Contents of the History HL: Paper 3 Europe study guide

The Origins of the French Revolution

• Long-term causes
• Short-term causes
• Historiography and analysis

The Unification of Italy

• Long-term causes
• Short-term causes
• Historiography

The Unification of Germany

• Long-term causes
• Short-term causes
• Importance of the wars and Bismarck
• The Schleswig-Holstein question 1863-65
• The Franco-Prussian war 1870-71
• Historiography and analysis

Bismarck’s Germany 1871-90

• The Liberal era
• The Kulturkampf
• Bismarck and the growth of socialism
• Economic development
• Foreign policy

Alexander II and Alexander III

• Russia was defeated because of its backwardness
• After the war Alexander introduced a reform programme. Why?
• Reforms
• Opposition
• Economic development
• Foreign policy
• Historiography and analysis
• Alexander III and the return to reaction 1881-94

Russia 1894-1917

• Agriculture
• Social life
• The industrial sector
• Political life
• The army
• The 1905 revolution
• The Duma experiment – a lost opportunity?
• Russia and WWI

The Causes of the October Revolution

• Historiography
• Weaknesses of the Provisional Government
• Strengths of the Bolsheviks
• Other factors

Lenin

• How the war was ended
• How should the Bolsheviks establish political control?
• How was a planned economy introduced?
• Marxism-Leninism

The Causes of WWI

• The long-term causes
• The short-term causes
• What can we blame different countries for?
• Historiography

The Peace Settlements

• Background to the peace conference
• Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
• The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en Laye
• The Treaty of Trianon
• The Treaty of Neuilly
• The Treaty of Sèvres and Lausanne
• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918

Spain 1918-39

• Long-term causes
• Short-term causes
• The course of the civil war
• Analysis
• Historiography
• Reasons for the nationalist success

Mussolini and Italy 1918-39

• Basic features of fascism
• The Fascist state: “I want to make Italy great again” (Mussolini)
• Mussolini and the Catholic Church
• Control of media and education
• Fascism and women
• Fascism and the use of terror
• Historiography and analysis
• Mussolini’s foreign policy

The Weimar Republic 1919-33

• The foundation of the Republic
• Brüning, March 1930 – May 1932
• Von Papen, May 1932 – Decmeber 1932
• Von Schliecher, December 1932 – January 1933
• Hitler, Chancellor in January 1933
• Strengths of the Nazis
• Weaknesses of the Republic
• Other factors

The Third Reich

• How did Hitler succeed in establishing dictatorial power?
• How legal was the Nazi seisure of power?
• The Pattern of Dualism in the Nazi State
• The Economy
• Nazism and big business
• Nazism and small business
• Farmers
• Workers
• Social life in Nazi Germany
• Nazism and education
• Indoctrination and propaganda
• Relation with the churches
• The legal system/apparatus of coercion and terror
• Police and terror
• Antisemitism

Stalin

• The power struggle
• Stalin’s economic policy
• Reasons for collectivization
• Impact of agricultural policies
• It led to an economic disaster – why?
• Industrialization
• Living standards
• The purges
• The result according to Michael Lynch
• Causes of the purges
• Major interpretations
• Society and culture
• Bolshevik/Stalin’s foreign policy
• Stalin’s/USSR position in March 1939

The League of Nations

• The aims of the League
• The organization of the League
• Early successes – the 1920s
• Failing major tests – the 1930s
• Why did the League fail?

The Origins of WWII

• The origins of the Second World War in Europe
• Effects of Munich
• Stalin’s position in April 1939
• Hitler’s position
• Why appeasement?
• Summary of possible reasons for WWII

The Origins of the Cold War 1945-49

• Possible explanations for the Cold War
• The Cold War as a result of two different ideologies
• The Cold War as a result of WW II
• Key developments following WW II

Khrushchev

• Why did Khrushchev make an unexpected move?
• Consequences
• Economics policies
• Trouble spots in foreign policy

The Fall of Communism in the USSR

• Soviet problems in the early 1980s
• Gorbachev and the fall of communism
• Main events during the Gorbachev era
• Why did Soviet communism collapse?
• Was the Collapse of the Soviet System due to Internal Reasons?
• Historiography and analysis