AQA
A-level
HISTORY
7042/1G
Component 1G Challenge and transformation: Britain,
c1851–1964
Version: 1.0 Final
IB/M/Jun23/E4
... [Show More] 7042/1G
A-level
HISTORY
Component 1G Challenge and transformation: Britain, c1851–1964
Wednesday 24 May 2023 Morning Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes
Materials
For this paper you must have:
• an AQA 16-page answer book.
Instructions
• Use black ink or black ball-point pen.
• Write the information required on the front of your answer book. The Paper Reference is
7042/1G.
• Answer three questions.
In Section A answer Question 01.
In Section B answer two questions.
Information
• The marks for questions are shown in brackets.
• The maximum mark for this paper is 80.
• You will be marked on your ability to:
– use good English
– organise information clearly
– use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.
Advice
• You are advised to spend about:
– 1 hour on Question 01 from Section A
– 45 minutes on each of the two questions answered from Section B.
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IB/M/Jun23/7042/1G
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Extract A
In the years 1866 to 1894, Gladstone performed an immense political service to the
country and to the Liberal Party by integrating new working-class voters into the political
system. The ‘People’s William’ was the first prime minister the masses could identify with
and adore. As a result, there was no mass revolutionary socialist movement committed
to the overthrow of the state, as in other European countries. Instead, British politics
became more settled. The old political world was not totally overthrown, yet room was
made peacefully for the new. The triumph of free trade ensured cheap food and rising
living standards, which, for most ordinary Britons in the 1880s and 1890s, was of great
benefit. Furthermore, Gladstone implanted in the Liberal Party, and the political left in
general, a moral dimension to British politics. He showed that the language of morality
was a powerful political weapon when wielded by a master.
Adapted from M Pearce and G Stewart, British Political History 1867–1990, 1992
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10
Extract B
In the 1860s and 1870s, Gladstone’s reputation for radicalism was exaggerated. His
radical followers expected their support for him to be translated into precise reforms, yet
their expectations were to be disappointed. In 1880, the Liberals swept home in the
general election on a wave of moral righteousness against Disraeli’s foreign policy, but
little else. The Midlothian strategy and subsequent election victory, seemed unrelated to
the issues of radical politics, and the new administration staggered on without
achievement. However, by 1895, the Liberal Party had substantially resolved the
problems of the previous decades, having shaken free from the upper-class control that
had undermined its position as an opponent of privilege. Yet Gladstone’s role in all this is
ambiguous. Many of the changes in the party had come about in spite of Gladstone not
because of him. It had emerged that the Gladstonian formula based on low government
spending and low taxation would not work in the long run. In fact, Chamberlain’s
programme offered a more realistic way forward.
Adapted from M Pugh, The Making of Modern British Politics 1867–1939, 1993
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10
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IB/M/Jun23/7042/1G Turn over ►
Extract C
Gladstone converted to supporting Irish Home Rule in 1885 through political pragmatism
rather than through principle. Since 1868, Gladstone had used Ireland for his own
political requirements. He was not motivated by a positive and generous view of the
needs of the Irish people, but instead used Ireland as an issue which would unify the
Liberal Party. In 1885, therefore, Gladstone believed that the party needed a renewed
concentration on a single issue. It was to be Irish Home Rule that was the great cause
that could create order out of the deepening divisions within the party. Little did
Gladstone know that his policy was to deepen the very crisis within the party that he was
trying to overcome. By the 1890s, Gladstone’s preoccupation with Ireland had prevented
the Liberals from pursuing reform in Britain. Ireland was a distraction, crowding out the
measures with which parliament should have been occupying itself during a period of
social discontent.
Adapted from SJ Lee, Aspects of British Political History 1815–1914, 1994
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0 1 Using your understanding of the historical context, assess how convincing the
arguments in these three extracts are in relation to Gladstone’s impact on British
politics in the years 1866 to 1894.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
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Section B
Answer two questions.
0 2 ‘The most important reason why the British economy was weaker in 1929 than it had
been in 1900 was the impact of the First World War.’
Assess the validity of this view.
[25 marks]
0 3 To what extent was Conservative dominance in the years 1924 to 1945 due to the
weaknesses of their opponents?
[25 marks]
0 4 ‘By 1964, British society was as unequal as it had been in the 1930s.’
Assess the validity of this view [Show Less]