O Level History: Depth Study E, The Second World War — Revision Notes (Cambridge 2147)

These notes condense Depth Study E of Cambridge O Level History 2147, The Second World War in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, 1939-c.1945. They are arranged by the four key questions – the war in Europe, the war in the Asia-Pacific, civilians, and Allied victory – for quick recall before Paper 1 Section B (4 + 6 + 10 marks). Full explanations: Depth Study E study guide. Exam practice: Depth Study E practice questions.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE O LEVEL HISTORY (2147), 2024-2026 – DEPTH STUDY E

1. How did the Second World War in Europe develop?
2. How did the Second World War in the Asia-Pacific develop?
3. What was the impact of war on civilian populations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific?
4. How did the Allies achieve victory over the Axis powers?

Twin timeline

Year	Europe	Asia-Pacific
1939	Poland invaded (Sept); divided with USSR	War in China continues
1940	Denmark, Norway (Apr); France falls; Dunkirk; Battle of Britain; Blitz begins	Japan joins Tripartite Pact; enters northern Indochina
1941	Barbarossa (22 June); halted before Moscow (Dec)	US oil embargo; Pearl Harbor (7 Dec); Malaya invaded (8 Dec)
1942	Wannsee (Jan); Stalingrad battle begins	Singapore falls (15 Feb); Midway (June); Guadalcanal begins (Aug)
1943	Stalingrad surrender (Feb); Sicily (July); Italy surrenders (Sept); Hamburg firestorm	Guadalcanal won (Feb); island-hopping
1944	Rome taken; D-Day (6 June); Paris liberated (Aug)	US advances across the central Pacific
1945	Dresden (Feb); Hitler dies (30 Apr); surrender (May)	Okinawa (Apr-June); Hiroshima (6 Aug), Nagasaki (9 Aug); surrender (Aug-Sept)

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Blitzkrieg	“Lightning war” – tanks, aircraft and infantry in fast combined attacks
Vichy France	Collaborating French government under Pétain, 1940-44
Operation Sea Lion	Planned German invasion of Britain, 1940
Operation Barbarossa	German invasion of the USSR, 1941
Lebensraum	“Living space” in the east for Germans
Island-hopping	US strategy of capturing selected Pacific islands and bypassing others
Area bombing	Bombing whole urban areas rather than specific targets
Final Solution	Nazi plan to murder all European Jews
Kempeitai	Japanese military police
MPAJA	Malayan People’s Anti-Japanese Army

Key question 1: four things to explain

1. German control by 1940: Blitzkrieg; fall of France; Vichy – but Britain undefeated after Dunkirk.
2. Britain survives: radar, fighter command, Spitfires and Hurricanes; Luftwaffe switch to cities; Royal Navy; Channel.
3. Barbarossa motives: Lebensraum, anti-communism, resources, belief the Red Army was weak.
4. Stalingrad turning point: Sixth Army destroyed; initiative passes to USSR; German morale hit.

Key question 2: four things to explain

1. US-Japan breakdown: expansion in China; Tripartite Pact; Indochina; oil embargo.
2. Pearl Harbor: short-term success; carriers and fuel missed; USA enters war.
3. Malaya and Singapore: speed, jungle tactics, air superiority, sinking of two battleships, British complacency – Singapore surrenders.
4. Midway turning point: codebreaking; four carriers sunk; Japan on the defensive.

Key question 3: case-study grid

Case	Impact on civilians
Blitz	Deaths, homelessness, evacuation, shelters; morale held
Bombing of Germany	Firestorms (Hamburg, Dresden); heavy casualties; disputed effect
Malaya and Singapore under Japan	Sook Ching massacres; Kempeitai terror; food shortages; forced labour
Poland under Nazi rule	Annexation and General Government; elites killed; ghettos; Holocaust in death camps
Resistance in France	Sabotage, intelligence, Maquis; SOE help; reprisals
Resistance in Malaya	MPAJA guerrillas, mainly Chinese, in the jungle

Key question 4: how victory was won

• Italy: Sicily (1943), Mussolini falls, slow advance – ties down German troops.
• Germany: D-Day and the western advance; the much larger Soviet advance from the east; bombing of oil and transport.
• Japan: Guadalcanal; island-hopping; Okinawa; fire-raids; atomic bombs; Soviet entry.
• Consolidation: four-zone occupation of Germany; US occupation of Japan; Nuremberg and Tokyo trials.

The atomic bomb debate – two columns

For using it	Against
Avoided a costly invasion (Okinawa’s losses)	Huge civilian deaths and radiation sickness
Ended the war quickly	Japan may have been close to surrender
Japan had refused to surrender	Partly a warning to the USSR

Worked example: (c) structure on Stalingrad

“Stalingrad was the most important turning point of the war in Europe.” How far do you agree? [10]

Paragraph 1: Stalingrad’s effects. Paragraph 2: alternatives – the Battle of Britain (Germany could not defeat Britain), the failure before Moscow in 1941, D-Day (second front). Paragraph 3: judgement – for example, that Stalingrad was decisive because the Eastern Front consumed most of Germany’s army.

Exam traps

• Calling Dunkirk a victory without explaining what was lost.
• Writing about the causes of the war (Core Content key question 2.3).
• Forgetting the named case studies.
• Giving the Asia-Pacific war only a sentence.
• Saying the war ended in Europe and Asia at the same time.

Frequently asked questions

When did the war end? In Europe, with Germany’s surrender in May 1945; in the Asia-Pacific, with Japan’s surrender announced on 15 August and signed on 2 September 1945.

What was the Sook Ching? The Japanese “purge” of Chinese men in Singapore and Malaya in 1942, in which many thousands were killed.

What were the war crimes trials? International trials of German leaders at Nuremberg (1945-46) and Japanese leaders in Tokyo (1946-48).

Self-test

1. What was Operation Sea Lion? The planned German invasion of Britain.
2. When did Singapore surrender? 15 February 1942.
3. How many Japanese carriers were sunk at Midway? Four.
4. Which island battle in 1945 showed the cost of invading Japan? Okinawa.
5. Where were Japan’s leaders tried? Tokyo.

Official syllabus

Cambridge O Level History (2147) syllabus for examination in 2024, 2025 and 2026 – cambridgeinternational.org (Depth study E).