Introduction to the summer exams
You soon will be embarking upon your first GCSE exams. They are worth 50% of your final grade so it is very important that you perform to the best of your ability.
To help you revise effectively the History Department has produced this revision pack to help you. Because of the nature of the course most of your revision for the exams will take place during the holiday period and in the first few weeks of the Summer term. It is therefore your responsibility to ensure that you have the self-discipline and maturity to organise your revision schedule effectively. It is recommended that you revise in intense 30-minute bursts rather than watching TV for a few hours with a book on your lap. Plan what topic you intend to revise before you start. Focus on those areas where you know you are weak. Everybody revises in different ways. Make notes, flashcards. Construct flow charts and diagrams, record your voice reciting key facts and dates. Get together with a friend and discuss issues and test each other. Generally, just reading notes is not as effective.
You will sit two History papers during the exams.
Paper One Unit 1 International relations The Cold War 1943-91.
Paper Two Unit 3 Source Enquiry. A Divided Union? The USA 1945-70
Below is a breakdown of the main topics that you do need to revise. Tick them off as you cover them.
Unit 1, Sections 4-6 International Relations The Cold War 1943-91
For this topic be aware that you need a good knowledge of chronology. i.e. what happened when and in which order. Construct timelines that clearly show the important turning points in the Cold War.
· The impact of the breakdown of the wartime alliances.
· Origins of the Cold War and the partition of Germany.
· The Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan and the Soviet response.
· The Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift
· NATO and the Warsaw Pact; The arms race.
· The differences between Communist and Capitalist societies.
· Hungary 1956
· Nuclear Arms Race 1945-62
· The Space Race
· The Cuban Missile Crisis.
· Détente. From Cuba to Afghanistan.
· Czechoslovakia and the Prague Spring
· The New freeze. Star Wars and Solidarity in Poland
· The roles of Reagan and Gorbachev in the 1980’s. Glasnost and Perestroika.
· The collapse of communism in eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War
Unit 3C USA 1945-1970. A Divided Union?
For all of these topics focus on where there is evidence of division in American society between different ethnic groups, social classes, political viewpoints or generations. This is a Source based paper
· The end of Isolationism. The USA becomes a global superpower.
· The impact of World War Two on the USA. Particularly divisions in US society.
· The Red Scare and McCarthyism.
· The USA in the 1950’s. An affluent society?
· The Black civil rights movement in the 1950’s. Martin Luther King.
· The Black Power movement in the 1960’s. Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam
· President Kennedy and the New Frontier
· President Johnson and the Great Society
· Youth counter culture. Hippies and Woodstock. Student protests and the anti Vietnam War protests
· The role of women. The rise of feminism in the 1960’s
· Divisions in America in the 1960’s and 1970’s, urban crime and political violence.
The above lists should help you to revise more effectively.
Some Tips
Remember the keys to success in examinations are good organisation, good preparation and a good night’s sleep the night before.
When you start the examination read all the questions carefully so you don’t make the mistake of answering a question only to discover that you have given the answer that the next question requires.
Think! What type of question is this? What does the question want me to do? Failing to answer the question set is the number one reason why marks are lost. Don’t answer the question that you would have liked to be there; answer the question that IS there.
In this pack are sheets that are full of information about the topics you have studied. They will complement the information that you have in your own files. Use all possible resources from which to revise.
Some useful websites are http://www.bbc.co.uk/revision/
http://www.projectgcse.co.uk/ (Good on the Cold War)
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/ This has some GCSE information and lots of links to other useful sites.
http://library.thinkquest.org/10826/timeline.htm A detailed, clear and linked timeline of the Cold War.
Mr Bannister can be contacted at if you need advice.