Study (sources H and J) and explain how useful they are... (12 marks)
This type of question is focussing on the value of two sources for the study of a particular feature of the Cold War.
Example:
How useful are sources H and J to a historian studying the Berlin Crisis of 1961? Explain your answer using sources H and J and your contextual knowledge.
Source H (image right): Berlin, Germany, 15 August 1961: An elderly woman tries to escape through her window to reach the street underneath, which is part of West Berlin. Some men try to pull her back into the house. The house was located right at the sector border in the eastern part of Berlin.
Source J: From a discussion that President Kennedy had with his senior foreign policy Walt Rostow in early August 1961.
鈥淜hrushchev is losing East Germany. He cannot let that happen. If East Germany goes, so will Poland and all of Eastern Europe. He will have to do something to stop the flow of refugees鈥攑erhaps a wall. And we won鈥檛 be able to prevent it. I can hold the Alliance together to defend West Berlin but I cannot act to keep East Berlin open.鈥
Tips:
What鈥檚 more important for this question is how you use the sources, rather than for the length of your written answer 鈥 quality over quantity!
You should make a few clear simple reasoned statements about the value of each source to a historian wanting to understand that particular historical situation.
You also need to discuss the value of the sources more critically and to consider them both in connection to their nature, origin and purpose. You will need to use contextual knowledge to do this (for example, the context of the time in which source was created, place, author鈥檚 situation, knowledge, beliefs, circumstances, access to information, purpose and audience).