The changes to A level provide us with an opportunity to broaden the scope of History in the Sixth Form. The EDEXCEL course now provides a mixture of mainstream and more unusual subjects thus incorporating courses in American and Stuart English History as well as the Modern British, German and French topics. Furthermore, the Individual Study allows candidates to explore any historical era they wish. The courses are modular with three exams (source papers and structured question papers for each topic) being taken for the AS level at the end of VI 1. Most students will go on to complete the A level through the two final A2 exams and the Personal Study in the following year. Each half (A or B) of the course is taught by a different member of staff. Three courses are available although your options may be limited by your other AS level choices.

COURSE ONE: A) The Nazi State 1918-1939.  These three modules deal with the transformation of the Nazi Party from an obscure group of cranks into a mass movement that swept to power and imposed its radical ideas on the German nation with increasing brutality and varying degrees of success. Hitler’s extraordinary ideas in Mein Kampf are analysed, as are the reasons for the popular appeal of Nazism. The nature of the Nazi state will be put under scrutiny and the decision-making processes will be examined with the genesis of the decision for the Final Solution used as one stark example.

B) Civil War, Popery and Progress: England 1603-1714The two modules focus on the revolutionary seventeenth century. The AS course examines the religious and political causes of the Great Rebellion, the turmoil of the Civil War years, the seminal event of the execution of the King and the setting up of a Republic. The A2 course looks at the whole Stuart period and the emergence of the modern British state after the Glorious Revolution. Gore and mayhem are key elements of this period of turbulent factional politics, personal ambition, religious persecution and revolutionary idealism.

COURSE TWO: A) “God Bless America”: From Revolution to Civil War 1776-1865.  This course investigates the birth of the nation which dominates the world today. The struggle for independence from Imperial Britain is the starting point and the subsequent attempts of the young Republic to realise the “American Dream” of creating a land of opportunity and equality under George Washington, the first President. The key influences on this young republic will then be examined: slavery, immigration, the extending frontier of the “Wild West” and the struggle for power between the states and federal government which culminated in the fratricidal Civil War.

B) Reform and revolution: Liberal Britain and Bolshevik Russia 1900-1929.These three modules consider three key developments from the beginning of this century which have significantly shaped our lives: the seizure of power in Russia by the Bolsheviks in 1917, the pre-war Liberal reforms in Britain which ended aristocratic domination through the House of Lords and laid the foundations for the Welfare State, and the effect of the First World War on party politics as the Labour Party emerged as the only credible opposition to the Conservatives. Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, Vladimir Lenin and Alexander Kerensky were the key political players whose roles will be assessed.

COURSE THREE: A) Fascism and the French 1848-1968.  Hitler’s defeat of France in June 1940 had a traumatic impact on French society. The first module concentrates on the contentious topic of Occupied France during the Second World War and the nature of the collaboration with the Nazi victors on the part of the Vichy government (led by the allegedly-senile Marshal Pétain). This is an area of great controversy and it is an exciting area of study with much new material emerging as the French begin to exorcise the demons of their recent past. The second module will focus on the repeated challenges to democracy from Napoleon III’s dictatorship to the Algerian crisis and Paris student riots.

B) The Tudor Crisis 1485-1558.  These three modules focus on the transformation of England into a major European power under the astute Henry VII and the infamous Henry VIII who ended the Wars of the Roses, put the crown on a secure financial footing, successfully fought the French and Scots and then vanquished the power of the Roman Catholic Church in England. Political and religious strife broke out into open rebellion under the Protestant boy King in Edward VI and a fanatically Catholic Queen in Mary I in the “Mid-Tudor Crisis”. It may seem all personalities on the surface, but this was the period that brought England out of the Middle Ages and into the Modern World.

History outside the Classroom
The Department organises a large number of activities as well as maintaining close contact with university departments in History and Politics and with several Oxbridge colleges. The student-run Agincourt Society meets about 3 times a term along with the A level students from HMSG and, as part of that, University speakers and students alike give papers and debate. The Department regularly goes to hear lectures at student conferences and, in addition to visits to sites of historical interest, we have recently taken a five day field visit to Berlin. Students also subscribe to a wide range of periodicals and have access to a superb specialised History Library with increasingly good ICT facilities.

Why study History?
If you enjoy the study of the past both for its own sake and also for the light it throws on the present, then History A level is for you. The study of History trains you to select relevant information, assess the validity of an argument, think and write logically, make informed judgements about controversial issues and present a well-ordered case backed by supporting evidence thereby equipping you for a wide variety of careers. It is certainly an ideal grounding for law, involving, as both do, the deployment of argument based on evidence. The skill most developed by History is that of critical analysis and the ability to express ideas, knowledge and interpretations clearly and coherently. In the fields of management, law, administration, accountancy, journalism and marketing, this is a highly valued asset. Many employers regard A level History as an excellent training in the marshalling of arguments and in decision-making. As a well respected academic discipline, History is considered a worthwhile A level subject for entry to almost all degree courses. The AS level History course will furthermore provide those applying for predominantly scientific courses with academic breadth.