Term 1: How did the world change in the interwar period?
In this unit, students will study the interwar period. In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939, between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second World War. Students will learn that though the interwar period was relatively short, it featured many significant social, political, and economic changes throughout the world. Students will study this period by learning about various different countries, including Russia, Germany, America, Italy, Japan, France and Spain. Events which they will cover include the Russian Revolution, the 'roaring twenties', the Wall Street Crash, the rise of Mussolini, the construction of the Maginot Line and the Spanish Civil War.
Knowledge Test: This knowledge test is designed for students to display their understanding of key words, events and dates from this unit. This ensures that pupils have secure knowledge of this information, providing a solid basis of understanding which is required for further Year 9 units.
Militarism
The belief that a country should have a strong military and be prepared to use it.
Anti-Semitism
Opposition to and attacks on Jews.
Imperialism
The policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonisation.
Nationalism
Extreme love for a country marked by a feeling of superiority over other countries.
Nazi Party
National Socialist German Workers' Party - the political party founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power by Hitler in 1933.
Censorship
Where something is controlled or banned.
Freikorps
Organisation of armed ex-soldier volunteers.
Dictatorship
A form of government where a country is entirely controlled by one person
Tension
Mental or emotional strain.
Führer
'Supreme Leader' in German, Hitler’s
name for himself
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.
Term 2: When was the turning point during the Second World War?
In this unit, students will learn about the causes, events and consequences of the Second World War. They will begin by learning about the policy of appeasement, and the lack of British success at the start of the war. They will study the evacuation of Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain, paying particular focus to the role of Polish and Czech fighters in the conflict. They will also study the fighting which took place in North Africa and the role of Caribbean and African soldiers. They will learn about the American entry into the war, and why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, as well as events including Stalingrad and Leningrad on the Eastern Front. They will also study D-Day, the dropping of the atomic bombs, and the geopolitical climate at the end of the war. This unit aligns with their studies in Drama at the same time, and the sources which students study in History during this half term will also be used in their Drama lessons.
Extended Essay Question: This assessment requires pupils to provide a judgement on the extent to which they agree with an interpretation about the evacuation of Dunkirk. This therefore focuses on developing students' extended writing capabilities and use of evidence and analysis.
Appeasement
To satisfy someone by agreeing to their demands.
Treaty of Versailles
A document signed between Germany and the Allied Powers following World War I that officially ended that war.
Mein Kampf
The autobiography of Adolf Hitler, setting forth his political philosophy and his plan for German conquest. The title translates to ‘My Struggle’.
Dunkirk
A seaport in north France, and the site of the evacuation of a British expeditionary force of over 330,000 men under German fire from May 29–June 4, 1940.
Blitzkrieg
An intense military campaign intended to bring about a swift victory.
Evacuation
To remove people from a dangerous place or disaster area, for reasons of safety or protection.
Rationing
To allow each person to have only a fixed amount of something, such as food.
Auschwitz
The largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Located in southern Poland, Auschwitz initially served as a detention centre for political prisoners. However, it evolved into a network of camps in which Nazi enemies were killed.
Invasion
Invading a country or region with an armed force.
Luftwaffe
The German air force in WW2.
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.
Term 3: How did Raphael Lemkin try to prevent the 'crime of crimes'?
In this unit students will begin by learning what genocides are and how the word genocide came about. In class, they will then learn about the Nazi persecution of minorities, including events such as Kristallnacht, and the Final Solution. They will also learn about the Cambodian genocide, the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, the Bosnian genocide and finally the Darfur genocide. As an ongoing homework project, students will research the plight of the Uyghur and come to a judgement about whether they believe what is happening to the Uyghur should be termed a genocide. Where possible, this unit will always include the visit of a speaker who is a survivor or a second-generation survivor of a genocide. Our visitors in the past include Lesley Urbach, Kemal Pervanić and Sophie Masereka. An extra trip will also be run for a smaller group of students to Richmond Synagogue to learn more about the Jewish experiences in the Holocaust.
Written Questions: These questions test a number of historical concepts including difference and causation. We will also assess students' knowledge and understanding, as well as their SPAG. Students will be assessed on their research skills, encouraging a high standard of independent work and developing confidence.
Holocaust
The mass murder of Jews under the German Nazi regime during the period 1941–5. More than 6 million European Jews, as well as members of other persecuted groups, were murdered at concentration camps such as Auschwitz.
Jew
A member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who trace their origins to the ancient Hebrew people of Israel.
Persecution
Hostility and ill-treatment, especially because of race or political or religious beliefs; oppression.
Concentration camp
A place in which large numbers of people, especially political prisoners or members of persecuted minorities, are deliberately imprisoned in a relatively small area with inadequate facilities, sometimes to provide forced labour or to await mass execution.
Work camp
A camp for prisoners sentenced to labour, especially to outdoor labour such as road building or farming.
Auschwitz
The largest of the Nazi concentration and death camps. Located in southern Poland, Auschwitz initially served as a detention centre for political prisoners. However, it evolved into a network of camps in which Nazi enemies were killed.
Forced labour
Any work or service which people are forced to do against their will, under threat of punishment.
Shoah
This biblical word (which has been used to mean “destruction” since the Middle Ages) became the standard Hebrew term for the murder of European Jewry as early as the early 1940s.
Final Solution
The Nazi policy of exterminating European Jews. Introduced by Heinrich Himmler and administered by Adolf Eichmann, the policy resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews in concentration camps between 1941 and 1945.
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.
Term 4: Did the Civil Rights Movement ever end?
In this unit, students will study the Civil Rights movement. They will learn about the mass popular movement to secure African-Americans equal access to and opportunities for the basic privileges and rights of US citizenship. They will analyse the role of important individuals such as Emmett Till, Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X. Furthermore, they will study the aims and actions of the Black Lives Matter Movement and compare American History with British History, studying events such as the Bristol Bus Boycott and the Mangrove Nine. They will be given the resources to research Apartheid as part of their homework during this half term too
Historical Skills Test - Civil Rights Movement: This test will assess students' recall knowledge from the unit, including key terms, years and events.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
When the blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, decided that they would boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted
De jure segregation
Segregation that is imposed by law.
Freedom Rides
A bus trip made to parts of the southern U.S. by persons engaging in efforts to integrate racially segregated public facilities.
Black Panthers
A militant Black Power organisation founded in the 1960s by Huey Newton and others.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Federal law ending segregation in the South
Freedom Summer
A highly publicised campaign in the deep South to register blacks to vote during the summer of 1964
Rosa Parks
an African American steamstress, Civil Rights leader that refused to give up her seat on the bus.
Jim Crow Laws
Any state law discriminating against black persons.
Sit-in
An organised passive protest, especially against racial segregation, in which the demonstrators occupy seats prohibited to the, as in restaurants and other public places.
Boycott
To refuse to have dealings with.
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.
Term 5: Why did the Cold War emerge?
In this unit, students will learn about the origins of the Cold War from 1941-58, studying events such as the wartime conferences, arms race and Hungarian uprising. They will constantly be analysing how the events which they learn about affected superpower relations and changed the geopolitical climate of the time. In Year 9, students who intend to continue studying History at GCSE level are also able to book onto a Year 10-11 trip to Germany. In the past we have visited Berlin and will be visiting Nuremburg, Dachau and Nuremburg in October 2023. A book that complements this unit is: The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis.
Knowledge Test: Cold War Questions
Arms race
A competition between two or more nations to build more military equipment and weapons than the other.
Capitalism
A society (country) that encourages people to own their own businesses.
Détente
A political term for the easing of tension in the Cold War, sometimes known as the long ‘thaw’ in US-Soviet relations.
Cold War
State of tension and hostility between nations who supported the United States on one side and the USSR on the other.
USSR
United Socialist Soviet Republic or the Soviet Union (Russia and the countries it had influence over)
Ideology
A set of thoughts, beliefs, or values about something e.g.Communism
Cominform
An organisation of communist countries that met between 1947 and 1956. One role of Cominform was to ensure unity between Soviet bloc governments.
Foreign policy
A government’s policies when dealing with other nations, such as alliances, trade and military agreements.
NATO
An alliance of countries made up of North America and non-communist European countries (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).
Hotline
A telephone system that existed between the US and the Soviet Union in case of emergencies or problems.
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.
Term 6: Did the US really wage 'undeclared war' on Cuba, as Castro has claimed?
In this unit, students will study the Cold War crises from 1958-70. This includes the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, and the Czechoslovakian Crisis. There will be an emphasis on maps and a large amount of first-handwritten, audio and video testimony will be used in this unit. In Year 9, students who intend to continue studying History at GCSE level are also able to book onto a Year 10-11 trip to Germany. In the past we have visited Berlin and will be visiting Nuremburg, Dachau and Nuremburg in October 2023. A book that complements this unit is: The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis.
End of Year Exam: Cold War Paper - assessing consequence, chronology and significance skills.
Communism
A form of Marxism that calls for a classless (equal) society with common ownership and shared decision making.
Warsaw Pact
Military alliance (friendship) between the Soviet Union and its allies.
Superpower
A very powerful and influential nation (the US and the former Soviet Union were viewed as the two most powerful nations in the world).
Renaissance
A new growth of activity or interest in something, especially art, literature, or music.
Soviet bloc
Term describing the communist nations of Europe, under the influence of the Soviet Union.
Iron Curtain
A term invented by Winston Churchill to describe the barriers between the Soviet bloc and the ‘free’ countries of Europe.
Doctrine
A belief or set of beliefs that leads to government policy, mainly in foreign or military affairs e.g. "the Truman Doctrine"
Blockade
A military action to stop goods and people entering a location, such as a port, island, city or nation.
Comecon
A Soviet-led council that encouraged trade, technical and scientific cooperation between Communist nations.
The Grand Alliance
An agreement made during World War II, which joined together the United States the Soviet Union and Great Britain.
Develop the individual:
Spiritual education takes place in History as students understand how and why events in the past happened. Their studies help students to understand that events did not have to happen the way that they did, and that they could have taken other directions.
Moral education in History involves students being encouraged to comment on moral questions and dilemmas. History is a story of ethical decisions, and students develop the ability to empathise with the decisions which people made at the time, based on their historical situation.
Social education in History encourages students to think about what past societies have contributed to our culture today. Students own social development develops through working together and problem solving. History also has a role to play in helping people to express themselves clearly and communicate well.
Cultural education involves students developing a better understanding of our multicultural society through studying links between local, British, European and world history.
Create a supportive community:
By incorporating spiritual, moral, social and cultural development into our history classrooms, we create a supportive learning environment. The history classroom operates as a supportive learning environment that allows debate to flourish and encourages diverse views. Students feel that it is safe to discuss and engage with contentious areas of the past as well as to make links with present pressure points.