The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the End of the Cold War, 1989-91 - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

15 original exam-style questions - 4 pages of questions with a full mark scheme - free printable PDF.

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This topic is chapter 12 of GCSE History: Superpower Relations and the Cold War, 1941-91 Practice Book.

4.12 The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the End of the Cold War, 1989-91

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · about 55 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Write in full sentences for Questions 13, 14 and 15. You are advised to spend about 65 minutes on this pack.

Give the date on which the Berlin Wall was effectively opened, allowing East Germans to cross into West Berlin.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Name the East German leader who was in office at the time the Berlin Wall fell.

(Total for Question 2 is 1 mark)

Name the Polish trade union that won the semi-free elections in Poland in June 1989.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

Give one action taken by the Hungarian government in 1989 that helped East Germans to leave the GDR via Hungary.

(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)

Name the peaceful 1989 uprising in Czechoslovakia that led to the end of communist rule.

(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)

Name the failed hardline coup attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev that took place in the Soviet Union in August 1991.

(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)

Give the month and year when Nicolae Ceaucescu was overthrown in Romania.

(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)

State one way in which mass protests in East Germany contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Name the treaty, signed in 1990, that settled the external aspects of German reunification and involved the four wartime powers plus the two German states.

(Total for Question 9 is 1 mark)

Give the date on which Germany was officially reunified.

(Total for Question 10 is 1 mark)

State two effects of the August 1991 coup's failure on the Soviet Union.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

Give the month and year when the Soviet Union formally dissolved.

(Total for Question 12 is 1 mark)

Explain two consequences of the fall of the Berlin Wall for East Germany and for Europe.

(Total for Question 13 is 8 marks)

Write a narrative account analysing how events across Eastern Europe in 1989 led from protest to the end of communist rule in several countries.

You may use the following information in your answer:
- the role of mass protest movements such as those in Leipzig and Prague
- the political changes in Poland and Hungary in 1989

You should also use information of your own.

(Total for Question 14 is 8 marks)

Explain two of the following:
(a) the importance of German reunification for the end of the Cold War
(b) the importance of the collapse of communist party authority across Eastern Europe for the dissolution of the Soviet Union
(c) the importance of the failed August 1991 coup for the final break-up of the USSR

You must answer on TWO parts.

(Total for Question 15 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · 4.12 The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the End of the Cold War, 1989-91

Question 1

B1 9 November 1989
Answer: 9 November 1989

Question 2

B1 Egon Krenz
Answer: Egon Krenz

Question 3

B1 Solidarity
Answer: Solidarity

Question 4

B1 They removed border fortifications with Austria and opened the border in May 1989
Answer: They removed border fortifications and opened the border with Austria in May 1989.

Question 5

B1 The Velvet Revolution
Answer: The Velvet Revolution

Question 6

B1 The August 1991 coup (the August Putsch)
Answer: The August 1991 coup, often called the August Putsch.

Question 7

B1 December 1989
Answer: December 1989

Question 8

B1 identifies a way, e.g. they showed the scale of public opposition
B1 supporting detail, e.g. weekly protests in cities such as Leipzig grew into mass demonstrations that pressured the regime to concede on travel and reform
Answer: They showed the scale of public opposition, for example weekly mass demonstrations in Leipzig grew and pressured the East German leadership into concessions on travel and reform.

Question 9

B1 The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (the Two Plus Four Treaty)
Answer: The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, known as the Two Plus Four Treaty.

Question 10

B1 3 October 1990
Answer: 3 October 1990

Question 11

B1 it weakened the authority of the Communist Party
B1 it strengthened the position of leaders pushing for independence, such as Boris Yeltsin
Answer: It weakened the authority of the Communist Party and strengthened independence movements and leaders like Boris Yeltsin.

Question 12

B1 December 1991
Answer: December 1991

Question 13

Level 1 (1-2): Identifies one or two simple consequences of the Wall falling, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (3-4): Identifies and begins to explain one consequence, supported by accurate detail; may outline a second consequence.
Level 3 (5-6): Explains two consequences, each supported by accurate and relevant detail that shows cause and effect.
Level 4 (7-8): Explains two consequences in a well-developed, analytical way, showing clearly how each consequence followed from the fall of the Wall and its wider impact on East Germany and Europe.
Indicative content:
- For East Germany: the opening of the Wall removed the physical and symbolic barrier to migration and political change, accelerating the collapse of the SED regime and leading to rapid moves towards free elections and eventual reunification with West Germany.
- For East Germany: economic consequence, including the sudden exposure of East German industry to West German competition, large-scale restructuring, unemployment and the need for massive financial transfers from West Germany to modernise the east.
- For Europe: the Wall's fall signalled the collapse of the Iron Curtain and encouraged democratic revolutions across Eastern Europe, weakening Soviet control and changing the balance of power in Europe away from bipolar confrontation.
- For Europe: it enabled the prospect of EU and NATO enlargement eastward, as former communist states sought integration with Western political and economic institutions, reshaping European security and cooperation arrangements.

Question 14

Level 1 (1-2): Simple, general statements about events with little organisation or sense of change over time.
Level 2 (3-4): Some accurate knowledge deployed in a limited sequence; may list events with limited analysis of connections.
Level 3 (5-6): An organised account that shows how events developed, with some analysis of the links between protests, political negotiation and collapse.
Level 4 (7-8): A coherent, well-structured narrative that analyses connections between events across the period, showing clearly how protests, negotiations and broader changes combined to end communist rule, supported by precise and accurate detail.
Indicative content:
- Begin with Poland: Solidarity's re-emergence and the June 1989 elections produced a non-communist-led government, demonstrating that negotiated transition could succeed and inspiring movements elsewhere.
- Hungary's reforms and the opening of its border with Austria in mid-1989 removed a key barrier and provided a route west for East Germans, undermining the GDR and signalling weakening control of the bloc's borders.
- Mass protests in East German cities such as Leipzig grew through autumn 1989, demanding reform and free travel, culminating in the border announcement on 9 November and the Wall's opening.
- In Czechoslovakia, the Velvet Revolution saw mass demonstrations in November and December 1989 that forced the communist leadership to resign, while Romania experienced a violent overthrow of Ceaucescu, showing the variations in how communist rule ended across the region.
- Analyse how these developments were interconnected: successful elections and reforms lowered the perceived cost of change, border openings allowed population movement that delegitimised hardline regimes, and peaceful mass mobilisation demonstrated the depth of opposition, while in some cases the collapse was swift and violent where regimes resisted.

Question 15

Level 1 (1-4): For each part answered: identifies a general point of importance with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (5-8): For each part answered: begins to explain importance, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (9-12): For each part answered: explains importance clearly, supported by accurate and relevant detail, with some analysis of consequences and links to wider developments.
Level 4 (13-16): For each part answered: explains importance in a well-developed, analytical way, fully supported by precise and accurate detail, showing clearly why the development mattered for the outcome named and linking it to broader processes.
Indicative content:
- (a) German reunification mattered because it removed the division of Europe that had been the physical and ideological core of the Cold War; a united Germany in NATO symbolised a decisive shift in the European balance and made a return to Cold War structures unlikely.
- (a) Reunification also required diplomatic agreements, such as the Two Plus Four Treaty, which resolved security concerns with the wartime powers and normalised Germany's place in Europe, helping to stabilise the post-Cold War order.
- (b) The collapse of communist party authority across Eastern Europe undermined Moscow's sphere of control and showed that communist rule had lost legitimacy, encouraging Soviet republics to seek greater autonomy and setting the stage for the USSR's fragmentation.
- (b) As satellite regimes fell, the Kremlin lost both ideological influence and practical mechanisms for controlling the bloc, which reduced the USSR's geopolitical reach and weakened the cohesion needed to preserve a multinational Soviet state.
- (c) The failed August 1991 coup discredited hardline communist forces and the central Party, empowering reformist leaders and republic presidents such as Boris Yeltsin, who pushed for independence and hastened the USSR's formal dissolution.
- (c) The coup's failure accelerated declarations of independence by Soviet republics and led to negotiations culminating in the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the formal end of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the End of the Cold War, 1989-91 - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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4.12 The Fall of the Berlin Wall and the End of the Cold War, 1989-91

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