History GCSE (Modern World)

Specification 

Paper 1

America 1920 - 1973: Opportunity and Inequality

Pupils will study American people and the boom in the 1920s, before moving onto experiences of depression in the 1930s before finishing this unit looking at America’s post-war society focusing largely on the civil rights movement.

Conflict and Tension between East and West, 1945 - 1972

Pupils look at the origin of the Cold War, before moving onto its developments for example the Berlin Blockade and Airlift, the Korean War and the U2 crisis. They then look at the transformation of the Cold War focusing on the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Paper 2

Power and the People

This is the thematic study that pupils will complete in paper 2 and helps to gain an understanding of the relationship between the citizen and the state in Britain over a long period of time. They will study the importance of war, religion, chance, government, communication and science and technology. Case studies will include The Magna Carta, the Peasants, Revolt, the Civil War, American Revolution and the search for rights in the twentieth century.

Norman England, 1066 – c1100

Pupils are asked to study a medieval unit in the new GCSE and will begin by looking at the Norman Conquest and the Battle of Hastings and the Norman attempt to control England. They will move onto look at life under the Normans; feudalism and the Domesday Book before looking at the Norman church and monasticism.

RATIONALE

This new GCSE in History includes studies from three different eras; medieval, early modern and modern and also across three timescales; two depth studies, a medium term period study and a longer thematic study. It also covers three geographical contexts; a locality, European and World studies and at least 40% of the paper covering British history.