A matter of time
Yeats College teacher Derek Deane shares some pointers on how to approach the History exam as well as providing sample answers to some questions
How to study effectively
When studying history make sure that you are not simply reading your textbook without doing any writing. As you read make your own notes. Keep these notes as brief as you can. Make note of things such as key terms, personalities and dates. Within each topic or chapter sort your notes under the following headings: the three C’s; causes, course, consequences. The textbook will help you to understand the events but your notes should be condensed down to the bare facts that you need to learn in order to be able to write a detailed and accurate answer.
When you have finished revising a topic take out your past papers and search for the questions that relate to the topic that you have studied. Put away your textbook and notes and then test your knowledge by writing out answers. Make sure that you pay attention to the recommended time for each question. After you have written your answer, go and find the relevant section in your textbook and check to see what ideas or details you left out of your answer.
When studying for question 3, the short questions, your past papers are a valuable resource. Test yourself against these questions. Don’t bother selecting 10 from 20, just try to answer them all. You can download the marking scheme for past papers from www.examinations.ie. However, you will be more likely to remember the answers if you go to the effort of searching for the answer in your textbook. Use the index in the back of your textbook to make the process of finding the relevant information easier.
Dates can be quite difficult to remember if they feel like random and meaningless numbers to you. Try to think about the numbers in a way that they might mean something to you personally. For example, if you are studying Martin Luther and you would like to be able to memorise the year 1517, the year in which he posted his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, you might be able to say ‘I am 16 years old now so I just need to remember my age last year and next year’. Or maybe ‘I’m 15 doing my Junior Cert and I’ ll be 17 doing my Leaving Cert’. Details are much more likely to stay in your long-term memory if you have really thought and puzzled about them.
Exam layout
You will have 2ƒ hours to do the exam. There are six questions on the paper and there are choices within these questions, but you need to provide answers for each of the six questions. Questions 1, 2 and 3 require short answers and these are to be written into the exam booklet. Questions 4, 5 and 6 require mostly essay-style answers and these are to be written into your answer booklet.
It is important that you realise that the first three questions are worth 50 marks (28%), while the last three questions are worth 130 marks (72%). In other words, make sure you don’t spend too long on the first three questions and then find yourself running out of time for the most important part of the paper.
Question 1 - Sources; Pictures
For this question you will be asked to examine visual sources relating to three different topics. When examining these pictures take care to read any text included in the picture as it may contain important information. Read the questions carefully. If you are asked to give two pieces of evidence/information in your answer, make sure you do this clearly. In this section the use of numbering or bullet points within your answer is fine and they can help you think clearly about providing the right amount of information.
Question 2 - Sources; Documents
For this question you will be asked a number of short questions based on two documents. The documents can relate to any topic on the course. Most of the questions will ask you to find information within the document, so it is very important that you read the question carefully and be clear about what exactly is being asked.
Question 3 - Short questions
On this question there are 20 short questions, of which you will be marked on your ten best answers. This question is worth 20 marks (11% of the total). This is a question that many students will spend too much time on. Instead of reading every question in order to decide which ten questions you’re going to answer, just start writing in brief answers to the questions as you read them. Don’t spend more than 25 minutes on this question. There are past papers going back to 2006. If you make sure that you’re familiar with the questions that have been asked on this question over the years you will be well prepared for it.
Question 4 - People in history
In this question you will be given two lists of people from the past. Part A of the question will refer to people from the earlier section of the course, i.e. roughly before 1600. Part B of the question will refer to people who lived after 1600. You will need to do one question from each of these two lists. This is an important part of the paper as both questions are worth 20 marks, meaning question 4 is worth 40 marks (22% of the total). The marking scheme for each essay requires eight SRSs (Significant Relevant Statements) at 2 marks each. The remaining 4 marks are assigned as the overall mark. This will reflect how well written your answer was and how well you dealt with the question as it was asked. You should aim to write about one page in the booklet for each of these two essays and allow around 15 minutes for each essay.
Example: 2008 Question 4, People in History
A. Select one of the people described below. Write about that person.
(i) A settler who received land during a named plantation in Ireland in the 16th or 17th century. (20)
(ii) A German soldier who took part in Operation Barbarossa
(the invasion of Russia, June 1941) OR A British or American soldier who took part in D-Day (Allied landings in France, June 1944). (20) (iii)A named political leader in the Republic of Ireland during
the period 1960-1985. (20) After the success of the Blitzkrieg tactic in Poland in 1939 and France in 1940, Hitler was very confident that he could crush the Soviet army before the Russian Winter set in. SRS On 22 June, 1941 over 3 million German, Italian and Romanian troops and 3,000 tanks attacked across a front of almost 3,000km. SRS The invasion split into three army groups. Army group north targeted Leningrad. Army group centre’s objective was Moscow. Army group south struck for the resource-rich Ukraine.
SRS The initial invasion was a disaster for the Soviets. Up to 4 million soldiers were killed or taken as POWs.
SRS The systematic and genocidal murder of Europe’s Jews (the Holocaust) began behind the advancing German lines. At Babi Yar, outside Kiev, over 33,000 Jews were shot. SRS The rains of October turned the unpaved Russian roads to mud and the German armies began to suffer supply problems. The retreating Red Army used scorched earth tactics to destroy anything that might have been useful to the advancing Germans. SRS The German army found themselves fighting in bitter Russian winter conditions that they were unprepared for. Temperatures of -40°C caused the engines of the Panzer tanks to freeze and frostbite took a heavy toll on the German soldiers. SRS The German advance stalled on the outskirts of Moscow in December 1941. General Zhukov led the Soviet counter-offensive which ensured that Operation Barbarossa’s aim of defeating the Russians in 1941 would not be achieved. SRS 20/20
8 x SRSs @ 2m = 16 Overall mark 4/4
Question 5 - Sources and questions
This question will be based on Section II of the syllabus, ‘Studies of Change’, which will usually be covered during second year. There are five broad topics within this section of the course, namely The Age of Exploration, The Reformation, The Plantations in Ireland, Revolutionary Movements in America, France and Ireland, and the Industrial Revolution.
You will be given two or three documents relating to one of the five topics listed above. The documents may be pieces of text or visual sources. This question is worth 30 marks (17% of total) and you should allow around 25 minutes to do it. There will be questions worth 2 marks which require you to extract information from the documents. Keep your answers brief for these. There will also be essay-type questions worth between 8 and 12 marks. For a 12-mark question you should be aiming to write about one full page. Questions may ask you to explain the causes of an event, or they may ask you to discuss the consequences, effects, impacts, benefits etc. arising from an event. For example, if you were asked to discuss the consequences of Columbus’s voyages of discovery, details about the construction and names of his ships will not score any marks. Instead you will need to focus on how the voyages impacted on the Native American people and what consequences these voyages had for European nations.
Example: 2013, Question 5
c. Name a plantation which you have studied and write about the effects of that plantation on two of the following: a) Political control
b) Religion
c) Culture and customs (8 X 2)
The Ulster Plantation
b) Religion: The Ulster Plantation introduced Presbyterian settlers mostly from Scotland. They were Calvinists, which means they believed in the doctrine of predestination. Their church did not have bishops. SRS Anglican settlers arrived mostly from England. They were members of the established Church of Ireland, which had bishops. SRS Anti-Catholic laws known as the penal laws were introduced during the 17 th and 18th centuries. Catholics were barred from holding political office and couldn’t vote. SRS Attempts to convert the native Irish to Protestantism were mostly unsuccessful. The transfer of land to Protestant settlers created a legacy of sectarian bitterness and conflict that has persisted ever since. SRS
c) Culture and customs: Protestant settlers introduced new methods of farming. Forests were cleared and there was a great emphasis put on tillage farming. SRS Flax was introduced and was spun into linen. Ulster developed a major textile cottage industry. SRS New towns were built during the Plantation. These were planned towns laid out with a regular street pattern usually set around a diamond that acted as a market place. Londonderry was the main walled city built during the Ulster Plantation. SRS The large influx of settlers from Scotland led to a strong Scottish influence on Ulster accents. Scottish surnames such as Ferguson, Hamilton and Morrison are common in Ulster. SRS The Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Orange Order were founded to remind Protestants in Ulster of their protestant and British heritage and identity. They hold regular meetings and marches to celebrate the history of Protestantism in Ireland. SRS
Question 6 - Short questions and essays
In this question there are four parts – A, B, C and D – and you have to do two from these four. Part A comes from Sections 1 and 2 of the course; this is the material that you would have studied during first and second year. Parts B, C and D will be based on material that you have studied in third year. This question is worth 60 marks (33% of the total). You should allow yourself 40 minutes to complete both parts of this question. Once you have chosen which part to do, you must answer all the questions within that part. You may be required to write either one or two essays within each part. Each of these essays should be roughly ¬ of a page long.
Example: 2009, Question 6
(c) Political developments in twentieth century Ireland
(i) Explain three of the following terms: ‘The Squad’; Bloody Sunday (1920); The Irish Citizen Army; Gerrymandering; B-Specials (2x3)
‘The Squad’ was a unit of the IRA during the War of Independence. On Bloody Sunday 1920 they followed orders given by Michael Collins to assassinate British detectives and intelligence agents. 2
Bloody Sunday happened on 21 November 1920. Michael Collins’ ‘Squad’ assassinated 13 British intelligence agents and detectives. In retaliation the Black and Tans went to Croke Park where Dublin and Tipperary were playing a football match. They opened fire on the crowd, killing 12 people. 2
The Irish Citizen Army was formed by James Connolly to protect the strikers during the Dublin Lockout of 1913. They fought in the Easter Rising of 1916. They were socialists and used the Plough and the Stars as their flag. 2
(ii) Write an account of two of the following: (a) The Home Rule Crisis, 1912-14.
(b) The Irish Free State, 1922-32.
(c) Ireland under de Valera, 1932-39. (d) Seán Lemass as Taoiseach, 1959-66. (12x2)
Answer (a) The Home Rule Crisis 1912-14.
Herbert Asquith’s Liberal government needed the support of the Irish Home Rule Party’s 84 MPs after the 1910 general election. In return for their support the Home Rule Party demanded that Asquith introduce the Third Home Rule Bill. It was passed by the House of Commons in 1912. SRS The Parliament Act of 1911 had ended the House of Lords’ veto over bills passed by the House of Commons. This created a crisis for Unionism as the House of Lords would have been sure to use its veto to kill the Third Home Rule Bill. The House of Lords could reject a bill twice, but it would become law in 1914 after its third rejection by the Lords. SRS Edward Carson and James Craig led the opposition of Irish Unionists against the Home Rule Bill. ‘The Solemn League and Covenant’ was signed by 240,000 Ulstermen and 230,000 Ulsterwomen, who pledged to resist Home Rule. SRS The Ulster Volunteer Force was founded to resist Home Rule by force. The UVF smuggled 25,000 rifles through the port of Larne in April 1914. SRS Nationalists were worried that the UVF might pressure Asquith into dropping plans for Home Rule. Eoin MacNeill founded the Irish Volunteers as a counter-weight to the UVF. They smuggled rifles into Howth in July 1914. SRS On the eve of the outbreak of WW1 in July 1914 there was a real possibility of Civil War in Ireland over the issue of Home Rule. John Redmond, the leader of the Home Rule Party, had agreed in principle to partition, but only in relation to the four counties with Unionist majorities. (SRS)
5 x SRSs @ 2m = 10 + overall mark 2 = 12/12
Answer (d) Seán Lemass as Taoiseach, 1959-66.
Seán Lemass became Taoiseach in June 1959 after Eamon de Valera resigned. Lemass recognised that de Valera’s economic policies were failing and new a direction towards free trade was needed. SRS T.K. Whitaker was a civil servant in the Department of Finance. He produced a plan called ‘The First Programme for Economic Expansion’. The plan centred on attracting foreign multinationals to set up plants in Ireland. SRS Lemass recognised that a modern, prosperous economy would not be possible without a well-educated workforce. In 1967, the Minister for Education, Donogh O’Malley, introduced free secondary education and free transport to school. SRS Lemass made efforts to improve relations with Terence O’Neill’s Unionist government. O’Neill met Lemass at Stormont in January 1965. O’Neill visited Lemass in Dublin. These talks led to improved co-operation in areas such as tourism and fisheries. SRS RTÉ was established as the national television broadcaster in 1961. Lemass believed that RTÉ could should play an important role in modernising Ireland. Gay Byrne’s ‘The Late Late Show’ debated controversial topics such as contraception and divorce. SRS
5 x SRSs @ 2m = 10 + overall mark 2 = 12/12
Example: 2007, Question 6
(d)International relations in the twentieth century (i) Explain the meaning of two of the following: Blitzkrieg; Lebensraum; Scorched earth; Final Solution; U-boat ● Blitzkrieg was a tactic used by the Germans in WW2. It was based on the rapid movement of Panzer tank units independent of infantry, but supported by the Luftwaffe. Lebensraum was a term used by Hitler which meant ‘living space’. He felt that Germany was entitled to conquer the land of the ‘Slavs’ to the East in order to gain extra territory resources for the Third Reich.
(ii) Write an account of one of the following military operations from World War II: (a) The Battle of Britain. (b) Operation Barbarossa. (c) Operation Overlord. (10) The D-Day landings on the Normandy coast in France occurred on 6 June, 1944. In total, 156,000 men were put ashore that day. SRS The codename of the invasion of France was ‘Operation Overlord’ and the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. SRS On Omaha beach the Americans faced very stiff opposition from Germans in concrete bunkers, part of the ‘Atlantic Wall’. The codenames of the other beaches were Juno, Gold, Sword and Utah. SRS Once the beachheads were secured, floating Mulberry harbours were built so that supplies could be brought ashore from English ports such as Portsmouth and Southampton. A pipeline called ‘Pluto’ was built across the seabed of the channel to supply petrol. SRS
4 x SRPs @ 2m each =8 Overall mark 2/2 8+2 = 10/10
Topic 3: African and Asian Nationalism
(a) Why did European countries begin to give up their colonies after 1945? (4) ● European powers such as France, Britain and the Netherlands had been greatly weakened by WW2. They no longer had the economic or military resources needed to stem the rising tide of Asian and African nationalism. 2 ● WW2 had been largely fought against fascism in the defence of freedom and democracy. Public opinion in Europe eventually came to view the denial of self-determination to colonial possessions as being undemocratic. 2
(b)Give an account of the struggle for independence of a named African or Asian country after 1945. (12) The Raj, British-ruled population of India was 70% Hindu and 20% Muslim. The remainder of the population consisted of Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians. By the late 1800s many Indians were unhappy with British rule and the Indian National Congress led the demand for Indian Home Rule. 2 India’s Muslims feared that their interests would be neglected in an Indian parliament dominated by the mainly Hindu National Congress party. The Muslim League was founded in 1906 to protect their interests. 2 Mohandas Gandhi emerged as the main voice for Indian Independence during the 1920s. He called for unity and tolerance between Hindus and Muslims. He preached non-violence and advocated the use of civil disobedience to pressure the British into granting independence. 2 On 15 August, 1947 Britain granted India independence. By then the Muslim League was insisting on a separate state for Muslims, to be called Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the leader of the Muslim League. Clement Atlee’s British government agreed to the partition of India. 2 The British established a boundary commission to draw the border between Pakistan and India. Up to 1 million people died as sectarian fighting between Muslims and Hindus raged. Violence was especially bad in the disputed provinces of Punjab and Kashmir. Gandhi went on hunger strike and appealed for an end to violence. Shortly after British withdrawal he was assassinated by a
Hindu extremist. 2
5 x SRPs @ 2m each =10 Overall mark 2/2 8+2 = 12/12