October: New Resources and History in the news
Wednesday 14 October 2020
.png)
This month's new resources, some thoughts on current anniversaries and how various countries are using history for political ends.
Site update
We have added several marked essays in the last month.
Paper 2:
For Topic 11 we have added two essays on the effects of wars using the First and Second World Wars as examples:
Causes and effects of 20th Century wars: Graded student examples
And for Topic 10 we have added an essay on Nasser:
Authoritarian States: Graded student examples
Paper 3
We have added a marked exemplar for Europe region, Topic 18 on the collapse of the Soviet Union:
Post-war central and eastern Europe: graded student essays
And also an essay on Iran for the Africa and the Middle East region, Topic 17:
Post-war developments in the Middle East: graded student essays
Spanish resources
We have continued to add resources to the Spanish section of the site. For Paper 2, Topic 11:
In the pipeline....
In the next month we hope to add:
- Topic 8, Independence Movements for Paper 2 with case studies on independence movements in Ghana and India
- More quizzes
- More Spanish resources: Castro and Hitler for Paper 2, Topic 10
Anniversaries
This month sees the anniversary of the unification of Germany which has led to many articles discussing the consequences of this profound geopolitical event, and considering future challenges
Gorbachev Was Right About German Reunification (Foreign Policy)
Thatcher and Mitterrand nearly stopped it from happening, but 30 years on, reunification remains the world's most successful geopolitical experiment.
Since reunification, Germany has had its best 30 years. The next 30 will be harder | Timothy Garton Ash (the Guardian)
The EU is in the country's DNA. But global threats mean a strong transatlantic western alliance has never been more vital, says the Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash.
History in the news
This current conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh has potential to drag in other European powers reminiscent of events in the Balkans leading up to the First World War. This article looks at the roots of the conflict and how both sides are using history to support their cause.
Nagorno-Karabakh's Myth of Ancient Hatreds | History Today (www.historytoday.com)
The Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan is sometimes explained as a result of ancient hatreds. In reality, it is nothing of the sort, despite both sides using history to bolster their claims to the region.
This article from The Economist argues that Spain is also using history for political purposes:
The Spanish government proposes a new law on history (The Economist)
It seeks to dig up the past.
New Books
This new book has caught our eye:
The International Brigades by Giles Tremlett review - lost voices from the Spanish civil war (the Guardian)
First-person stories reveal the truth behind a dirty and chaotic conflict.
Update on May 2021 IB History exams
Just a reminder that we covered the changes for May 2021 exams in our last blog: