All 8 questions from UPSC Civil Services Mains History 2024 Paper II (400 marks total). Every stem reproduced in full, with directive-word analysis, marks, word limits, and answer-approach pointers.
8Questions
400Total marks
2024Year
Paper IIPaper
Topics covered
Colonial India social and political developments (1)British economic policies and 1857 revolt (1)Nationalism, regionalism and Maratha history (1)Swadeshi movement, trade unions and post-independence development (1)World history from Enlightenment to 1989 (1)Industrialization and rise of Fascism in Europe (1)World War II, European integration and apartheid (1)Cold War, neo-imperialism and Vietnamese independence (1)
A
Q1
50M150wCompulsorycritically examineColonial India social and political developments
Critically examine the following statements in about 150 words each:
(a) After the battle of Plassey, the mercenary became the Kingmaker. (10 marks)
(b) The values of utilitarianism prompted the Company administration to attempt reform of Indian society. (10 marks)
(c) In course of the 19th century, the agenda of social reform was gradually replaced by revivalism. (10 marks)
(d) The federal provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935 foundered on the rock of princely intransigence. (10 marks)
(e) The strength of the Pakistan programme was its vagueness. It meant everything to everyone. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित कथनों में से प्रत्येक का लगभग 150 शब्दों में समालोचनात्मक परीक्षण कीजिए :
(a) प्लासी के युद्ध के बाद भाड़े के सैनिक राजा निर्माता बन गए । (10)
(b) उपयोगितावाद के मूल्यों ने कम्पनी प्रशासन को भारतीय समाज में सुधार के प्रयास के लिए प्रेरित किया । (10)
(c) 19वीं सदी के दौरान, सामाजिक सुधार की कार्यसूची (एजेंडे) को धीरे-धीरे पुनरुत्थानवाद द्वारा प्रतिस्थापित किया गया । (10)
(d) भारत सरकार अधिनियम 1935 के संघीय प्रावधान राजाओं के कठोर रूख से असफल हो गए । (10)
(e) पाकिस्तान योजना की ताकत उसका अस्पष्ट होना था । यह सब लोगों के लिए सब कुछ था । (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (b) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (c) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (d) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (e) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Thesis-driven, cites specific sources/historians, nuanced critique of the statement
Company's sepoy army and Plassey's role in installing Mir Jafar
Kingmaking sequence: Mir Jafar, Mir Qasim (1760), Mir Jafar restored (1763), Najm-ud-Daula (1765); Buxar (1764), Allahabad (1765), dual government
Financial dimension: presents, private trade, Diwani revenue funding the army
Critique: phase gave way to direct rule and subsidiary alliances; 'mercenary' label and Indian financiers' role (Jagat Seths)
Utilitarian ideas (Bentham, James Mill's History of British India) and Eric Stokes' thesis
Reforms: sati abolition (1829), thuggee suppression, English education (1835), Law Commission and IPC, Caste Disabilities Removal Act (1850), Widow Remarriage Act (1856)
Other drivers: Evangelicals, liberal and Indian reformers (Rammohun Roy), administrative needs
Limits: selective, revenue- and order-driven, retreat after 1857
50Mcritically examineBritish economic policies and 1857 revolt
(a) The pace of commercialisation of agriculture increased as a result of British revenue policies in India. – Critically examine. (20 marks)
(b) Why was the Great Revolt of 1857 confined only to North India ? How did it change the character of British rule in the subcontinent ? Explain. (10+10=20 marks)
(c) Why did the demand for land reform never become an agenda in national politics after 1947 ? Elucidate. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) भारत में ब्रिटिश राजस्व नीतियों के फलस्वरूप कृषि वाणिज्यीकरण की गति में वृद्धि हुई । आलोचनात्मक विश्लेषण कीजिए । (20)
(b) 1857 का महान विद्रोह क्यों उत्तर भारत में ही सीमित रहा ? उपमहाद्वीप में ब्रिटिश शासन की प्रकृति में यह कैसे परिवर्तन लाया ? व्याख्या कीजिए । (10+10=20)
(c) 1947 के बाद भूमि सुधार की मांग राष्ट्रीय राजनीति में कभी एजेंडा क्यों नहीं बनी ? स्पष्ट कीजिए । (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC History Paper 2. (a) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Demonstrates deep analytical understanding, cites specific historical evidence, and critically evaluates the arguments.
Revenue systems (Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari, Mahalwari): cash demand, fixed dates, high assessment
50McommentNationalism, regionalism and Maratha history
(a) Political extremism in colonial India often converged with cultural nationalism, but not always. – Comment. (20 marks)
(b) Regionalism in India after 1947 was occasioned by developmental imperatives as much as linguistic particularism. – Elucidate. (20 marks)
(c) Twenty years of peace secured by the treaty of Salbai proved very costly to the Marathas in strategic terms. – Elucidate. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) औपनिवेशिक भारत में राजनीतिक उग्रवाद अक्सर सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्रवाद में अभिमुख हो जाते थे, परन्तु हमेशा नहीं । टिप्पणी कीजिए । (20)
(b) 1947 के बाद भारत में क्षेत्रवाद जितना ही विकासात्मक अनिवार्यताओं से प्रेरित था उतना ही भाषाई विशिष्टतावाद से भी । स्पष्ट कीजिए । (20)
(c) सलबाई की संधि के फलस्वरूप बीस वर्षों की शांति मराठाओं के लिए रणनीति के परिप्रेक्ष्य से बहुत महँगी साबित हुई । स्पष्ट कीजिए । (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (b) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (c) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close Full marks: Demonstrates deep understanding of the historical context, provides specific examples, and offers a nuanced analysis.
Convergence: Tilak's festivals, Bande Mataram and Aurobindo, Swadeshi's use of religious idiom, Savarkar and Abhinav Bharat, Anushilan/Jugantar oaths
Divergence: Ghadar's secular republicanism, HSRA and Bhagat Singh's socialism, Chittagong (Surya Sen), Ashfaqulla Khan and composite militancy
Consequences: mobilisation vs alienation of Muslims; Lajpat Rai, Pal as cases
50Mcritically examineSwadeshi movement, trade unions and post-independence development
(a) The Swadeshi movement of 1905 anticipated many of the tactics that were later developed during the Gandhian mass movement. – Critically examine. (20 marks)
(b) The trade union movement joined forces with the mainstream of nationalist politics to strengthen each other in their struggle against colonial rule. – Comment. (20 marks)
(c) India's developmental strategy after independence was influenced by economic imperatives, not ideological considerations. – Comment. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) 1905 के स्वदेशी आंदोलन ने कई कार्यनीतियों का पूर्वानुमान कर लिया था जिन्हें बाद में गांधीवादी जन आंदोलन के दौरान विकसित किया गया । आलोचनात्मक विश्लेषण कीजिए । (20)
(b) औपनिवेशिक शासन के विरुद्ध अपने संघर्ष में एक दूसरे को मजबूत करने के लिए, ट्रेड यूनियन आंदोलन राष्ट्रवादी राजनीति की मुख्यधारा से जुड़ गया था । टिप्पणी कीजिए । (20)
(c) स्वतंत्रता के बाद भारत की विकासात्मक रणनीति आर्थिक अनिवार्यता से प्रभावित थी, न कि वैचारिक विचार से । टिप्पणी कीजिए । (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: UPSC History Paper 2 (Modern India). (a) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (b) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (c) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close Full marks: Nuanced analysis with specific historical evidence and historiographical awareness.
Swadeshi tactics: boycott, picketing, national education (NCE 1906), swadeshi enterprise, samitis, constructive work, songs and festivals, Raksha Bandhan
Links to Gandhian methods: boycott, non-cooperation, constructive programme, passive resistance (Aurobindo's doctrine), volunteer corps
Differences: limited mass base (bhadralok), Hindu idiom alienating Muslims, lack of discipline, turn to revolutionary terrorism, repression
Verdict: rehearsal in methods, not in organisation, social base or non-violent ethic
Early labour organisation: Lokhande (1890), Madras Labour Union (1918), Ahmedabad TLA (1920), AITUC (1920, Lajpat Rai)
Convergence: nationalist leaders in unions, strikes during Non-Cooperation and Quit India, Nehru and Bose in AITUC, Karachi resolution (1931), RIN mutiny (1946)
Tensions: communist leadership, Meerut Conspiracy Case, AITUC splits (1929, 1931), Congress caution about class conflict, Trade Disputes Act (1929)
Balanced assessment of mutual reinforcement and limits
Economic imperatives: capital scarcity, low industrial base, food and forex constraints, defence
Ideological elements: Nehruvian socialism, DPSPs, Avadi (1955), public sector commanding heights, Mahalanobis model
Consensus influences: Bombay Plan, Gandhian ideas, Soviet example
Verdict: interplay; later pragmatic shifts (PL-480, Green Revolution, 1991 reforms)
50M150wCompulsorycritically examineWorld history from Enlightenment to 1989
Critically examine the following statements in about 150 words each:
(a) The ideas raised by Enlightenment thinkers were profoundly unsettling and challenging to old regime society and political order. (10 marks)
(b) The American Civil War was a result of disparity of needs of industrial north and agrarian south. (10 marks)
(c) The unification of Germany was as much a product of coal and iron as it was of blood and iron. (10 marks)
(d) The new regime in China addressed the peasant question by instituting wholesale land redistribution, which was carried out swiftly and ruthlessly. (10 marks)
(e) The revolutions of 1989 did not simply destroy governments; they also ended an ideology. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
निम्नलिखित कथनों में से प्रत्येक का लगभग 150 शब्दों में समालोचनात्मक परीक्षण कीजिए :
(a) प्रबोधन विचारकों द्वारा उठाये गये विचार पुरतन राज के समाज तथा राजनीतिक व्यवस्था के लिए बेहद अस्थिर करने वाले और चुनौतीपूर्ण थे । (10)
(b) अमरीकी गृह युद्ध औद्योगिक उत्तर तथा कृषीय दक्षिण की आवश्यकताओं की असमानता का परिणाम था । (10)
(c) जर्मनी का एकीकरण जितना कोयले और लोहे का उत्पाद था उतना ही रक्त और लोह का भी । (10)
(d) चीन के नये प्रशासन ने बड़े स्तर पर भूमि पुनर्वितरण की व्यवस्था करके कृषकों के प्रश्नों को संबोधित किया, जिसको तेजी से तथा बेरहमी से किया गया था। (10)
(e) 1989 की क्रांतियों ने केवल सरकारों को ही नष्ट नहीं किया; उन्होंने एक विचारधारा का भी अंत किया। (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (b) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (c) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (d) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment | (e) critique: the claim > its strengths > its weaknesses > your judgment Full marks: Argues a clear thesis, cites specific evidence, and engages with historiography.
Key ideas: reason, natural rights (Locke), separation of powers (Montesquieu), critique of Church (Voltaire), popular sovereignty (Rousseau), Encyclopédie
Challenge to divine right, privilege, censorship; public sphere
Limits: reformist, enlightened despots, elitist reach, ambivalence on democracy
Link to 1776/1789 revolutions without overstating causation
Economic contrasts: tariffs, free labour vs slavery, cotton economy
Slavery and its expansion as central: Missouri Compromise, 1850, Kansas-Nebraska, Dred Scott, Lincoln's election, secession
50McommentIndustrialization and rise of Fascism in Europe
(a) The course of the English industrialization was too long drawn to be considered a revolution. Comment. (20 marks)
(b) The social and political landscape of Europe after the first world war was uniquely suited to the rise of Fascism. Discuss. (20 marks)
(c) The state was the most important factor in the industrialization of Russia. Comment. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) इंग्लैंड के औद्योगीकरण का गतिक्रम, क्रांति कहने के लिए, कुछ ज्यादा ही लंबी अवधि के लिए था। टिप्पणी कीजिए। (20)
(b) प्रथम विश्व युद्ध के बाद यूरोप का सामाजिक तथा राजनीतिक परिदृश्य फासीवाद के उदय के लिए विशिष्ट रूप से अनुकूल था। विवेचना कीजिए। (20)
(c) रूस के औद्योगीकरण में राज्य सबसे महत्वपूर्ण कारक था। टिप्पणी कीजिए। (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (b) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (c) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close Full marks: Argues a clear thesis, uses specific historical evidence, and engages with historiographical debates.
50MdiscussWorld War II, European integration and apartheid
(a) The second world war was a truly global conflict. Discuss. (20 marks)
(b) Trace the different stages of European economic integration. (20 marks)
(c) The nature of apartheid regime undermined South Africa's claim of being a democratic polity. (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध वास्तविक वैश्विक संघर्ष था। विवेचना कीजिए। (20)
(b) यूरोपीय आर्थिक एकीकरण के विभिन्न चरणों को रेखांकित कीजिए। (20)
(c) नस्ल-भेद शासन की प्रकृति ने दक्षिण अफ्रीका के लोकतांत्रिक राज्य होने के दावे को कमजोर कर दिया। (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) discuss: intro > 3-4 dimensions > example > balanced close | (b) trace: start point > the stages in sequence > end point > what changed | (c) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close Full marks: Thesis-driven, specific evidence, clear sequence, historiographical awareness.
Theatres: Europe (Western, Eastern Front), North Africa, Atlantic, Pacific and Asia (from 1937 in China), Burma–India, Indian Ocean
Participation of colonies and dominions: Indian Army (about 2.5 million), African, Australian, Canadian forces; Latin American involvement
Global economy and society: Lend-Lease, war production, colonial resources, famines (Bengal 1943), home fronts
Global consequences: UN, decolonisation, Cold War; qualification about Europe-centred decisive theatres
Early steps: OEEC (1948), Benelux, Council of Europe (1949), ECSC (1951)
EEC and Euratom (Rome, 1957), customs union (1968), CAP, enlargements (1973, 1981, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2007, 2013)
Single European Act (1986), Maastricht (1992), euro (1999/2002), Lisbon (2007/2009)
50MexplainCold War, neo-imperialism and Vietnamese independence
(a) The emergence of two power blocs not only symbolised two competing ideologies but also two alternative models of economic growth. Explain. (20 marks)
(b) To what extent underdevelopment in Latin America is caused by neo-imperialism? (20 marks)
(c) How did Ho Chi Minh emerge as the central figure in the Vietnamese independence movement? (10 marks)
हिंदी में पढ़ें
(a) दो पावर ब्लॉक का उद्भव न केवल प्रतिद्वंद्वी विचारधाराओं का प्रतीक था, परंतु दो वैकल्पिक आर्थिक विकास का प्रारूप भी था। व्याख्या कीजिए। (20)
(b) लैटिन अमेरिका का अल्प विकास किस हद तक नवसाम्राज्यवाद के कारण हुआ? (20)
(c) हो ची मिन्ह वियतनामी स्वतंत्रता आंदोलन के केंद्रीय व्यक्ति के रूप में कैसे उभरे? (10)
Answer approach & key points
Framework: Context > Thesis > Evidence > Historiography. (a) explain: definition/context > points in order > small example > short close | (b) comment: context > arguments both sides > judgment > close | (c) trace: start point > the stages in sequence > end point > what changed Full marks: Analytical depth with specific evidence and historiographical awareness.
Ideological contrast: liberal democracy/market capitalism vs Marxism-Leninism/one-party state
Western model: market, private enterprise, Bretton Woods (IMF, World Bank, GATT), Marshall Plan, welfare-state variants
Soviet model: central planning, collectivisation, heavy industry, COMECON; early high growth then stagnation
Influence on the Third World: mixed economies, aid competition (Aswan, Bhilai), NAM; outcome by 1991
Dependency theory (Prebisch, Frank, Cardoso) and terms of trade
External mechanisms: British informal empire, US interventions (Guatemala 1954, Chile 1973), MNCs, debt crisis and structural adjustment
Internal factors: latifundia, elites, ISI inefficiencies, political instability, inflation
Balanced verdict and counter-examples (Chile's later growth, Brazil's industrialisation)
Early career: 1919 petition at Versailles, French Communist Party (1920), Comintern, Revolutionary Youth League (1925)
Organisation: Indochinese Communist Party (1930), Viet Minh (1941), August Revolution and DRV (2 September 1945)
Leadership in wars: First Indochina War, Dien Bien Phu (1954), Geneva, resistance to US
Sources of authority: fusion of nationalism and communism, personal asceticism, balancing Moscow and Beijing; death (1969) before reunification (1975)