Amendments to the IB History guide

The IB have made some minor changes to the IB history course for teaching from 2018. The new guide will be published in June but you can see a summary of the changes here.

Note that this is on My IB which has taken over from the OCC.

There are some minor adjustments to content of PS2 and some topics in Paper 2 and 3. The mark bands have also been slightly adjusted.

Karl Marx still making waves

It is the 200 anniversary of Karl Marx's birth so an ideal time to discuss not only the significance of Marx himself but also the significance of individuals in history.

Marx remains a controversial figure and it is interesting that 200 years after his birth there is such a range of opinion and reaction to this man's influence. There is also debate on how to commemorate this event.  As The Washington Post comments: Amid all the noise, one central theme was clear: Whatever you think of him, Marx still matters.

Some interesting articles are attached below:

BBC: Karl Marx statue from China adds to German angst

Washington Post: Why the specter of Marx still haunts the world

Los Angeles Times: A letter to Marx on his 200th Birthday

It is also interesting to look at how China is remembering the anniversary of this birth

South China News: Stick to Karl Marx’s true path, Xi Jinping tells China’s communists in speech to mark 200th birthday of ‘greatest thinker of modern times’

Additions to the site

The Great Depression topic for the Americas Paper 3 is now complete. More on Latin America for this region is in the pipeline, as is Prescribed Subject 2.

For Medieval, there are new leaders and new ATL for Medieval War and Warfare, and new rulers have been added to Paper 2 Dynasties and Rulers.