Prescribed Subjects

1. Military leaders

• Case study 1: Genghis Khan c1200-1227

  • Leadership:

    • Rise to power; uniting of rival tribes

    • Motives and objectives; success in achieving those objectives

    • Reputation: military prowess; naming as Genghis Khan (1206)

    • Importance of Genghis Khan’s leadership to Mongol success

  • Campaigns:

    • Mongol invasion of China: attacks on the Jin dynasty; capture of Beijing (1215)

    • Mongol invasion of Central Asia and Iran; Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia (1219–1221)

    • Mongol military technology, organization, strategy and tactics

  • Impact:

    • Political impact: administration; overthrowing of existing ruling systems; establishment of Mongol law/Yassa; move towards meritocracy

    • Economic impact: establishment, enhancement and protection of trade routes

    • Social, cultural and religious impact: population displacement; terror, looting and murdering; raiding and destruction of settlements; religious, cultural and technological exchange; religious freedom under the Mongols

• Case study 2: Richard I of England (1173-1199)

  • Leadership:

    • Rise to power: revolt of Richard I and his brothers against Henry II (1173–1174)

    • Reputation: military prowess; chivalry; “Richard the Lionheart”

    • Motives and objectives: defence and recovery of the French lands; defence of the crusader states and recovery of lost territory; success in achieving those objectives

  • Campaigns:

    • Occupation of Sicily (1190–1191); conquest of Cyprus (1191)

    • Involvement in the Third Crusade (1191–1192)

    • The course, outcome and effects of Richard I’s campaigns in France, the Mediterranean and the Middle East

  • Impact:

    • Political impact in England: absence of the king; political instability; revolt of John and Philip in Richard’s absence

    • Political impact in France: growth in prestige and strength of the Capetian monarchy; expansion of royal control

    • Economic impact: raising money for campaigns; taxation of clergy; raising of the ransom after his capture and imprisonment by Leopold V, Duke of Austria and Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1193)

    • Social, cultural and religious impact: anti-Jewish violence; treatment of Muslim prisoners during the Third Crusade

2. Conquest and its impact

• Case study 1: The final stages of Muslim rule in Spain

  • Context and motives:

    • Political context in Iberia and Al-Andalus in the late 15th century; internal conflicts and alliances in Granada in the late 15th century

    • Social and economic context in Iberia and Al-Andalus in the late 15th century; coexistence of population; intercultural exchange; economic decline; heavy taxation

    • Motives: political motives; religious motives and the role of the church

  • Key events and actors:

    • The Granada War and the conquest of Granada (1482–1492)

    • Treaty of Granada (1491); Alhambra decree (1492)

    • Key actors: Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla; Abu Abdallah, last king of Granada

  • Impact:

    • Social and demographic changes; persecution, enslavement and emigration; new institutions: encomienda, fueros

    • Forced conversions and expulsions; Marranos, Mudéjars

    • The Spanish Inquisition

• Case study 2: The conquest of Mexico and Peru (1519-1551)

  • Context and motives:

    • Political and economic motives for exploration and conquest

    • Religious arguments for the conquest

  • Key events and actors:

    • Hernán Cortés and the campaign against the Aztec Empire; alliances with indigenous populations

    • Francisco Pizarro and the campaign against the Incas; alliances with indigenous populations

    • Key actors: Diego de Almagro, Malinche, Atahualpa, Moctezuma II; Las Casas against Sepúlveda

  • Impact:

    • Social and economic impact on indigenous populations; the encomienda and Mita systems

    • Causes and effects of demographic change; spread of disease

    • Cultural interaction and exchange

3. The move to global war

• Case study 1: Japanese expansion in East Asia (1931-1941)

  • Causes of expansion:

    • The impact of Japanese nationalism and militarism on foreign policy

    • Japanese domestic issues: political and economic issues, and their impact on foreign relations

    • Political instability in China

  • Events:

    • Japanese invasion of Manchuria and northern China (1931)

    • Sino-Japanese War (1937–1941)

    • The Three Power/Tripartite Pact; the outbreak of war; Pearl Harbor (1941)

  • Responses:

    • League of Nations and the Lytton report

    • Political developments within China—the Second United Front

    • International response, including US initiatives and increasing tensions between the US and Japan

• Case study 2: German and Italian expansion (1933-1940)

  • Causes of expansion:

    • Impact of fascism and Nazism on the foreign policies of Italy and Germany

    • Impact of domestic economic issues on the foreign policies of Italy and Germany

    • Changing diplomatic alignments in Europe; the end of collective security; appeasement

  • Events:

    • German challenges to the post-war settlements (1933–1938)

    • Italian expansion: Abyssinia (1935–1936); Albania; entry into the Second World War

    • German expansion (1938–1939); Pact of Steel, Nazi–Soviet Pact and the outbreak of war

  • Responses:

    • International response to German aggression (1933–1938)

    • International response to Italian aggression (1935–1936)

    • International response to German and Italian aggression (1940)

4. Rights and protest

• Case study 1: Civil rights movement in the United States (1954-1965)

  • Nature and characteristics of discrimination:

    • Racism and violence against African Americans; the Ku Klux Klan; disenfranchisement

    • Segregation and education; Brown versus Board of Education decision (1954); Little Rock (1957)

    • Economic and social discrimination; legacy of the Jim Crow laws; impact on individuals

  • Protests and action:

    • Non-violent protests; Montgomery bus boycott (1955–1956); Freedom Rides (1961); Freedom Summer (1964)

    • Legislative changes: Civil Rights Act (1964); Voting Rights Act (1965)

  • The role and significance of key actors/groups:

    • Key actors: Martin Luther King Jr; Malcolm X; Lyndon B Johnson

    • Key groups: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)

• Case study 2: Apartheid South Africa (1948-1964)

  • Nature and characteristics of discrimination:

    • “Petty Apartheid” and “Grand Apartheid” legislation

    • Division and “classification”; segregation of populations and amenities; creation of townships/forced removals; segregation of education; Bantustan system; impact on individuals

  • Protests and action:

    • Non-violent protests: bus boycotts; defiance campaign, Freedom Charter

    • Increasing violence: the Sharpeville massacre (1960) and the decision to adopt the armed struggle

    • Official response: the Rivonia trial (1963–1964) and the imprisonment of the ANC leadership

  • The role and significance of key actors/groups:

    • Key individuals: Nelson Mandela; Albert Luthuli

    • Key groups: the African National Congress (ANC); the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the MK (Umkhonto we Sizwe—“Spear of the Nation”)

5. Conflict and intervention

• Case study 1: Rwanda (1990-1998)

  • Causes of the conflict:

    • Ethnic tensions in Rwanda; the creation of the Hutu power movement and the Interahamwe; role of the media

    • Other causes: economic situation; colonial legacy

    • Rwandan Civil War (1990–1993); assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira (1994)

  • Course and interventions:

    • Actions of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and Rwandan government; role of the media

    • Nature of the genocide and other crimes against humanity; war rape

    • Response of the international community; the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR); reasons for inaction; role of France, Belgium and the US

  • Impact:

    • Social impact; refugee crisis; justice and reconciliation

    • International impact; establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (1994)

    • Political and economic impact; RPF-led governments; continued warfare in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire)

• Case study 2: Kosovo (1989-2002)

  • Causes of the conflict:

    • Ethnic tensions between Serbs and Kosovar Albanians; rising Albanian nationalism

    • Political causes: constitutional reforms (1989–1994); repression of the Albanian independence campaign

    • Role and significance of Slobodan Milosevic and Ibrahim Rugova

  • Course and interventions:

    • Actions of Kosovo Liberation Army, Serbian government police and military

    • Ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity; significance of the Račak massacre

    • Response of the international community; response of the UN; NATO bombing campaign; Kosovo Force (KFOR)

  • Impact:

    • Social and economic consequences; refugee crisis; damage to infrastructure

    • Political impact in Kosovo; election of Ibrahim Rugova as president (2002)

    • International reaction and impact; International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY); indictment of Milosevic