IB History Focused Study 4: Conflict and Displacement Questionbank

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was persecution the main reason for post-war mass displacement in Europe?

Source A: Adapted from United Nations Economic and Social Council, survey of refugees and displaced persons, 1946.

Europe contained people displaced for many different reasons: forced labourers and prisoners of war, survivors of racial and political persecution, people expelled through territorial changes and others unwilling to return because of new regimes. A durable solution therefore required more than repatriation alone.

Source B: Adapted from Earl G. Harrison, report to President Truman on displaced persons in the US occupation zone, 3 August 1945.

Many Jewish survivors did not wish to return to countries where their families had been killed and where they feared renewed hostility. Yet they were still housed by nationality alongside people among whom they felt unsafe. Their displacement could not be understood only as a wartime transport problem.

Source C: U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph 111-SC-209893-S, 18 June 1945, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-europe-causes-1945.jpg

Italian refugees eating and resting at Camp Reichenau, Innsbruck, Austria, 18 June 1945.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was fear of political persecution the main cause of the Indochina refugee crisis?

Source A: Adapted from Poul Hartling, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, statement to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, 12 November 1979.

During the first half of 1979, arrivals from Indochina by land and sea increased dramatically. We faced a fight against time in which lives were at stake. Governments needed to preserve asylum, rescue people in distress at sea, reunite separated families and provide many more opportunities for resettlement.

Source B: Adapted from Jimmy Carter, Proclamation 4650 on Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, 28 March 1979.

The United States has welcomed refugees from Indochina who were displaced by political and social upheaval. Their contribution to American life demonstrates the value of remaining open to those seeking hope, opportunity and freedom. Their successful resettlement strengthens both their new communities and the nation.

Source C: U.S. Navy photograph, circa 1979, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-indochina-causes-1979.jpg

A boat with Vietnamese refugees alongside the U.S. Navy combat stores ship USS White Plains (AFS-4) in the South China Sea, circa 1979.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was persecution the main reason for post-war mass displacement in Europe?

Source A: Adapted from Agreement of the Berlin (Potsdam) Conference, section XIII, 2 August 1945.

The transfer to Germany of German populations remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary should be carried out in an orderly and humane manner. Because large numbers were already moving, the Allied Control Council was asked to examine how further transfers could be distributed among the occupation zones.

Source B: Adapted from Fela Warschau, Holocaust survivor testimony recorded by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

When British soldiers entered Bergen-Belsen, liberation did not mean that I had somewhere to go. I was ill, my family had been destroyed and the world I had known no longer existed. Survival therefore began another period of uncertainty rather than an immediate return home.

Source C: Adapted from Earl G. Harrison, report to President Truman on displaced persons in the US occupation zone, 3 August 1945.

Many Jewish survivors did not wish to return to countries where their families had been killed and where they feared renewed hostility. Yet they were still housed by nationality alongside people among whom they felt unsafe. Their displacement could not be understood only as a wartime transport problem.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was persecution the main reason for post-war mass displacement in Europe?

Source A: Adapted from Earl G. Harrison, report to President Truman on displaced persons in the US occupation zone, 3 August 1945.

Many Jewish survivors did not wish to return to countries where their families had been killed and where they feared renewed hostility. Yet they were still housed by nationality alongside people among whom they felt unsafe. Their displacement could not be understood only as a wartime transport problem.

Source B: Adapted from United Nations Economic and Social Council, survey of refugees and displaced persons, 1946.

Europe contained people displaced for many different reasons: forced labourers and prisoners of war, survivors of racial and political persecution, people expelled through territorial changes and others unwilling to return because of new regimes. A durable solution therefore required more than repatriation alone.

Source C: U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph 111-SC-209893-S, 18 June 1945, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-europe-causes-1945.jpg

Italian refugees eating and resting at Camp Reichenau, Innsbruck, Austria, 18 June 1945.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent did international organizations provide an effective response to post-war displacement in Europe?

Source A: Adapted from Harry S. Truman, directive on the immigration of displaced persons and refugees, 22 December 1945.

American immigration officials should give displaced persons preference within the existing national quotas. Particular attention should be paid to orphaned children and to people who had suffered persecution, while voluntary agencies and the military authorities should help with selection and transport.

Source B: Adapted from United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, report on displaced-person operations in Europe, 1946.

Millions had been returned home, but repatriation slowed as the remaining camp population included people who opposed return or could not be received safely. Relief agencies still had to supply food, medical care, registration and transport while governments disagreed about longer-term solutions.

Source C: Photograph by Sergeant J. Mapham, No. 5 Army Film and Photographic Unit, 18 May 1945, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-europe-response-1945.jpg

Displaced persons being processed at the reception centre established by British forces in the former forced-labour camp at Hamburg Zoo, 18 May 1945.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.