OCR GCSE History A sample questions and answers (J410)
Guide overview All 14 topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
70 sample questions and answers
Taken from every topic of OCR GCSE History A, specification J410. The full guide has 1,449.
Paper 3
Castles: Form and Function C.1000-1750
70 questions in the guide, across 6 subtopics. More from this topic
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The location of Kenilworth Castle
Which great stretch of woodland lay around the castle, and what did its lords take from it?
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The Forest of Arden, which supplied timber for building, fuel for the fires and deer for hunting in the castle's parks and chase. -
The location of Kenilworth Castle
What military advantage did the Great Mere give the castle?
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Water lay against the walls on the south and west, keeping siege engines out of range and forcing any attacker onto the narrow dam or the northern side. -
The appearance and layout of Kenilworth Castle at different times in its history
Who paid for the outer stone curtain wall and the water defences, and roughly when?
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King John, in about 1210–15, spending heavily on the outer walls, their towers and the dams that flooded the valley. -
The appearance and layout of Kenilworth Castle at different times in its history
What does the change from fortress to palace under the dukes of Lancaster reveal about England in the later Middle Ages?
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That the country was settled enough for a lord to spend on comfort and display, and that status was now shown by hospitality and splendour as much as by walls. -
The day-to-day functions of Kenilworth Castle
How did the castle come into the hands of the Crown in the 1170s?
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Henry II took it from the de Clinton family during the rebellion of his sons in 1173–74, and they never recovered it.
Paper 1
China 1950-1981: the People and the State
82 questions in the guide, across 6 subtopics. More from this topic
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Early purges, the Hundred Flowers and social policy in the 1950s
What slogan gave the Hundred Flowers campaign of 1956 its name?
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‘Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend’. -
Early purges, the Hundred Flowers and social policy in the 1950s
What took over from the family and the clan as the centre of daily life in the cities?
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The work unit, or danwei, which controlled a person’s job, housing, rations, welfare and even permission to marry. -
Land reform, collectivisation, the First Five Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward
Which kinds of production did the First Five Year Plan concentrate on?
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Heavy industry — coal, steel, cement, electricity and machinery — rather than goods for ordinary consumers. -
Land reform, collectivisation, the First Five Year Plan and the Great Leap Forward
Give two reasons the Great Leap Forward ended in the famine of 1959–62.
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Peasants were taken off the fields to make steel and build dams, and local officials reported harvests far bigger than the real ones so the state seized too much grain. -
Causes and impact of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards and Tibet
What happened to schools and universities after 1966?
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They were shut and entrance examinations abandoned, so a whole generation lost years of education.
Paper 1
Germany 1925-1955: the People and the State
102 questions in the guide, across 9 subtopics. More from this topic
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The Weimar Republic 1925–1928 and the impact of the Depression
Why did the voting system make stable government so difficult in the later 1920s?
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Proportional representation gave seats to many small parties, so no party held a majority and every cabinet was a fragile coalition. -
Rising support for Nazis 1929–1933
Which crisis turned the Nazis from a fringe party into a mass movement?
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The Depression that followed the Wall Street Crash of 1929, which brought mass unemployment and despair. -
The Nazi consolidation of power 1933–1934
What power did the Enabling Act of 23 March 1933 hand to Hitler?
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The right to make laws for four years without the Reichstag or the President. -
The Nazi terror state, propaganda and the people's community
What was the SD?
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The intelligence and security branch of the SS, run by Reinhard Heydrich to gather information on enemies of the regime. -
Nazi economic and social policy, and the lack of effective opposition
In what ways were ordinary workers worse off despite having jobs?
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They lost free unions and the right to strike, worked longer hours, and saw wages rise more slowly than prices.
Paper 1
International Relations: the Changing International Order 1918-1975
105 questions in the guide, across 9 subtopics. More from this topic
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The Versailles settlement, the League and the agreements of the 1920s
Why did the absence of the USA weaken the League so badly?
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The richest trading nation in the world was missing, so economic sanctions could always be broken and no great force stood behind them. -
The Depression, the failure of the League and the road to war
What did Japan do in Manchuria in 1931?
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It used an explosion on the South Manchurian Railway near Mukden as a pretext to invade, and set up the puppet state of Manchukuo. -
Soviet actions in Eastern Europe and the Western response, 1945–48
Which four powers occupied Germany after 1945?
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The USA, Britain, France and the USSR, each with its own zone. -
NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis
How did the two alliances change the danger of war in Europe?
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The continent was split into two armed camps, so any local quarrel now risked pulling in every great power at once. -
Origins of US involvement in Vietnam and the tactics of the war
What was Operation Rolling Thunder?
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The sustained American bombing campaign against North Vietnam that began in 1965 and lasted more than three years.
Paper 2
Migration to Britain C.1000 to C.2010
156 questions in the guide, across 11 subtopics. More from this topic
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Diversity before 1066, and the impact of the Norman Conquest
How did Edward the Confessor bring Normans into England before the Conquest?
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He had been brought up in Normandy and rewarded Norman friends with English lands and church offices, making Robert of Jumièges Archbishop of Canterbury. -
Jews in medieval England: treatment, integration and expulsion
Why did the crown set up a separate branch of the Exchequer to deal with Jewish business in the 1190s?
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So that every loan was registered and the king could tax it, and could claim the debt himself when a Jewish lender died. -
Resident aliens in later medieval England
What was the alien subsidy first collected in 1440?
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A special tax on foreign-born residents, set at 16d a year for householders and 6d for non-householders, collected at intervals until 1487; over 16,000 people were assessed in its first year. -
Africans in sixteenth-century England, the East India Company and Britain’s black communities
Did slavery have any legal standing in sixteenth-century England itself?
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No, there was no such status in English law, and Africans were baptised, paid wages and buried in parish churchyards like other residents. -
The readmission of Jews in 1656, and Protestant refugees
Which Jews formed the first community after 1656, and where did they worship?
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Sephardi families with roots in Spain and Portugal who came by way of Amsterdam, opening a synagogue in Creechurch Lane in 1657 and building Bevis Marks in 1701.
Paper 3
Personal Rule to Restoration 1629-1660
80 questions in the guide, across 6 subtopics. More from this topic
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Relationship between Parliament and Charles I 1629–1642
What was done to William Prynne, Henry Burton and John Bastwick in 1637?
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They were fined, set in the pillory, had their ears cut off and were imprisoned for writing against the bishops. -
Relationship between Parliament and Charles I 1629–1642
Which five MPs did Charles I try to seize in January 1642?
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John Pym, John Hampden, Denzil Holles, Sir Arthur Haselrig and William Strode. -
Attempts at settlement, the radical groups and the Army 1646–1649
What did the Levellers ask for in the Agreement of the People in 1647?
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A vote for most adult men, parliaments chosen every two years, equality before the law and freedom of worship. -
Attempts at settlement, the radical groups and the Army 1646–1649
What was the real difference between the Independents and the Presbyterians?
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Independents wanted each congregation left free to worship as it saw fit, while Presbyterians wanted a single national church with no toleration outside it. -
The execution of Charles I 1649
Of what was Charles I found guilty in January 1649?
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Of making war on his own people, as a tyrant, traitor and murderer.
Paper 2
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain C.1000 to 2014
123 questions in the guide, across 10 subtopics. More from this topic
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Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy
What tax did kings levy to buy off or fight Viking raiders?
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The geld, a tax on land assessed across the shires and collected by royal officials. -
Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament
Where and when was Magna Carta sealed?
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At Runnymede beside the Thames in June 1215, after the rebel barons had seized London and forced John to negotiate. -
Richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the Roses
How was the change of ruler in 1399 made to look lawful?
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Richard was made to resign the crown in front of an assembly, which then heard a list of his misdeeds and accepted Henry’s claim. -
Tudor government, personal rule and the Civil Wars
Which subjects did Elizabeth I forbid her Parliaments to debate?
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Her marriage, the succession and the settlement of religion, which she insisted were matters for the monarch alone. -
The Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of Rights
What event in June 1688 turned discontent into an invitation to invade?
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The birth of James’s son, which promised an unending line of Catholic rulers, so seven leading men asked William of Orange to come with an army.
Paper 1
South Africa 1960-1994: the People and the State
93 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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Consolidating apartheid in the 1960s: the Bantustans, state control and Sharpeville
Which groups gave the apartheid system its strongest backing?
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Afrikaner nationalist voters of the National Party, organised through the secret Broederbond, encouraged by the Dutch Reformed Church, and held together by fear of communism and of being outnumbered. -
Reasons for, methods of and impact of different types of resistance
Why did the African National Congress abandon non-violence after 1960?
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Because the banning of the movement closed every legal route to protest, and half a century of peaceful campaigning had won nothing. -
The further development of resistance
How did women organise against the regime in the 1970s?
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Through bodies such as the Black Women’s Federation, founded in 1975 under Fatima Meer, and through township campaigns over rents, food prices, schooling and the detention of husbands and sons. -
The Anti-Apartheid Movement and the regime's response in the 1970s
What action did the United Nations take against apartheid?
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The General Assembly condemned it repeatedly and called for sanctions, an arms embargo was recommended in 1963 and made binding in 1977, and in 1973 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. -
Growing pressure on the regime
How could the United Democratic Front operate when the African National Congress was banned?
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It worked openly and legally as a loose federation, so banning one affiliate did not destroy it, while its charterist aims and symbols left nobody in doubt whose politics it shared.
Paper 3
The English Reformation C.1520-c.1550
82 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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The church in England c.1520 and its critics
In what language was the mass said before the Reformation, and what did that mean for worshippers?
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Latin, so almost no ordinary parishioner understood the words and the priest performed the service on their behalf. -
Popular attitudes to reform, the annulment and the Reformation Parliament
Whom had Henry VIII married in 1509, and why did he want that marriage ended?
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Catherine of Aragon, who had given him a daughter but no surviving son to secure the Tudor succession. -
Cromwell, the Valor Ecclesiasticus and the dissolution of the monasteries
Who carried out the Visitation of the Monasteries, and when?
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Cromwell’s commissioners, chiefly Richard Layton and Thomas Legh, who toured the houses in 1535–36. -
Immediate reactions to Dissolution including support
How many religious houses remained in England by 1540?
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None; about 800 houses had been shut and monastic life in England was ended altogether. -
Resistance and protest
Who led the Pilgrimage of Grace?
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Robert Aske, a Yorkshire lawyer, who took charge of the Yorkshire rising in October 1536.
Paper 3
The Impact of Empire on Britain 1688-C.1730
80 questions in the guide, across 7 subtopics. More from this topic
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The Glorious Revolution, the Hanoverian succession and the British Isles
Which battle in July 1691 destroyed the main Jacobite army in Ireland?
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Aughrim, where the Jacobite line broke and their French commander St Ruth was killed by a cannon shot. -
The Glorious Revolution, the Hanoverian succession and the British Isles
Who were the Jacobites, and where in Scotland was their support strongest?
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Supporters of the exiled Stuarts, strongest in the Highlands where many clans were Catholic or Episcopalian and resented rule from London. -
Darien, the Act of Union, the 1715 rising and emigration to the Americas
What did the Act of Union of 1707 create?
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A single Parliament of Great Britain at Westminster, to which Scotland sent forty-five members of the Commons and sixteen representative peers. -
Darien, the Act of Union, the 1715 rising and emigration to the Americas
How did the rising of 1715 come to an end?
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Mar failed to win the indecisive battle of Sheriffmuir in November while the English Jacobites surrendered at Preston, and James arrived only in December and sailed away again in February 1716. -
Economic impact of war and imperial expansion
Why was the Bank of England set up in 1694?
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To lend the government £1.2 million for the war with France, in return for a charter and interest on the loan.
Paper 1
The USA 1919-1948: the People and the State
113 questions in the guide, across 9 subtopics. More from this topic
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The US economy and women in the ‘Roaring Twenties’
How did Henry Ford's assembly line change the making of cars?
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Each worker repeated one task as the car moved past, so cars were built far faster and the Model T became cheap enough for ordinary families. -
Prohibition, the Red Scare and immigration restrictions
Why was the ban on alcohol abandoned in 1933?
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It was widely broken, it made gangsters such as Al Capone rich and corrupted police and officials, and repeal promised jobs and tax revenue in the Depression. -
Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan and attempts to combat prejudice
What methods did the NAACP use to fight racial injustice?
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It challenged discriminatory laws in the courts, lobbied politicians and used publicity, including its magazine The Crisis. -
Economic and social effects of the Great Depression and government response
How did Hoover respond to the slump, and why did his response ruin his reputation?
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He trusted to self-help and charity, though the Reconstruction Finance Corporation of 1932 did lend public money to banks and businesses. He was then blamed for sending troops to burn out the unemployed veterans camped in Washington to demand their war bonus. -
The Second New Deal
What rights did the Wagner Act give American workers?
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The right to join a trade union and to bargain collectively, protected by a National Labor Relations Board that could act against employers who refused.
Paper 1
The USA 1945-1974: the People and the State
103 questions in the guide, across 8 subtopics. More from this topic
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Fears of Communism at home, the Red Scare and McCarthyism
What is meant by the Red Scare of the late 1940s?
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A wave of public fear that Communist spies and sympathisers had worked their way into American government and society. -
Jim Crow and the development and achievements of the civil rights movement
Why was the Brown ruling such a blow to segregation?
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It destroyed the legal claim that separate facilities could ever be equal, and gave campaigners a national judgment to quote against every segregated institution. -
Opposition to civil rights and the role of the Supreme Court and Eisenhower
How did the Birmingham police treat marchers in 1963?
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Eugene ‘Bull’ Connor set dogs and high-pressure fire hoses on them, including on schoolchildren, in front of the television cameras. -
The roles of Kennedy and Johnson in civil rights campaigns
What did Kennedy say in his televised address of June 1963?
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That civil rights was a moral issue as old as the scriptures, and he announced a bill to end segregation in public places. -
Black Power, radical leaders, and Native American and Chicano campaigns
What did the Black Panther Party, founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966, do in its own communities?
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It patrolled the streets armed to watch for police brutality, and ran free breakfast programmes and health clinics for the poor.
Paper 3
Urban Environments: Patterns of Migration
141 questions in the guide, across 12 subtopics. More from this topic
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When immigrant groups arrived, why and from where
Which conditions in a town attract migrants towards it?
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Its pull factors: vacant jobs, higher wages, safety from persecution, and relatives who have already settled there and can house a newcomer. -
Spitalfields: who came, when and why
How did the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 affect migration from Sylhet?
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Newcomers now needed employment vouchers, which were often arranged through relatives already working in Britain, so chain migration went on and men who were already in Britain stayed rather than risk losing their right to return. -
Settling in Spitalfields, and how newcomers were received
Why was the house of the master weaver Lewis Chauvet attacked in 1769?
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He refused to pay the rates the journeymen weavers had agreed, so gangs of “cutters” slashed the silk on the looms of those who worked for him. -
The experiences of immigrants
What did a group’s own organisations do besides holding services?
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They ran language and religion classes, burial and loan funds and social clubs, relieved poverty among members, and spoke for the group to the council and the police. -
Key events in local migration history
Why does the exact spot where an event happened matter to the historian?
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The ground itself helps explain it, because a narrow alley, a pub door, a factory gate or a place of worship shows who was there and why a crowd could gather.
Paper 2
War and British Society C.790 to C.2010
119 questions in the guide, across 10 subtopics. More from this topic
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Viking raids and the Norman Conquest
What were burhs, and how did they protect Wessex?
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Fortified towns garrisoned by Alfred’s men and spaced roughly a day’s march apart, so people and stock could shelter and raiders could be met before they got far inland. -
The feudal system and feudal military service
What was the Domesday Book of 1086 for?
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It recorded who held every estate, what it was worth and what it had been worth in 1066, so the king knew his kingdom’s wealth and could settle disputes over who owned what. -
War in medieval society, c.1290–c.1450
How were English armies for the French wars actually recruited by Edward III’s reign?
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By indenture: a written contract in which a captain agreed to bring an agreed number of men, of agreed types, for an agreed term at agreed wages. -
Elizabeth I’s wars with Spain, and English privateers
Why did the war with Spain force Elizabeth to summon Parliament more often?
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Only Parliament could grant the subsidies the fighting needed, so members had repeated chances to raise grievances before voting the money. -
Border warfare, the Civil Wars and the Jacobite risings
What kind of fighting made up most of the war in England?
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Not great pitched battles but sieges of towns and country houses, skirmishes and the holding of garrisons, so whole districts lived for years under an occupying force.
OCR GCSE History A Active Recall Guide
The other 1,379 questions, with the answers printed after each section.