World History | UPSC Mains PYQs

The World History section is a significant component for candidates opting for the History Optional paper in the UPSC Civil Services Examination. Analyzing previous years’ solved papers for this section is essential for achieving top ranks. Here’s a detailed analysis of its importance:

Identifying Key Themes and Patterns: Previous years’ solved papers reveal recurring themes and question patterns in World History. Topics such as the World Wars, the Cold War, revolutions, and decolonization frequently appear. By studying these papers, candidates can pinpoint which areas are most often tested, allowing them to prioritize their preparation and focus on key themes.

Understanding Analytical Depth: Solved papers provide insights into the level of detail and analytical depth expected in responses. For example, questions might require a comparative analysis of different historical events or an evaluation of their global impact. Understanding this helps candidates tailor their answers to meet the UPSC’s expectations, ensuring thorough and well-argued responses.

Enhancing Answer-Writing Skills: Reviewing past answers helps candidates improve their writing skills. It offers examples of effective answer structuring, integration of historical evidence, and presentation of arguments. This practice is crucial for crafting high-quality responses that align with the examiners’ criteria.

In summary, analyzing previous years’ solved papers for World History is vital for understanding exam trends, mastering required depth, and honing answer-writing skills, significantly boosting the chances of achieving top ranks in the UPSC examination.

UPSC CSE 2023

Q1. “The American War of Independence finally ended in 1783 when Britain acknowledged the independence of the United States of America.” Critically examine.

Q2. “The Chartist Movement not only fulfilled some of the demands of the middle class, but its ramifications were felt among the working class and the colonies as well.” Critically examine.

Q3. “The Revolutions of 1848 were shaped by the ideas of democracy and nationalism.” Critically examine.

Q4. “The British imperialism in South Africa from 1867 to 1902 was influenced to a large extent by the capitalist mining of diamonds.” Critically examine.

Q5. “The supremacy of USA after the end of Cold War had its challenges as well.” Critically examine.

Q6. The philosophers and thinkers may have laid the foundation of the French Revolution, but it was precipitated by social and economic reasons. Explain.

Q7. Marxian socialism claims itself to be a scientific socialist theory capable of explaining the history of humankind. Discuss.

Q8. Enlightenment was not confined to scientific revolution alone, but humanism and ideas of progress too were its inseparable constituents. Examine.

Q9. The impact of industrial revolution on the middle class worldview is reflected in the views of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus and Jeremy Bentham. Comment.

Q10. Discuss the different stages of the unification of Italy from 1848 to the occupation of Rome in 1870.

Q11. The Treaty of Versailles contained in itself the seeds of the Second World War. Examine.

Q12. “UNO was the necessity of the time when World War II ended.” Critically examine its achievements and shortcomings.

Q13. The historical causes for the rise of anti-colonial movement in South-East Asia were cultural differences, spread of western education and the emergence of Communist ideas. Discuss.

Q14. Arab nationalism was not only a cultural movement, but also an anti-colonial struggle. Comment.

UPSC CSE 2022

Q1. “Rousseau kindled a hope which became the spirit of the Enlightenment.” Critically examine.

Q2. “The codification of French Law was perhaps the most enduring of Napoleon’s achievements.” Critically examine.

Q3. “Engels did much more than Marx himself to popularise the ideas of Marxism.” Critically examine.

Q4. ” ‘Roaring Twenties’ in Europe and America had many positive points. It helped women to uplift themselves in the region.” Critically examine.

Q5. “The first Reformation Act (1832) occupies a significant place in the constitutional development of Britain.” Critically examine.

Q6. Do you agree that the economic effects of the Industrial Revolution were to add enormously to wealth and capital on the one hand and to degrade the masses to permanent poverty as the other? Elucidate.

Q7. Discuss how Fascism was a response to the post-war situation arising out of political instability, thwarted nationalist hopes and fears of the spread of communism?

Q8. Do you feel that the Vietnamese fought the 20th century’s longest and bloodiest war for their liberation and integration of their country? Analyse.

Q9. Do you understand that the lack of statesmanship in London during the 1760’s and the 1770’s was, an important contributory factor in precipitating the American Revolution. Analyse.

Q10. Discuss, how the policies adopted by Mikhail Gorbachev were responsible for the disintegration of the USSR?

Q11. What happened to Malaya after it was liberated from Japanese occupation in 1945? Discuss.

Q12. Describe the launching of Non-Alignment Movement. Why the small nations wanted to remain aloof from the powerful nations?

Q13. Why was the apartheid policy introduced in South Africa? What were its main features?

Q14. How far did Latin American countries overcome centuries of subjugation and foreign intervention?

UPSC CSE 2021

Q1. “There were many reasons why the industrial revolution first happened in England.” Critically examine.

Q2. “Napoleon’s continental system may be reckoned as the greatest blunder and may be described as a ‘monument of misdirected energy’.” Critically examine.

Q3. “The Chartist Movement failed to achieve its stated objectives, but succeeded in seeding the idea that a representative democracy should include all citizens.” Critically examine.

Q4. “During the Cold War, some important leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement wanted to keep the movement away from the military blocs.” Critically examine.

Q5. “The Arab countries looked up to Nasser as a leader who could withstand the pressure exerted by Western countries on Egypt to make peace with Israel.” Critically examine.

Q6. What was ‘enlightened’ about the Age of Enlightenment?

Q7. What were the causes and consequences of the revolutionary upsurge of the 1840s in Europe?

Q8. The white-minority government of South Africa treated the natives very badly by denying them fundamental rights and made Apartheid as official policy. How were the people able to end Apartheid policy and establish a transitional rule?

Q9. The rise of nationalism across nations shattered the chains which held together the empires of modern Europe. Discuss.

Q10. In the American civil war, the victory of the North had many consequences. Some of them were direct and obvious. However, its indirect effects on American development were perhaps even more important. Comment.

Q11. Revolutions, whether in Russia (1917) or in China (1949), are a disastrous way of transforming a country. Comment.

Q12. Europe was at war with itself in the first half of the twentieth century with a long cease-fire. Comment.

Q13. The impact of the end of the Cold War and the emergence of the US as the lone superpower has been both good and bad. Discuss.

Q14. Do you think that the United Nations Organisation has played a significant role in resolving international disputes and ensuring peace in the world?

UPSC CSE 2020

Q1. “The principles of Enlightenment were in some ways a continuation of the discoveries and theories of the Scientific Revolution.”  Critically examine.

Q2. “The causes of the French Revolution of 1789 included both long term and structural factors, as well as more immediate events.”  Critically examine.

Q3. “Industrial revolution had far reaching social and political consequences with the advent of assembly line factories, urbanisation and rise of the urban working class.” Critically examine.

Q4. “The multitude of newly independent countries came to be known as “Third World”, belonging neither to the First World of capitalist democracies, nor the Communist Second world.” Critically examine.

Q5. “The British were slated to withdraw from Palestine in May 1948, and both sides prepared for that day. Violence between Arabs and Jews, already endemic, escalated.” Critically examine.

Q6. “Napoleon was not a revolutionary but he solidified many of the   revolutionary changes of 1789-1791 and he himself supported most of the ideas and proposals of Enlightenment philosophers.” Substantiate.

Q7. “Lincoln’s main thesis was the Slavery issue had to be decided one way or the other and could no longer be evaded by compromise.” Comment in the light of his role in the American civil war.

Q8. “The 1848 revolutions frightened the crowned heads of Europe and caused several to abdicate. Those who remained were cognizant of the threats posed by liberalism, nationalism and socialism.” Comment.

Q9. “From Bismarck’s ‘Blood and Iron’ speech and his forceful actions to achieve German unification, Bismarck came to be known as the Iron chancellor.” Critically examine.

Q10. Do you agree with the statement that the Second World War history’s most destructive war? Elaborate.

Q11. Discuss the circumstances leading to the French exit from Algeria in 1962.

Q12. How did Stalin build on Lenin’s legacy of Bolshevik Revolution and introduce new elements of totalitarianism to transform USSR as a superpower?

Q13. A new configuration of power emerged in world politics after the end of the cold war. Analyse how USA managed to become the sole superpower.

Q14. Critically examine whether it was true that after a century of dependency on Europeans, Africans were ill-prepared for the task of nation-building.

UPSC CSE 2019

Q1. “The arguments of the free traders were a curious mixture of economic hard-headedness, social benevolence, cosmopolitan idealism and class prejudice.” Critically examine.

Q2. “There are many ways in which the war of 1914-18 was unprecedented, and in human history, entirely novel.” Critically examine.

Q3. “The ineffectiveness of the League of Nations to prevent or to check Japanese aggression against China was the first serious blow to its prestige as an agency for providing security.” Critically examine.

Q4. “Non-alignment came to symbolize the struggle of India and other newly independent nations to retain and strengthen their independence from colonialism and imperialism.” Critically examine.

Q5. How would you explain the nature of pre-Marxian Socialism? Critically examine.

Q6. How did the policies of governments facilitate the process of industrialisation in Europe?

Q7. How was Italy transformed from ‘a geographical expression’ to a nation-state?

Q8. How far did the Napoleonic preferential stance to help out the French economy result in embroiling France in continental conflicts?

Q9. Which factors would you attribute to the British colonial intervention in Malaya in the 19th century? How did Malays react to British colonial rule?

Q10. Explain why Latin America was beset with chronic political instability and endemic military conflicts throughout most of the 19th century.

Q11. Do you agree with the view that the formation of NATO marked a revolution in American attitude to the world problems?

Q12. Do you subscribe to the view that the Greek War of Independence was mired in contrasts of the best and the worst episodes? How did it affect the Concert of Europe?

Q13. Was Czechoslovakia served on a dish to Hitler at Munich? What were its implications?

Q14. Analyse the role of Egypt after the Second World War in bringing about Arab unity.

UPSC CSE 2018

Q1. “With the writings of Karl Marx, Socialism assumed the form of scientific socialism.” Critically examine.

Q2. “The American War of Independence transformed Europe as well as America.” Critically examine.

Q3. “The Industrial revolution put mobility in the place of stability.” Critically examine.

Q4. At the end of the Battle of Sedan (1870), “Europe lost a mistress and gained a master.” Critically examine.

Q5. “Until December 1941, the battlefield of the Second World War was exclusively European and Atlantic; thereafter it became also Asiatic and Pacific.” Critically examine.

Q6. Explain the major ideas of Enlightenment. Discuss the contribution of Rousseau in Enlightenment.

Q7. Discuss how Japan industrialized after the eon sequences for its neighbours?

Q8. Explain the features of apartheid in South Africa.

Q9. Examine the role of Bismarck in state-building in Germany.

Q10. Discuss the factors constraining the development of Africa after decolonization.

Q11. Outline the circumstances leading to the adoption of the Marshall Plan.

Q12. In the Chinese Revolution of 1949, the elements of communism and nationalism were discernible. Explain the statement in the light of Mao’s strategy which was different from that of Lenin.

Q13. Discuss how far the United Nations has been successful in resolving global disputes from the year 1946 to 1991.

Q14. Review the policy of Glasnost adopted by Gorbachev.

UPSC CSE 2017

Q1. “Kant’s redefinition of reason and his rehabilitation of conscience marked a high point in the intellectual reaction against dominant rationalism of the Enlightenment.” Critically examine.

Q2. “The spirit behind the great reforms of Napoleon’s Consulate at home was the transference of the methods of Bonaparte the general to the task of Bonaparte the statesman.” Critically examine.

Q3. “The roots of the Chartist movement in Great Britain were partly political and partly economic.” Critically examine.

Q4. “18 January 1871 had been a day of triumph for the strength and pride of Germany and 28 June 1919 was the day of chastisement.” Critically examine.

Q5. “The collapse of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989 brought new meaning to the idea of cooperation in Europe.” Critically examine.

Q6. Explain why England became the harbinger of the Industrial Revolution. Also, throw light on its social consequences.

Q7. Why was the First World War termed as the first ‘total’ war in modern history?

Q8. Discuss how the agrarian crisis accompanied by severe industrial depression triggered the Revolutions of 1848.

Q9. What determinant factors, along with diplomatic, shaped the process of German Unification?

Q10. Examine the statement that “the danger of ‘Bolshevism’ dominated not only the history of the years immediately following the Russian Revolution of 1917 but the entire history of the world since that date.

Q11. Explain why Bolivar’s efforts failed to fructify in bringing about united stand of the Latin Americans.

Q12. Examine the circumstances which led to the overthrow of democracy and the establishment of the Fascist dictatorship in Italy.

Q13. “By 1980s, the Communist System of Soviet Union was incapable of maintaining the country’s role as a Superpower.” Substantiate.

Q14. Examine the nature of Dutch imperialism in Indonesia.