Sample Course Outline
Modern History
ATAR Year 12
Unit 3 – Elective 3: China 1935−1989
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Sample course outline | Modern History | ATAR Year 12
3
Sample course outline
Modern History – ATAR Year 12
Semester 1 – Unit 3 – Modern nations in the 20th century
This outline is based on the elective: China 1935−1989 (the Long March to the Tiananmen Massacre)
Week / Key teaching points /1 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· overview of China in 1935
· significant ideas of the period such as nationalism and Marxism
· similarities and differences in both structure and ideology between the Guomingdang (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
Overview
· reasons for conflict between the GMD and the CCP
· reasons for Japanese aggression in China
2 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the purpose and nature of the Long March
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
The Long March 1934–35
· cause of the Long March: success of the GMD’s 5th extermination campaign
· life in the base areas, including class and gender relations
· Mao Zedong’s rise to prominence
· aims of the Long March before and after the Zunyi Conference
Historical debate
· was the Long March a success or failure?
The formation of the Second United Front and the Japanese invasion
§ the ‘Xian Incident’, December 1936
§ the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, July 1937
3 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the role and impact of significant individuals in the period, including political, military and social/cultural leaders
· significant ideas of the period such as Maoism
‘The Yan’an Way’: The CCP during the Yan’an Period 1935–1947
· the development of Maoism: Peasant Revolution, the Mass Line
· Maoism: a departure from Marxism-Leninism
· the Rectification Movement 1942–1944
· CCP policies towards peasants and women
Historical skills
· Analysis and use of sources
· Perspectives and interpretations
· Explanation and communication
Task 1: Source analysis
4−5 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· similarities and differences in both structure and ideology between the GMD and the CCP
· the role of the CCP’s participation in the war against Japan
Historical skills
· Perspectives and interpretations
Chiang Kai-shek and the GMD
· the ‘New Life’ Movement
· life in GMD China
Historical debate
· was ‘nationalism’ an ideology?
World War II and the breakdown of the Second United Front
· Japanese expansion: 1937–1945
· attitudes of the CCP and GMD to the Japanese
· reasons for the breakdown of the Second United Front, 1941
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
· Explanation and communication
Task 2: Explanation – essay
6 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· similarities and differences in both structure and ideology between the GMD and the CCP and the conflict that led to a change in the regime in 1949
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
The Civil War 1946–1949
· position of CCP and GMD in 1945
· American efforts to conciliate the CCP and GMD
· reasons for outbreak of the Civil War
· reasons for CCP victory and GMD defeat
7–8 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the Chinese revolution (1949); establishment of the communist state
· Chinese involvement in the Cold War and relations with the United States in the Korean conflict (1950−1953)
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
Communism in Power: The Socialist Transformation Period, 1949–1957
· agricultural reforms
· social reforms such as the ‘Iron Rice Bowl’ and changing role of women
· ideological campaigns
· the Korean War: China’s involvement
· Economic reforms including the First 5 Year Plan
· the ‘Hundred Flowers’ Campaign and the Anti-Rightist Movement
Historical skills
· Analysis and use of sources
· Perspectives and interpretations
· Explanation and communication
Task 3: Source analysis
9−10 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the characteristics and impact of the Great Leap Forward
· the role and impact of significant individuals in the period, including political, military and social/cultural leaders
The Great Leap Forward, 1958–1961
· aims
· features including communes and methods of production
· difficulties faced by workers and peasants
· political divisions: Peng Dehuai, Mao Zedong and the Lushan Conference 1959
· impact:
§ famine
§ Mao’s leadership
· economic policies of Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping after the Great Leap Forward
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Historical questions and research
· Analysis and use of sources
· Perspectives and interpretations
· Explanation and communication
Task 4A: Historical Inquiry process
Task 4B: Validation essay
11−12 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the causes and significance of the Cultural Revolution (1966−1976) as a continuing attempt to organise Chinese social and economic life and to suppress dissent
· the role and impact of significant individuals in the period, including political, military and social/cultural leaders
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, 1966–76
· Mao Zedong’s political position in the early 1960s
· Mao Zedong’s motivations in launching the Cultural Revolution
· role of the ‘Red Guards’, effect on CCP leadership, the ‘Little Red Book’,
· death of Mao and the ‘Gang of Four’
· impact of the Cultural Revolution on rural peasants and political dissidents
13−14 / Historical Knowledge and Understanding
· the emergence of Deng Xiaoping as paramount leader in the post-Mao era
· significant ideas of the period including Dengism (the socialist market economy)
· the nature and practice of China’s subsequent international relations until the 1980s
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’: The Deng Xiaoping Era, 1977–1989
· leadership changes from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping
· social and economic reforms after 1978 including the ‘Responsibility System’ in agriculture, industry reforms, Special Economic Zones, the One Child Policy
· political protest of the pro-Democracy movement including the ‘Democracy Wall’, student protests and the Tiananmen Massacre
Historical skills
· Chronology, terms and concepts
· Perspectives and interpretations
· Explanation and communication
Task 5: Explanation – essay
15 / Task 6: Examination (Semester 1)
Sample course outline | Modern History | ATAR Year 12