“The impact of Cold War tensions was mainly economic.” Discuss with reference to two countries (excluding the USSR and the US).

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the statement. The two countries chosen (and these must exclude the USSR and the US) may or may not be drawn from the same region and the periods discussed may or may not have been contemporaneous with each other. Candidates may offer equal coverage of the impact of Cold Wartensions on both countries or they may emphasize their discussion of one of them; however, both countries will be a feature of the response. A comparative approach may or may not be used. Candidates may refer to the economic impact of the participation in or exclusion from aid programmes, for example the Marshall Plan, or the impact on commerce of trade links/limitation with rival countries. Candidates may also refer to internal conflicts lengthened by superpower involvement, such as the Vietnam War, and the associated war costs. While other relevant factors, for example social, political or cultural effects, may be referred to, the bulk of the response will remain on the issue raised in the question. Candidates may agree, partly agree or disagree with the statement.

The question required candidates to offer a considered and balanced review of the statement that the impact of Cold War tensions on two countries (excluding the US and the USSR) was mainly economic. This was a popular question with most candidates choosing Germany and Cuba as the two examples. Both countries were appropriate although candidates do need to have a sound grasp of what “Germany” consisted of at various stages of the Cold War and to be aware that Berlin is a city, but not a country. Even so, there was some relevant knowledge on the impact of Cold War tension on the economies of the different zones of post-war Germany. For Cuba, there was plenty of relevant material that could have been used to demonstrate the impact of the US embargo as well as Soviet aid, both before and after the collapse of the USSR. Few responses, however, demonstrated enough detailed, relevant knowledge to address this question effectively.