PAPER 1

Use of source material:
One of the objectives of the history course is to develop candidates’ ability to comprehend, analyse, evaluate and use source material critically as historical evidence. Study of a prescribed subject using sources is intended to develop candidates’ ability to:

This prescribed subject addresses developments under Stalin’s dictatorship up to the German invasion of the USSR during the Second World War. It could take into account social, economic and political developments within the USSR as well as foreign relations. This prescribed subject could be linked to 20th century world history topics 3 and 6 as well as the Europe (including Russia/USSR) regional options. Areas on which source-based questions will focus are:

• Struggle for leadership
• Collectivization, agricultural policies
• Five Year Plans, industrialization, rearmament
• Nature of the Soviet State , constitution, extent of Stalin’s power, cult of personality
• Purges, impact on society
• Foreign relations, USSR and Nazi Germany, Nazi/Soviet Pact

 Prescribed Subject 2 - The emergence and development of
the People’s Republic of China (PRC), 1946 to 1964

This prescribed subject addresses internal issues in China between 1946 and 1964 and pays particular attention to the role of Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) in the emergence and development of the People’s Republic of China. It requires the study of political developments, rectification campaigns, economic reconstruction and social reorganization in China during this period. This prescribed subject could be linked to 20th century history topics 1 and 3 as well as areas of East Asia, South East Asia and Oceania regional options. Areas on which source-based questions will focus are:

• The Chinese Civil War
• Political unification, consolidation of power, economic reconstruction, social reform
• The first Five Year Plan
• Mass campaigns: 3 and 5 Antis, Hundred Flowers Campaign
• The Great Leap Forward: economic, social, political effects
• Ideology

20th Century World History Topics

Candidates are required to study a selection of 20th century world history topics;
The topics should be studied through a selection of case studies drawn from different regions. Candidates are not expected to cover all the examples listed in material for detailed study and knowledge of the topics beyond 1995 is not required.
Candidates will be expected to present historical explanations from an international perspective; the topics should therefore be studied through a selection of case studies drawn from different regions.

   War was a major feature of the 20th century. In this topic the various types of war should be identified, and the causes, nature, effects and results should be studied. Questions will be set on major themes. Some of these will require knowledge of two regions.
Major themes:

• Different types of 20th century warfare
  • civil, guerrilla, limited, revolutionary
  • total war

• Origins and causes of war
  • long-term and short-term causes, failure of diplomacy
  • economic, ideological, political, religious causes

• Nature of 20th century wars
  • technological developments, tactics and strategies, air, land, sea
  • the home front, the role of women
  • resistance and revolutionary movements

• Effects and results
  • treaties, and wars ending without treaties
  • political repercussions, territorial changes
  • social and cultural effects, changes in the status of women
  • post-war economic problems

• Arab-Israeli wars
• Chinese Civil War
• First and second World Wars
• Korean War
• Mexican Revolution
• Nigerian Civil War
• Russian revolutions and civil war
• Spanish Civil War
• Vietnam War

• Origins of single-party states
  • conditions which produce single-party states
  • emergence of leader: aims, ideology, support

• Establishment of single-party states
  • methods: force, legal
  • form of government, ideology (left and right wing)
  • totalitarianism, treatment of opposition

• Rule of single-party states
  • political, economic and social policies
  • role of education, the arts, the media, propaganda
  • status of women, treatment of minorities and religious groups

• Regional and global impact
  • foreign policy as a means of maintaining the regime
  • impact of regime outside the state
  • as a factor in the Cold War

• Argentina - Juan Perón
• China - Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung)
• Cuba - Fidel Castro
• Egypt - Gamal Abdel Nasser
• Germany - Adolf Hitler
• Italy - Benito Mussolini
• Tanzania - Julius Nyerere
• USSR - Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin

Topic 5 – The Cold War

This topic addresses East–West relations from 1945 to 1995. It includes superpower rivalry and events in all areas affected by Cold War politics such as spheres of interest, wars, alliances and interference in developing countries. It aims to promote an international perspective and understanding of the Cold War, which overshadowed world affairs during this period. Questions will be set on major themes. Some will require knowledge of two regions.
Major themes

• Origins of East–West rivalry
  • mutual distrust, fear and suspicion: USA and USSR
  • wartime allies becoming post-war enemies

• Nature of the Cold War
  • ideological opposition
  • superpowers and spheres of interest
  • opposing alliances and the arms race

• Cold War developments
  • Europe
  • US policy of containment and spread of the Cold War worldwide
  • brinkmanship, peaceful coexistence
  • related wars and non-alignment
  • social, economic and gender issues

• End of the Cold War
  • arms limitation, détente, opposition to communism
  • opposition to the regime within communist countries

Examples of material for detailed study
Candidates should study a selection from the material listed below, ensuring that two regions are covered. Questions set on specific, named events will be confined to those listed below. Alternative examples can be studied and used to answer open-ended questions.

• Wartime conferences, Yalta, Potsdam 1945
• Developments in Europe: Germany, especially Berlin, Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
• USSR policies, east European satellites, COMECON (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), Warsaw Pact
• Containment, China, Cuba, Korea, Vietnam, and the Middle East
• Non-alignment
• Arms race, arms control, détente

PAPER 3

Europe(including Russia/USSR)

This regional option extends from the later half of the 18th century to 1995. It is recommended that school select a period of approximately 100 years within these dates for in-depth study. Within this option students should be aware of the key political, social, economic and cultural events and themes that have affected Europe These could include; causes and effects of the French Revolution; impact of the Industrial Revolution; establishment of nation-states; the world wars; rise and fall of authoritarian states; and establishment of parliamentary democracy in the region. Several themes, a wide range of events and more than one country should be studied.

• Austria and Prussia , 1815 to 1848
• economic developments, the Zollverein
• 1848 revolutions
• Bismarck , domestic and foreign policies, to 1871
• wars, unification of Germany
• the dual monarchy, Austria-Hungary

• Bismarck and Prussia/Germany, 1862 to 1890
• Wilhelmine Germany, 1890 to 1918; domestic and foreign policies
• dual monarchy in Austria-Hungary, 1867 to 1918
• Austria-Hungary and Germany, involvement in the First World War
• dissolution of Austro-Hungarian Empire, problems of nationalities

• Russian territorial aims, decline of the Ottoman Empire , eastern question
• Crimean war, Balkan nationalism, Poland
• Alexander II, 1855 to 1881, emancipation of serfs, other reforms, reaction
• Alexander III, 1881 to 1894, economic policies, Witte, repression
• nature of stardom, growth of opposition

• long-term, short-term and immediate causes
• campaigns, war at sea, effects on civilian population
• factors leading to the defeat of the central powers
• social and economic changes during and after the war
• the Paris Peace Settlements and their political and economic effects on Europe

• foundation, structure, work and decline of the League of Nations
• search for collective security, alliances and treaties, eg. Rapallo and Locarno
• Weimar Germany, the Third Republic in France, Great Britain
• economic problems, Wall street Crash, the Depression
• the breakdown and abandonment of the principle and practice of collective security

• nature of one-party states, ideologies, repression, propaganda, state control
• Mussolini’s rise and rule, 1922 to 1945: domestic and foreign policies
• Rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party
• Hitler in power, 1933 to 1945: domestic and foreign policies
• Stalin in power, 1928 to 1953: domestic and foreign policies

• Primo de Rivera and the “dictadura”
• Spain: domestic policy to 1931
• causes, events, and results of the Spanish Civil War and the involvement of foreign powers
• transition from Franco’s Spain to monarchist Spain
• overthrow of monarchy and establishment of republic in Portugal
• the governments of Salazar and Caetano
• the restoration of democracy in Portugal

• international diplomacy in the inter-war years
• appeasement, collapse of the League of Nations
• aggressive policies of Hitler and Mussolini
• total war and its effect
• war in the air, at sea, on land, the home front
• political, social and economic consequences of the war