IGCSE World History: The Twentieth Century, 1919-1989 (Cambridge 0470)

This guide covers Core Content Option B: The Twentieth Century, 1919–1989, for Cambridge IGCSE World History 0470, 2024–2026 series. All candidates study Core content in either Option A (The Nineteenth Century, 1848–1914) or Option B, each built around six key questions, plus at least one of five named Depth studies.

Where this fits in 0470

Option B is the alternative Core content route through 0470 to Option A — a school teaches one or the other, not both — and it traces international relations across the twentieth century, from the peacemaking that followed the First World War through to the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe. Assessment is via Paper 1 (Structured Questions) and Paper 2 (Document Questions), which every candidate takes, plus either Component 3 Coursework or Paper 4.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE IGCSE WORLD HISTORY 0470 — CORE CONTENT OPTION B: THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, 1919–1989

1. Was the Treaty of Versailles fair? — the roles of Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George; the terms of the Treaty; its social, economic and political impact on Germany to the end of 1923; contemporary opinions about the Treaty
2. To what extent was the League of Nations a success? — its structure, aims and membership; peacekeeping in the 1920s (Vilna, the Aaland Islands, Corfu, Bulgaria); its humanitarian work (refugees, health, working conditions, slavery); the Manchurian and Abyssinian crises of the 1930s
3. How far was Hitler’s foreign policy to blame for the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939? — Hitler’s foreign policy aims, rearmament, the Saar, remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the Rome–Berlin Axis and Anti-Comintern Pact, the Spanish Civil War, Anschluss, the Czechoslovak crisis and Munich Agreement, the Polish crisis
4. Who was to blame for the Cold War? — the 1945 summit conferences and the breakdown of the US–Soviet alliance, Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe to 1948, the occupation of Germany and the Berlin Blockade, NATO and the Warsaw Pact
5. How effectively did the United States contain the spread of communism? — case studies of Korea (1950–53), Cuba (1959–62) and Vietnam (1955–75)
6. How secure was the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe, 1948–c.1989? — resistance in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968), the Berlin Wall, Solidarity in Poland, Gorbachev and the collapse of Soviet control

Each key question is explored through focus points — the specific issues candidates need to understand — and specified content, which sets out the historical detail expected.

Versailles and the League of Nations (questions 1–2)

The peace settlement after the First World War was shaped by the competing aims of the “Big Three”: US President Wilson favoured a settlement based on his Fourteen Points and self-determination; French Premier Clemenceau wanted Germany permanently weakened to protect French security; British Prime Minister Lloyd George sought a settlement firm enough to satisfy British public opinion but not so harsh it would destabilise Europe. The resulting Treaty’s terms and their impact on Germany through 1923 — economic, social and political — are central to judging whether the settlement was fair or storing up future problems.

The League of Nations, created partly to enforce the new settlement, is assessed on its structural weaknesses (limited membership, no standing army) against its actual record: successes such as resolving the Vilna and Aaland Islands disputes in the early 1920s, its humanitarian work on refugees and health, and its more visible failures in the 1930s, when the Manchurian crisis (Japan) and Abyssinian crisis (Italy) exposed how the Depression-era international climate made collective security far harder to enforce.

Hitler’s foreign policy and the outbreak of war (question 3)

This question asks candidates to weigh Hitler’s foreign policy against other contributing causes. Specified content runs chronologically: rearmament in breach of Versailles, the Saar plebiscite, remilitarisation of the Rhineland (1936), the Rome–Berlin Axis and Anti-Comintern Pact aligning Germany with Italy and Japan, involvement (with Italy) in the Spanish Civil War, the Anschluss with Austria (1938), the Sudeten crisis and Munich Agreement, and finally the Polish crisis that triggered British and French declarations of war in September 1939. Examiners expect candidates to be able to discuss appeasement as a British and French policy choice, not simply narrate Hitler’s actions in isolation.

The Cold War and containment (questions 4–5)

The origins of the Cold War are traced from the 1945 wartime summit conferences, through the breakdown of US–Soviet cooperation, Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe by 1948, and the flashpoint of the Berlin Blockade, which hardened the division of Europe into NATO and Warsaw Pact blocs. US containment policy is then examined through three specific case studies rather than in the abstract: the Korean War (1950–53) following North Korea’s invasion of the South, the Cuban Revolution and Missile Crisis (1959–62), and American involvement in Vietnam (1955–75), covering the reasons for US involvement, the tactics and strategy used, and the reasons for eventual withdrawal.

Soviet control of Eastern Europe (question 6)

The final key question examines how Soviet power over its Eastern European satellite states was challenged and eventually collapsed: uprisings in Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) and the Soviet response to each, the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961, the rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland as a sign of weakening Soviet influence, and finally Gorbachev’s personal role in the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe by the late 1980s.

Common mistakes

• Treating Versailles as simply “harsh” or “fair” without weighing the competing aims of Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George — the syllabus explicitly frames this as a judgement question.
• Listing League of Nations crises without linking cause and consequence — the Manchurian and Abyssinian crises matter because they exposed the League’s structural weaknesses in practice.
• Discussing containment in Korea, Cuba and Vietnam as three unconnected events, rather than as case studies of a single, evolving US policy of containment.
• Assuming the Cold War’s origins are only about the USSR or only about the US — the specified content expects candidates to weigh both sides’ actions from 1945 to the Berlin Blockade.

How to approach it

Because Option B is examined through six broad key questions rather than narrow factual recall, build your revision around the focus-point questions the syllabus attaches to each key question — they are the actual form exam questions tend to take. For each key question, practise writing a short paragraph that reaches a judgement (not just a description) using two or three pieces of specified content as evidence.

Related resources

• IGCSE World History: The Nineteenth Century, 1848-1914 (Cambridge 0470)

Official syllabus

Cambridge Assessment International Education, Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 syllabus for 2024, 2025 and 2026: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/Images/649636-2024-2026-syllabus.pdf (verified 2026-09-01).