DS6 arc: alliance to Cold War to détente
DS6 runs from wartime alliance to early détente. Origins (1943-49): Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam gave way to mistrust, then the Iron Curtain (1946), Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan (1947) and Berlin Blockade (1948-49, beaten by airlift). Development (1949-61): NATO and the Warsaw Pact split Europe, Korea (1950-53) globalised it, Hungary was crushed (1956), the Berlin Wall rose (1961). Then the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), Prague Spring (1968), détente (SALT I, 1972).
DS6 debates: argue both sides, then judge
The 16-mark 'how far' questions turn on balanced debate. On WHO caused the Cold War: against the USSR, Stalin imposed communism in Eastern Europe, blockaded Berlin and built the Wall; against the USA, the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan looked to Moscow like aggression. On significance (e.g. Cuba), weigh it against others: Cuba came closest to nuclear war and brought the 1963 Test Ban Treaty, but the Wall and Korea also mattered. Set explicit criteria and judge.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Describe the event, not its effect
The 8-mark (b) asks for two EFFECTS, not description. Candidates with precise Korean War knowledge narrated the fighting but never related it to US-USSR relations: it globalised containment, hardened the two blocs, boosted the arms race, left Korea divided. On Tehran, give the effect on East-West relations (a second front, the UN's seeds), not the meeting.
Digest (## DS6): candidates had precise Korean War knowledge but did not relate it to the impact on the Cold War / US–USSR relations (June 2024 Paper 1); on Tehran the strongest answers applied it to the EFFECT on East–West relations rather than describing the conference (June 2023 Paper 1).
Judge, don't answer on one event
On the 16-mark 'how far' question, candidates who wrote only about the Cuban Missile Crisis, ignoring other 1960s factors (the Berlin Wall, the arms race), could not balance or judge and were capped. Cover several factors, set explicit criteria for 'most significant', and weigh them to a supported conclusion.
Digest (## DS6): candidates who wrote only about the Cuban Missile Crisis failed to balance/judge; the strongest gave explicit criteria for "most significant" (June 2024 & June 2023 Paper 1).
Quoting the extract, not analysing it
On the 6-mark impression (a) question, selecting or quoting words that fit the impression caps at Level 2. To reach Level 3, analyse HOW it is built: the author's selection, tone, emphasis and omissions. On a Berlin Blockade extract, weigh the author's one-sided emphasis and lack of balance, not just infer 'Stalin wanted to take over'.
Digest (## Generic skills Q(a) and ## DS6): merely selecting/quoting to support an impression caps at Level 2, while analysing the author's one-sided emphasis and choice of loaded words reaches Level 3 (Berlin Blockade extract; June 2024 & June 2023 Paper 1).
Yalta (Feb 45) vs Potsdam (Jul 45)
Do not merge the two 1945 conferences. Yalta (February 1945) came while the war continued, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin still cooperating; it agreed free elections in Eastern Europe, the UN and dividing Germany. Potsdam (July-August 1945) came after Germany's defeat, with new leaders (Truman, Attlee) and open mistrust over Poland. Yalta = cooperation; Potsdam = hostility.
Hungary 1956 vs Prague Spring 1968
Two separate Soviet crackdowns on Eastern-bloc reform. The Hungarian Rising (1956) saw Nagy try to leave the Warsaw Pact; Soviet tanks crushed it and Nagy was executed. The Prague Spring (1968) saw Dubcek's reforms in Czechoslovakia; Warsaw Pact forces invaded and imposed the Brezhnev Doctrine. Same message: Moscow would not let the East break away.
The East built the Wall, not the West
The Berlin Wall (August 1961) was built by East Germany (GDR), backed by the USSR, to stop East Germans fleeing west. It was NOT Western-built; it kept people IN. Do not merge them: the Blockade (1948-49) tried to force the West out by cutting supplies, beaten by airlift; the Wall (1961) was a barrier against refugees. Blockade = cut supplies; Wall = stop flight.
Truman Doctrine vs Marshall Plan
Do not blur these. The Truman Doctrine (March 1947) was a policy statement: to 'contain' communism, prompted by Greece and Turkey. The Marshall Plan (aid from 1948) was its economic arm: American aid to rebuild Western Europe so they would resist communism. A military alliance came only with NATO (1949). Doctrine = promise; Plan = dollars; NATO = alliance.
Structure the 16-mark judgement
Decode what 'how far' asks, use each stimulus bullet but add your own knowledge, argue both sides with dated detail, then judge by an explicit criterion (risk of war, or lasting effect on relations), not by asserting importance.
Give two developed effects
The 8-mark question needs TWO distinct effects, each explained as a consequence for the superpower relationship and anchored by dated detail. Signpost them ('One effect... a second effect...'). Two developed effects beat four merely named.
Analyse the extract's craft
State the impression first, quote a supporting detail, then explain the technique: the author emphasises X, omits Y, or picks loaded words and gives no balance. Naming the impression earns Level 2; analysing HOW it is built earns Level 3.
Depth Study 6 follows the superpowers — the USA and the USSR — from allies in the Second World War to rivals in the Cold War, a conflict fought through propaganda, spying, an arms race, economic pressure and proxy wars rather than direct fighting. The story runs from the wartime conferences of 1943–45 to the first steps of détente by 1972.
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