History
Context
To get you ready for Year 12 you will be getting familiar with some of the content from a Paper 2 Unit: Authoritarian states (SL and HL) Your tasks for this will be in the 'Suggested Tasks' section on this page.
The two year course that you will be studying is made up three papers. If you are studying at Standard Level (SL) you will be doing Papers 1 and 2 only. If you are studying at Higher Level (HL) you will be studying Papers 1, 2 and 3.
So the course content is:
The Move to Global War (SL and HL) Paper 1
This prescribed subject focuses on military expansion from 1931 to 1941. Two case studies are prescribed, from different regions of the world, and both of these case studies must be studied. The first case study explores Japanese expansionism from 1931 to 1941, and the second case study explores German and Italian expansionism from 1933 to 1940.
Causes and effects of 20th century wars (SL and HL) Paper 2
This topic focuses on the causes, practice and effects of war in the 20th century. The topic explores the causes of war, as well as the way in which warfare was conducted, including types of war, the use of technology, and the impact these factors had upon the outcome. Examination questions for this topic will require students to make reference to specific 20th-century wars in their responses, and some examination questions will require discussion of wars from more than one region of the world. Focus will be on the First World War, Chinese/Spanish Civil War as well as guerilla wars.
Authoritarian states (SL and HL) Paper 2
This topic focuses on exploring the conditions that facilitated the rise of authoritarian states in the 20th century, as well as the methods used by parties and leaders to take and maintain power. The topic explores the emergence, consolidation and maintenance of power, including the impact of the leaders’ policies, both domestic and foreign, upon the maintenance of power. Authoritarian states you may be investigating are: Nazi Germany, Mao Zedong, Mussolini
European States in the Inter-war Years – Paper 3 (HL)
This section deals with domestic developments in certain key European states in the period between the two world wars. It requires the study of four European countries: Germany, Italy, Spain and any one other country. The section considers the impact of the end of the First World War, then examines the economic, social and cultural changes in each country during the 1920s and 1930s.
Europe and the First World War (1871-1914) - Paper 3 (HL)
This section deals with shorter and long term origins of the First World War. It covers the break down of European diplomacy pre - 1914 and the crises that occurred in international relations. It covers how the practices of war affected the military and home fronts. The section also investigates reasons for the Allied victory/Central Powers defeat.
Suggested reading/research
KEY Questions: What do we mean by the terms 'Fascism' and 'Communism'? Who were Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler and how did they come to power?
To be honest there is so much material on these aspects you are spolit for choice. Lets not run before we can walk though so we will start with the basics. These sites/links are very useful in terms of the basis for your understanding. Ignore the fact they are labelled as KS3 they are excellent for understanding these difficult concepts if you are unfamiliar with them.
During the course you will be asked to thing about how these two regimes compare with each other in terms of how they came to power, what they did when they were in power and their overall impact. So you need to be able to draw a comparison between two regimes.
Understanding key terms:
What is authoritarianism? https://www.britannica.com/topic/authoritarianism
What is Fascism? https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/history-ks3-fascism/zknfy9q
What is Communism? https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/history-ks3-communism/zkpnscw
Understanding who Mao Zedong was and why he came to power:
https://spartacus-educational.com/COLDmao.htm
Understanding who Hitler was and why he came to power:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zsrwjxs/revision/1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/andrew-marr-history-hitler-rise-power/zn3r8xs
Don't forget that Guille - Alles library is doing free home book delivery during lock down so be brave, have a search of their catalogue and get some relevant books in (all part of the journey to becoming a brilliant history student!). They can order books you are after that are not in their catalogue too!
https://guernseypress.com/news/2020/04/29/bored-at-home-library-will-deliver-for-free/
Suggested tasks
Make sure you have read through the 'suggested reading' links above. Ensure you are confident in terms of what we mean by Fascism and Communism.
Create two spidergrams (one for Hitler and one for Mao Zedong). Referring to the above links 'pack' your spidergram with information which helps you to understand who they were and why they came to power. You might wish to make them double sided. Include key dates, events and main reasons/causes (for why they came to power) e.g. war (WW1 for Germany and the Japanese Invasion of 1937 in China for Mao etc); social unrest (political uprisings in Weimar Republic) and huge social/rural poverty (as under Mao).
These will be really useful in terms of your 'go to sheets' for when we start the course so enjoy and get learning!!
