“Territorial disputes were the main cause of wars.” Discuss with reference to two wars, each chosen from a different region.

The question requires that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the role of territorial disputes in causing two 20th-century wars, each chosen from a different region. Candidates may refer to disputes over borders; rival claims to colonial territory; competition over access to resource-rich territory; the desire to recover lands lost in the settlement of previous conflicts. Examples may include French revanchism as a cause of the First World War; the Japanese occupation of China that led to the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific; the dispute over borders leading to the Italo-Abyssinian War and also the Chaco War in Latin America; or the secession of resource-rich Katanga as a cause of the Congolese civil war. Candidates must clearly identify the link between the territorial dispute and the causes of the wars chosen as examples and it is important to note that this must remain the focus of the question, although other relevant causes may be mentioned. These may include causes such as ideology as for expansion; demands for self-determination; and opportunism. Candidates’ opinions and conclusions will be presented clearly and supported by appropriate evidence.

The question required that candidates offer a considered and balanced review of the role of territorial disputes in causing two 20th century wars, each chosen from a different region. This was a popular question but, rather too often, candidates who chose the First World War as an example, resorted to outlining all the main causes, both long and short-term. There were some responses that referred to rivalry in the Balkans, although few demonstrated the requisite knowledge and understanding to make effective links to the question. There were some excellent responses however with sound knowledge of relevant events and good linkage made to the causes of the chosen wars. Weaker responses demonstrated limited understanding of the question by describing the fighting over territory during the war itself.