After 1945 there was a struggle over the future of Palestine.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] The Zionists wanted to win support for a Jewish homeland from the British government.
2. [1] They thought the work of Haganah during the war would persuade the British to help them.
3. [1] They aimed to win the support of the USA for a homeland for European Jews in Palestine.
4. [1] They wanted the British to leave Palestine.
5. [1] They wanted to ensure that Jewish immigration to Palestine could not be limited.
6. [1] They aimed to use their influence in the US to pressure Truman to support their goals.
7. [1] The Jews could not afford to lose.
8. [1] Jewish morale was boosted by support from the US.
9. [1] The Jews were well organised and well led.
10. [1] The Arab countries were too confident to co-ordinate their efforts.
11. [1] Syria and Lebanon did little to support the Arab cause.
12. [1] Israeli troops outnumbered the Arab forces.
13. [1] The Israelis won the war because they were better organised than the Arab forces.
14. [4-5] The Arabs were too confident of achieving success. Five Arab states were involved in the attack against an Israeli force that initially had no planes, no heavy artillery and few armoured vehicles. The Arabs were confident they could defeat this Israeli force quickly. They were surprised when Israel began to fight back and were outnumbered by Israeli troops.
15. [4-5] Since the First World War there had been strong Jewish groups demanding a separate state for Jews. In the war of 1948–49, the Jews were fighting to keep this dream alive. They were determined to win and were aware that if they lost, they could lose their chance of having a homeland.
16. [1] President Truman pressured Britain to take more Jewish immigrants.
17. [1] Truman backed the UN's partition plan rather than Britain's plan.
18. [1] The attack on the King David Hotel caused a great loss of life.
19. [1] Two British soldiers were hanged by Irgun.
20. [1] The British were exhausted from the Second World War.
21. [1] Britain could not afford to keep 100 000 troops and police in Palestine.
22. [1] The Labour Government had different priorities than policing Palestine.
23. [1] By the end of the Second World War the British were too exhausted to fight over Palestine.
24. [7-9] There were millions of Jews living in the USA and they exerted pressure on their government to encourage Britain to take more Jewish immigrants and to accept the partition of Palestine. The Mayor of New York launched a campaign to raise £2 million in 1947 for the purchase of guns to fight the British. The British government had enough of this pressure and gave in.
25. [7-9] However, there were other factors which meant Britain was already keen to leave the Middle East. The Second World War had left the British exhausted with huge debts. The new Labour Government wanted to concentrate on introducing expensive social reforms, such as the NHS, and could not afford to keep thousands of troops in Palestine to keep peace in the area.