'Under the cover of the WW2, the Nazis tried to kill every Jewish man, woman and child in Europe.
For the first time in History, science and technology were not used to improve peoples’ lives but for the mass murder of a whole people. Six million Jews, including 1,500,000 children were murdered: this is called the Holocaust. The Nazis also enslaved and murdered millions of other people because of racism, intolerance and prejudice. Roma and Sinti people (sometimes called Gypsies), people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals and others were killed in vast numbers.
None of this happened very long ago: some of the people involved are still alive today. Nor did it happen very far from where you live. These events occurred in the ‘civilised’ countries of modern Europe. So it was not only the lives of people at the time that were torn apart by the Holocaust, but also our ideas about how human beings treat each other. Because of this the Holocaust is important not only as an event in history but also for how we live our lives today.’
Extract from ‘Torn Apart’ by Imperial War Museum
Describe and evaluate the development of Fenianism within the Irish Diaspora. It was fuelled ambitiously by a nationalist ideological nature and indeed evolved from pre-existing movements drilled by revolutionary inspirations. The Fenian movement is well documented despite being viewed as an illegal organisation. It can be suggested that the Fenian movement blossomed from the decay of the Young Irelanders and flourished from its influences based on the continents struggles for freedom during a period of (which was known as) the ‘springtime of the people’.
In some ways the Weimar Republic as a good place to live, at certain times and in some places. For example the constitution guaranteed rights for all people over the age of 18 to have freedom of speech and the right to vote. This was good because all people had a say in the government and the right to live in safety. Furthermore, during the Golden Age Stresemann solved some of the economic problems like hyper-inflation and got the economy going again, industry began to grow, wages went up and people were able to enjoy the new culture opportunities, showing it was a good place to live.
Up until February 1917, Russia had been ruled over by a ruling family of Tsars (Emperors) for nearly two centuries……
But by 1917, enough ordinary Russians were fed up enough with the Tsar and their way of life to stage not just one but TWO Revolutions in one year
The prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was sent to bring a message of mercy to all the human beings. The message of islam began to spread from Mecca to Al- Hijaz, it then spread outside the Arab Peninsula reaching the entire world. But when some rulers refused to tell their people about islam, the Muslims began to move towards these regions. The people were given a free choice to join islam or to stick to their own beliefs. The messengers of islam were able to spread the message of islam peacefully. Pious followers of the Prophet settled in the mosques and began to teach Islam to the people. In other countries Islam had little or no impact. This was largely because of the strong beliefs that people already had.
Trade today plays an important role in the economy of the Arab World, especially with the increase in wealth due to oil production and the ease of the communications with the rest of the world.
Commercial exchange between the arab countries obviously depends on exporting and importing. This is divided into two main sections
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, leaders of the U.S. and the Soviet Union engaged in a tense, 13-day political and military standoff in October 1962 over the installation of nuclear-armed Soviet missiles on Cuba, just 90 miles from U.S. shores. In a TV address on October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy (1917-63) notified Americans about the presence of the missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear the U.S. was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security.
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential, and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly, and the Jacobin Club, he campaigned for universal manhood suffrage, the right to vote for people of color, Jews, actors, and domestic staff
Whereas the French had more than 900 heavy guns, the British had barely half this number for a wider front. Additional handicaps were recounted in the History of the Great War Based on Official Documents (British Official History), which states that the problem that confronted British Commander in Chief Douglas Haig was, fundamentally, that of “storming a fortress…It must be confessed that the problem was not appreciated at G.H.Q. (general headquarters).” Instead, “the failures of the past were put down to reasons other than the stout use of the machine-gun by the enemy and his scientifically-planned defences.”
Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent.
The name the Hundred Years’ War has been used by historians since the beginning of the nineteenth century to describe the long conflict that pitted the kings and kingdoms of France and England against each other from 1337 to 1453. Two factors lay at the origin of the conflict: first, the status of the duchy of Guyenne (or Aquitaine)-though it belonged to the kings of England, it remained a fief of the French crown, and the kings of England wanted independent possession; second, as the closest relatives of the last direct Capetian king (Charles IV, who had died in 1328), the kings of England from 1337 claimed the crown of France.
On July 14th 1789, a crowd of several thousand people laid siege to the Bastille, a royal fortress, prison and armoury in eastern Paris. After a standoff of several hours, they gained access to the Bastille, overwhelmed its guards and murdered its governor. The fall of the Bastille was chiefly symbolic. The French Revolution would have days of greater political significance. Despite this, the fall of the Bastille has shaped our perceptions of the French Revolution, giving us powerful images of an outraged people in revolution.
The main aim of this booklet is to exemplify standards for those teaching Cambridge International AS & A
Level History 9489 and to show examples of very good answers.
This booklet contains answers to Specimen Paper 1 – Questions 1(a), 2(b) and 3(b), which have been
marked by a Cambridge examiner. Each response is accompanied by a brief commentary explaining its
strengths and weaknesses of the answer. These examiner comments indicate where and why marks were
awarded and how answers could have been improved.
These answers should be considered in conjunction with Specimen Paper 1 and the Mark Scheme.
The Specimen Paper and Mark Scheme are available to download from School Support Hub.
French Revolution, also called Revolution of 1789, revolutionary movement that shook France between 1787 and 1799 and reached its first climax there in 1789—hence the conventional term “Revolution of 1789,” denoting the end of the ancien régime in France and serving also to distinguish that event from the later French revolutions of 1830 and 1848.
The Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries. At its core was a belief in the use and celebration of reason, the power by which humans understand the universe and improve their own condition. The goals of rational humanity were considered to be knowledge, freedom, and happiness.
With the decline and disappearance in the 19th and 20th centuries of monarchies based on hereditary descent, dictatorship became one of the two chief forms of government in use by nations throughout the world, the other being constitutional democracy. Rule by dictators has taken several different forms.