary in 1956?

Imre Nagy's government planned reforms, including leaving the Warsaw Pact; Soviet tanks crushed the uprising in November 1956.

Why did the West not help Hungary in 1956?

It did not want to risk nuclear war with the USSR, and Britain and France were distracted by the Suez crisis.

What was the U-2 incident (May 1960)?

An American spy plane flown by Gary Powers was shot down over the USSR, wrecking the Paris summit.

When and where was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated?

28 June 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by Gavrilo Princip.

Which countries formed the Triple Entente before 1914?

Britain, France and Russia.

Which countries formed the Triple Alliance before 1914?

Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

Who was John Snow?

A doctor who showed in 1854 that cholera spread through contaminated water, by mapping deaths around the Broad Street pump in London.

What did Louis Pasteur discover?

Germ theory (1861): microorganisms (germs) cause decay and disease.

What did Robert Koch discover?

Methods to identify specific bacteria, including those causing anthrax, tuberculosis (1882) and cholera (1883).