AQA
A-level
HISTORY
7042/2L
Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
Version: 1.0 Final
IB/M/Jun23/E4 7042/2L
A-level
HISTORY
Component 2L
... [Show More] Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
Friday 9 June 2023 Afternoon 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
7042/2L.
• 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.
2
IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L
Section A
Answer Question 01.
Source A
From the war memoirs of an army officer, Ardengo Soffici, published 1919. Soffici was a
Nationalist and supported the war. He witnessed the defeat at Caporetto in 1917.
Immediately after the defeat at Caporetto, what struck me most was the calm of many of
the soldiers. Some lay stretched out in the sun, enjoying the deep sleep of young men.
Being peasants, others were wandering around examining carefully the nature of the
crops and the soil. Are these beaten men? No! Are they deserters, rebels or traitors?
No! Are they – let us be honest – cowards? No! The soldiers are victims. The soldiers
are uncomprehending. The soldiers are deceived. There is no evil in them. Italy is like a
flower; a flower which is dying because its roots are in very poor soil. The evil which is
destroying Italy is in the roots and the soil. The evil is the humiliation and
embarrassment caused by the politicians in Rome who divide, cause disagreements, lie
and bicker. The government has abandoned us. The evil is everywhere but not here at
the front. Here there is only suffering.
5
10
Source B
From an article by Benito Mussolini, published in his newspaper, ‘Il Popolo D’Italia’,
15 December 1917. This was after the defeat at Caporetto.
What an immense moral force is contained in the patriotic spirit of the soldiers who return
from Caporetto. The disabled veterans today are the first of the great Italian army to
return. They await the homecoming of their brothers-in-arms: millions of demobilised
soldiers. This enormous mass of men is bound to cause shifts in the balance of our
society. The brutal and bloody training of the trenches will mean more courage, more
faith, and more determination. The old parties and the old men who, in the future, carry
on as if nothing has happened, will be swept aside. We observe with contempt
everything which is said and done by the old windbags who govern us. The Italy of today
has been created in the trenches at Caporetto. The millions of workers who return from
the trenches will realise the importance of class and nation. Our movement is gathering
together the soldiers’ passions, and we will be with them to see that the highest justice is
done.
5
10
3
IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L Turn over ►
Source C
From ‘Memoirs of My Life’ by Giovanni Giolitti, published 1923. In 1915 Giolitti was
against the war but after Caporetto he returned to parliament to support the Liberal
government.
Caporetto was a great misfortune, but it served to awaken in the whole country a sense
of the gravity of the situation and the necessity for facing it in a spirit of strict discipline.
An improvement set in, not only in public morale but also in the army, with the
replacement of General Cardona by General Diaz as supreme commander. Cardona
had launched the unworthy accusation of cowardice against our soldiers after their two
and a half years of exemplary self-denial and cruel sacrifices. The effect of the changed
method in treating the soldiers was seen in the great victory of Vittorio Veneto. This
victory signified the definite overthrow of the Austrian army and the destruction of the
empire of the Habsburgs. And when this end came, no one rejoiced more than I, who
had clearly foreseen the frightful consequences which the war would have had for Italy
had it not terminated in a complete and definite victory.
5
10
0 1 With reference to these sources and your understanding of the historical context,
assess the value of these three sources to an historian studying the impact of the
defeat at Caporetto for Italy.
[30 marks]
Turn over for Section B
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IB/M/Jun23/7042/2L
Section B
Answer two questions.
0 2 To what extent was the successful establishment of the Fascist state, in the years 1922
to 1929, due to the appeal of Fascist ideology?
[25 marks]
0 3 To what extent was Mussolini committed to peace in Europe in the years 1933 to
1938?
[25 marks]
0 4 ‘The most important reason for the collapse of Fascism in Italy was the weaknesses of
Mussolini’s Salo Republic in the years 1943 to 1945.’
Assess the validity of this view.
[25 marks]
END OF QUESTIONS
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*236A7042/2L*
A-level
HISTORY
7042/2L
Component 2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
Mark scheme
June 2023
Version: 1.0 Final
*236A7042/2L/MS*
MARK SCHEME – A-LEVEL HISTORY – 7042/2L – JUNE 2023
2
Mark schemes are prepared by the Lead Assessment Writer and considered, together with the relevant
questions, by a panel of subject teachers. This mark scheme includes any amendments made at the
standardisation events which all associates participate in and is the scheme which was used by them in
this examination. The standardisation process ensures that the mark scheme covers the students’
responses to questions and that every associate understands and applies it in the same correct way.
As preparation for standardisation each associate analyses a number of students’ scripts. Alternative
answers not already covered by the mark scheme are discussed and legislated for. If, after the
standardisation process, associates encounter unusual answers which have not been raised they are
required to refer these to the Lead Examiner.
It must be stressed that a mark scheme is a working d [Show Less]