CSS European History Past Paper Analysis (2016-2024)

CSS Past Papers Analysis Optional Subjects | CSS European History Past Paper Analysis (2016-2024)

The past paper analysis of CSS European History is a dedicated effort by Sir Ammar Hashmi to help European History students decide which section to focus on more deeply. The analysis below shows how many questions from each section were asked in the CSS European History exams from 2016 to 2024. Furthermore, this analysis will help the aspirants understand what type of questions are usually asked from a particular section.

PART-1

The French Revolution and Napoleonic Era (1789-1815)

1. The connection between the ideas of French Philosophers and the revolution was indirect and remote. The philosophers did not preach revolution rather they undermined the faith of people in the old order. Discuss.
2. How did the French Revolution and the era of Napoleonic conquests stimulate liberalism, nationalism and conservatism in Europe?
3. Rational ideas and fear determined the course of French Revolution in the eighteenth century. Discuss.
4. What were the effects of Napoleon Bonaparte-I’s home policy on French society?
5. Why did the post French Revolution phase has been marked by the rational and effective governments in Europe?
6. Describe how Napoleon’s military conquests changed both the map and political balance of power in Europe?
7. Critically evaluate the phenomenon of the Napoleonic regime. Whether it was “military dictatorship” or “the victory of a state”? Do comment.
8. According to the Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich, “when France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches a cold”. Discuss this statement in the context of the French Revolution.

The Concert of Europe (1815-1830)

1. What aims and objectives did Congress of Vienna try to achieve? How far was it proved to be successful in the light of future course of events in European History?
2. What was the German Confederation and how did it attempt to resolve the classical problem of Central Europe?
3. How the peace settlement of 1814-15 did restored effective balance of power and paved the way to a European peace.
4. “Prince Metternich is regarded as the incarnation of the restoration and reaction”. Why?
5. Describe Concert of Europe foundational principles. Why did the Concert of Europe decline?
6. “The congress of Vienna does not walk, but it dances”. Elucidate the quote.
7. Congress of Vienna inspires nationalist movements across Europe in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. Analyze.
8. Concert of Europe
9. Discuss the significance and outcomes of the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) in shaping the post-Napoleonic order in Europe.

Forces of Continuity and Change in Europe (1815-1848)

1. Who, Why, and what kept liberalism and nationalism suppressed in German states?
2. Socialism

The Eastern Question (1804-1856)

1. “The Eastern Question entered upon a new and startling phase from 1908-1914”. Discuss.
2. What is the credit side and debit side of Eastern question?

Unification of Italy

1. Compare and contrast the revolution of 1830 and 1848.
2. Between Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi, who do you think made the most significant contribution to Italian unification?
3. How would you argue that lessons cannot be drawn from the European Revolutions in 1830s and 40s as historical process is specific to a particular context?
4. What social movements led to the political consolidation of various states of the Italian peninsula that unified a single nation of Italy?
5. “Italy is a geographical expression politically speaking there was no Italy” Comment.
6. Explore the causes of the 1848 European revolutions, assessing internal divisions, foreign intervention, and the lasting impact on political and social landscapes.

Unification of Germany

1. Unification of Italy and Unification of Germany occurred simultaneously. Their histories touch and overlap at points and at times helped each other. Discuss.
2. What kinds of symbols were used by the movements for uniting Germany and Italy in the nineteenth century?
3. Write an account of Bismarck’s diplomacy for Germany that made her a leading European State.
4. Write down the results of Franco-Prussian war (1870-71).
5. Evaluate the inherent strengths of Prussia combined with Bismarck’s political skills helped to achieve German unification.
6. Examine Bismarck’s role in 19th-century German unification assessing his strategies, key events, and impact on the socio-political landscape within the newly formed German Empire.

The Origins of First World War (1890-1914)

1. Would it be a fair assessment of Bismarck’s legacy that in creating a united Germany he laid the foundations of the First World War?
2. Balkan War, 1912-1913

PART-2

The First World War and its Aftermath

1. Critically evaluate the causes of allied victory in World War 1.
2. Discuss the general causes of the rise of dictatorship in Europe after the First World War.
3. How did the First World War generate conditions conducive to the emergence of radical left-wing and radical right-wing movements in Europe?
4. Describe how the map of Europe was changed because of World War I and post war treaties?
5. Georges Clemenceau
6. Winston Churchill
7. Analyze the complexities of the inter-war period, with a focus on the geopolitical landscape and the impact of treaties such as the Warsaw Pact.

Dictatorships in Europe

1. How did the Great Depression in the 1930s effect societies and cultures in Europe?
2. Why did Europe become a continent of dictatorships after the First World War?
3. Winston Churchill criticized the appeasement “a total and un-mitigated defeat”. Discuss.
4. How did violence and Communist ideas shape the events culminating in the outbreak of the Russian Revolution of 1917?
5. “It is stated by the historians that France’s hunt for security and England’s desire for peace were responsible for the rise of Hitler.” Do you agree or not? Come up with watertight arguments to prove your point.
6. Bolshevik Revolution
7. Stalin

The Second World War and its Effects on Europe

1. What was, in your view, the most important factor that led the United States to abandon its historic policy of isolationism and adopted internationalism after 1945?
2. Why did the concept of supranational European institutions emerged in the aftermath of WW II?
3. Charles de Gaulle

Post-War Europe

1. In what ways did the Marshall plan, the dividing of Berlin, the communist takeover of power in Czechoslovakia and the formation of NATO contribute to the development of the Cold war? Analyze.
2. NATO
3. German Question

Cold War Europe (1955-1991)

1. British entry in European Economic Community was delayed until 1973. Why? Give reasons.
2. Capitalistic trends promoted the ideologies of secularism and liberalism in twentieth- century Western Europe. Discuss.
3. Cold War
4. The Cuban Missile Crisis
5. European Economic Community (EEC)
6. Evaluate the Cold War’s impact on Europe, considering geopolitical, economic, and socio-cultural consequences.

Europe (1991-2012)

1. What was the impact of German reunification on Eastern Europe and the USSR?
2. Give a balanced critique of the role of Europe in the War on Terror. How do you foresee its implications on the whole globe?
3. European Union
4. The Berlin Wall
5. Gorbachev
6. Balkan Crisis 1990s
7. Reunification of Germany