GCSE syllabus

History Modern World Specification B

Section A - International History 1900-1991 (25%)

Key Issues	Content Focus
1. Why did tension increase in Europe between 1900 and 1914?	The alliance system and the Arms race; Moroccan Crises 1905 and 1911; Bosnian Crisis 1908-9.
2. Why did the assassination at Sarajevo lead to the outbreak of war in 1914?	Sarajevo, Austria/Hungary and the Serbs; the Schlieffen plan; events leading to the outbreak of war.
3. How did the Treaty of Versailles establish peace?	Paris Peace Conference: Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, Clemenceau- their views and Motives. Main terms of the Treaty of Versailles- territorial changes, military restrictions, war guilt and reparations.
4. Why did the League of Nations frequently fail in its aim to keep peace?	The League of Nations- membership, organisation, powers and peacekeeping role Crises of Manchuria (1931-2) and Abyssinia (1935-36)
5. How did Hitler challenge and exploit the Treaty of Versailles in the period 1933 to March 1938?	Hitler's aims and expansionist policies; the Saar; Rhineland 1936; Austria 1938.
6. Why did appeasement fail to prevent the outbreak of war in 1939?	Appeasement and Chamberlain; Hitler, Aryan supremacy and lebensraum; Sudentenland and Munich agreement; Czechoslavakia, March 1939, growing tensions, including the role of USSR; Nazi Soviet pact; Poland and the outbreak of war.
7. Why did the USA and USSR become rivals in the period 1945-1949?	East-West ideological gap; decisions made at Yalta and Potsdam, their importance; attitudes of Stalin and Truman; Soviet expansion into central Europe; Iron Curtain; Truman Doctrine; Marshall Plan. Berlin 1945-48; Berlin Blockade and airlift.

Section B - Britain and the First World War (12.5%)

Key Issues	Content Focus
What was the part played by Britain in the defeat of Germany in the First World War?	The BEF; trench warfare; Britain's contribution to the Western Front, using the Battle of the Somme as An example; new weapons-tanks, planes; the war at sea; blockades and Jutland; the contribution of the Empire troops; the end of the war.
How did the war change life in Britain?	Changing attitudes at home; censorship and propaganda The changing role of women; recruitment; rationing; effects of submarine warfare.

Paper 2

Option B Germany 1918-1939 (37.5%)

Key Issues	Content Focus
1. How far do the early problems of the Weimar Republic suggest that it was doomed from the start?	Origins of the Weimar Republic; effects of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany; problems of the Weimar Republic, 1918-1924: political weakness; political challenges from the Left and Right; Spartacists; Kapp Putsch; Munich Putsch; invasion of the Ruhr; hyperinflation.
2. How far did the Weimar Republic recover under Stresemann?	Recovery of the economy; the Dawes and Young Plans; the role of Stresemann; inability of the Weimar Republic to cope with the Depression.
3. How did the Nazi Party develop its ideas and organisation up to 1929?	Early career of Hitler; founding of the Nazi Party; Munich Putsch; Mein Kampf; decline in support in the Stresemann years.
4. How was Hitler able to become Chancellor in January 1933?	Growth in support for the Nazis, 1929-1933; and its reasons; Elections of 1932; invitation to lead coalition govt. 1933.
5.How did Hitler change Germany from a democracy to a Nazi dictatorship, 1933-1934?	Reichstag Fire; Election of March 1933; Enabling Act; elimination of political opposition - political parties, Trade Unions. Night of the Long Knives; death of Hindenburg; Hitler becomes Fuhrer.
6. What were the main features of totalitarian dictatorship in Nazi Germany?	One party law and order- the SS and Gestapo. Cultural, racial and religious persecution; control of education, youth movements and the media; censorship and propaganda.
7. To what extent did the German people benefit from Nazi rule in the 1930's?	Economic policy; increased employment through public works programmes, rearmament and conscription; self sufficiency. Effects of Nazi policies on people living in Germany.

Paper 2

Option C The USA 1919-1941

1. How did the USA react to the end of World War I?	Rejection of the peace treaty; reasons for refusing to join the League of Nations.
2. How did the policies of the American Government encourage Isolation?	Tariff policy: Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922; immigration controls; quota system of 1921.
3. How far did the USA achieve prosperity in the 1920's?	Mass production (e.g. Ford and the motor industry); consumer boom - Hire purchase, purchase of shares; stocks market boom; continuation of poverty (e.g. farmers); Afro Americans.
4. The Roaring Twenties - is this a good description of the USA in the 1920's?	Ku Klux Klan and racism; Prohibition; organised crime e.g. Al Capone. Developments in entertainment - e.g. Hollywood, jazz. The flappers.
5. Why did the USA fall into depression in 1929?	Problems of the 1920's, e.g. overproduction, lack of credit control, unequal distribution of wealth; tariff controls.
6. What were the effects of the Depression on the American people?	Effects of the Wall Street Crash - collapse of business and industry; unemployment and its effects; failure of Hoover's Government to deal with depression.
7. What measures did Roosevelt introduce to deal with the Depression?	Election of FDR; the fireside chats; banking crisis; New Deal and the Alphabet Agencies: TVA, NRA, WPA, CCC, AAA.
8. How far was the New Deal successful in ending the Depression in the USA?	Effects of the New Deal in achieving its aims; limitations; opposition to it; impact of World War II on the American Economic recovery.

Year 11 Revision

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