OVERVIEW
The study is designed to enable students to:
CONTENT
UNIT 1: TWENTIETH-CENTURY HISTORY (1918 - 1939)
In Unit 1 students explore the nature of political, social and cultural change in the period between the world wars.
The period after World War One was characterised by significant social and cultural change in the contrasting decades of the 1920s and 1930s. New fascist governments used the military, education and propaganda to impose controls on the way people lived, to exclude particular groups of people and to silence criticism. We will explore Post-War Germany and the rise of Nazism. In Germany, the persecution of the Jewish people became intensified. Writers, artists, musicians, choreographers and filmmakers reflected, promoted or resisted political, economic and social changes.
AREAS OF STUDY
Ideology And Conflict
Social And Cultural Change
UNIT 2: TWENTIETH-CENTURY HISTORY (1945 – 2000)
In Unit 2 students explore the nature and impact of the Cold War and challenges and changes to existing political, economic and social arrangements in the second half of the twentieth century.
The establishment of the United Nations in 1945 was intended to take an internationalist approach to avoiding warfare, resolving political tensions and addressing threats to human life and safety. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 was the first global expression of human rights.
Despite internationalist moves, the second half of the twentieth century was dominated by the competing ideologies of democracy and communism, setting the backdrop for the Cold War.
The period also saw challenge and change to the established order in many countries. The continuation of moves towards decolonisation led to independence movements in former colonies in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific. New countries were created and independence was achieved through both military and diplomatic means. Old conflicts also continued and terrorism became increasingly global. The second half of the twentieth century also saw the rise of social movements that challenged existing values and traditions, such as the civil rights movement, feminism and environmental movements.
AREAS OF STUDY
Competing Ideologies
Challenge And Change
UNITS 3 AND 4: REVOLUTIONS
In Units 3 and 4 Revolutions students study the Russian Revolution of October 1917, and the Chinese Revolution of 1949.
Students investigate the significant historical causes and consequences of political revolution. Revolutions represent great ruptures in time and are a major turning point which brings about the collapse and destruction of an existing political order resulting in a pervasive change to society. Revolutions are caused by the interplay of ideas, events, individuals and popular movements. Their consequences have a profound effect on the political and social structures of the post-revolutionary society. Revolution is a dramatically accelerated process whereby the new order attempts to create political and social change and transformation based on a new ideology. Progress in a post-revolutionary society is not guaranteed or inevitable. Post-revolutionary regimes are often threatened internally by civil war and externally by foreign threats. These challenges can result in a compromise of revolutionary ideals and extreme measures of violence, oppression and terror.
In these units students develop an understanding of the complexity and multiplicity of causes and consequences in the revolutionary narrative. They construct an argument about the past using primary sources as evidence and evaluate the extent to which the revolution brought change to the lives of people. They consider how perspectives of the revolution give an insight into the continuity and change experienced by those who lived through dramatic revolutionary moments. Students evaluate historical interpretations about the causes and consequences of revolution and the effects of change instigated by the new order.
AREAS OF STUDY
Causes Of Revolution
The Russian Revolution from 1896 to October 1917 (Coronation of Tsar Nicholas to the 25th October Revolution 1917)
The Chinese Revolution from 1912 to 1949 (The Chinese Republic to the Communist victory in the Civil War on the 1 October 1949).
RUSSIA
The events and other conditions that contributed to the outbreak of revolution, including tensions in Tsarist Russia, the formation of the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks, the Russo-Japanese War, Bloody Sunday, the role of the Dumas, World War One, the February Revolution, the effectiveness of the Provisional Government, The Dual Authority, Lenin’s return and his April Theses, the July Days, the Kornilov Affair and the events of October 1917.
The ideas that played a significant role in challenging the existing order, including Nationalism, Liberal reformism, Revolutionary Populism, Marxism and Marxist-Leninism.
The role of individuals, including Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, Count Witte, Pyotr Stolypin, Grigori Rasputin, Alexander Kerensky, Lenin and Trotsky.
The contribution of popular movements in mobilising society and challenging the existing order, including workers’ protests and peasants’ uprisings, soldier and sailor mutinies, and challenges by the Socialist Revolutionaries, Bolsheviks and Mensheviks (SDs), Octoberists and Kadets.
CHINA
The events and other conditions that contributed to the outbreak of revolution, including the economic and social inequalities, challenges to the early Republican era, Warlordism, the First United Front, the Northern Expedition, the Shanghai Massacre, the establishment of the Jiangxi Soviet (Kiangsi Soviet), successes and limitations of the Nationalist Decade, The Long March, the Japanese occupation of Manchuria and the Sino-Japanese War, the Yan’an Soviet (Yenan), the Second United Front, and the Civil War.
The ideas that played a significant role in challenging the existing order, including Marxist-Leninism, Sun Yixian’s (Sun Yat-sen’s) ‘Three Principles of the People’, Nationalism, Chinese Communism and Mao Zedong Thought (Maoism).
The role of individuals, including Yuan Shikai (Yuan Shih-k’ai), Sun Yixian (Sun Yat-sen), Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek), Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), Zhu De (Chu Te), and Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai).
The contribution of popular movements in mobilising society and challenging the existing order, including the New Culture Movement and the May 4th Movement, the New Life Movement, actions of the Red Army, actions of the Goumindang (Kuomintang) and the Chinese Communist Party.
Consequences Of Revolution
The Russian Revolution from October 1917 to 1927 (Early Sovnarkom decrees to the end of the NEP)
The Chinese Revolution from 1949 to 1971 (Communist victory to the death of Lin Biao).
RUSSIA
The challenges the new regime faced in attempting to consolidate its power, including the dissolution of theConstituent Assembly, political opposition, the creation of the Sovnarkom, land redistribution, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, State Capitalism, the Civil War, War Communism, the Red Terror, the Polish Soviet War, the 1921 Famine and the Kronstadt Revolt.
The changes and continuities in political, social, cultural and economic conditions that influenced leaders to compromise their revolutionary ideals, including creation of the Sovnarkom, creation of the CHEKA, issuing of new decrees, State Capitalism, War Communism, the Treaty of Riga, the Tenth Party Congress (introduction of the NEP and Lenin’s ‘On Party Unity’) and the effects of the NEP.
The contribution of significant individuals that changed society including Lenin, Trotsky, Felix Dzerzhinsky and Alexandra Kollontai
The diverse revolutionary experiences of social groups and their responses to the challenges and changes to the conditions of everyday life, including Aristocracy, peasants, Kulaks, workers, bourgeoisie, women and nationalities of the former Russian Empire.
CHINA
The challenges the new regime faced in attempting to consolidate its power, including the new political system, PLA, the implementation of Fanshen, Thought Reform, Sanfan and Wufan, a culture of spying and fear, the First Five-Year Plan and collectivisation and social improvements.
The changes and continuities in political, social, cultural and economic conditions that influenced leaders to compromise their revolutionary ideals, including the nature of political systems, the impacts of mass campaigns, the Hundred Flowers Campaign, The Great Leap Forward, ‘Three Bad Years’ (Famine), The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the Cult of Mao, and the fall of Lin Biao (Lin Piao).
The contribution of significant individuals that changed society, including Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung), Zhou Enlai (Chou En-lai), Peng Dehuai (P’eng Te-huai), Lin Biao (Lin Piao), Liu Shaoqi (Liu Shao-ch’i), and Jiang Qing (Chiang Ch’ing).The diverse revolutionary experiences of social groups and their responses to the challenges and changes to the conditions of everyday life, including peasants, women, intellectuals, business owners, workers, CCP Party Members, students and the Red Guards.
BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE
Throughout history God has been working to bring His purposes for man to a conclusion. It is this overall perspective on history, and the salvation which God intends in history, that is central to this course.
In specific terms, students will gain and grow from a Biblical perspective of history by:
ASSESSMENT
Units 1 & 2
Assessment tasks over Units 1 and 2 should include the following:
UNIT 3 & 4
School-assessed Coursework for Unit 3 will contribute 25 % to the study score.
School-assessed Coursework for Unit 4 will contribute 25 % to the study score
UNIT 3
|
Outcomes |
Assessment Tasks |
Marks Aallocated* |
|
|
Outcome 1 Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant ideas, events, individuals and popular movements |
Each of the following four assessment tasks must be completed over Units 3 and 4:
Teachers may choose the order of the assessment tasks |
50 |
|
|
Outcome 2 Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of change brought to society |
50 |
|
|
|
TOTAL MARKS |
100 |
|
|
|
*School-assessed coursework for Unit 4 contributes 25 % to the study score |
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UNIT 4
|
Outcomes |
Assessment Tasks |
Marks Allocated* |
|
Outcome 1 Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant ideas, events, individuals and popular movements |
Each of the following four assessment tasks must be completed over Units 3 and 4:
Teachers may choose the order of the assessment tasks. |
50 |
|
Outcome 2 Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of change brought to society |
50 |
|
|
TOTAL MARKS |
100 |
|
|
*School-assessed Coursework for Unit 4 contributes 25 % |
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EXAMINATION
The examination will be set by a panel appointed by the VCAA. All the key knowledge and key skills that underpin the outcomes in Units 3 and 4 are examinable.