Key term
AQA A-Level History 7042
1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071–1204
Topic overviewThe Church, the Seljuk Turks and Byzantium before the CrusadesManzikert and the Call of the First CrusadeThe First Crusade: Motives and CampaignThe Kings of Jerusalem and the Early Crusader StatesThe Knights Templar and the HospitallersThe Crusader States, Byzantium and the Latin WestZengi and the Fall of EdessaThe Second CrusadeNur ad-Din and the Muslim Counter-CrusadeOutremer and the Four Crusader StatesCastles and the Weakening of OutremerBaldwin IV and the Divisions within OutremerSaladin and the Fall of JerusalemAudita Tremendi and the Third CrusadeRivalries and Divisions on the Third CrusadeThe Treaty of Jaffa and the Outcome of the Third CrusadeInnocent III and the Launch of the Fourth CrusadeThe Crusaders at Constantinople, 1203-04The Sack of Constantinople and the Latin Empire
1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469–1598
Topic overviewThe Kingdoms of Iberia in 1469Ferdinand, Isabella and the NobilityForeign Policy, Society and the Church under Ferdinand and IsabellaThe Inquisition, the Jews and the Fall of GranadaThe Alpujarras Revolt, the Economy and Overseas ExpansionThe Casa de Contratacion, Navarre and Spain by 1516The Inheritance of Charles VImperial Ideology and Conciliar GovernmentCharles V's Wars, Absences and Religious PolicyThe Conquest of the Americas and the Price RevolutionCharles V's Abdication and Spain by 1556Philip II: Character and Style of GovernmentCourt Factions, the Morisco Revolt and the Perez AffairDon Carlos, the Jesuits and the InquisitionPhilip II, the Papacy and Royal FinancesThe Escorial and the Spanish Golden AgeSpain's Strengths and Weaknesses by 1598Philip II's Inheritance in 1556The Burdens of Empire and the Spanish TerciosLepanto and the Annexation of PortugalThe Dutch Revolt and the Spanish ArmadaSpanish America and the Cost of Empire
1C The Tudors: England, 1485–1603
Topic overviewHenry VII's Claim to the ThroneHenry VII's Councils and GovernmentHenry VII's Finances, the Nobility and Foreign PolicyPretenders and Rebellions under Henry VIISociety and the Economy under Henry VIIReligion, Humanism and the Arts under Henry VIIHenry VIII: Character and AimsWolsey, Cromwell and the Break with RomeThe Dissolution, Foreign Policy and Henry VIII's WivesThe Ranks of Tudor SocietyThe Pilgrimage of Grace, Wales and the Henrician EconomyHumanism and Religious Change under Henry VIIIEdward VI and Somerset's ProtectorateThe 1549 Prayer Book and the Act of UniformityThe 1549 Rebellions and the Fall of SomersetMary I and the Return to RomeThe End of Mary's Reign and Elizabeth's AccessionEarly Elizabethan Finance and the Statute of ArtificersThe Mid-Tudor Crisis DebateThe Elizabethan Court and William CecilThe Succession and Mary, Queen of ScotsThe War with Spain, Rebellion and PovertyElizabethan Trade and the New Trading CompaniesThe Religious Settlement and the Puritan ChallengeThe Elizabethan Renaissance and the Cult of GlorianaElizabeth's Final Years and England by 1603
1D Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603–1702
Topic overviewThe Political Nation, Divine Right and James ICourt, Crown Finance and Religious Division, 1603-1629Disputes between Crown and ParliamentArminianism, Puritanism and the Revenues of the Personal RuleThe Personal Rule, the Long Parliament and the Road to WarThe First Civil WarThe Second Civil War and the LevellersThe Army, Parliament and the RegicideCromwell in Ireland and ScotlandMillenarianism and Barebone's ParliamentThe Protectorate and the Major-GeneralsThe Restoration and Charles II's MinistersThe Rise of Court and CountryThe Clarendon Code, Dissent and Fears of CatholicismThe Exclusion CrisisJames II's Catholic and Absolutist PoliciesThe Glorious Revolution of 1688The Revolution in Ireland and the Rise of the WhigsThe Revolution Settlement and Religious Toleration
1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682–1796
Topic overviewRussian Society and Government in 1682The Succession Crisis of 1682 and the StreltsyPeter's Western Interests, the Great Embassy and St PetersburgPeter I's Early Economic, Political and Military ReformsOpposition to Peter's Reforms and the Streltsy RevoltThe Azov Campaigns and the Battle of NarvaThe Poll Tax and State MonopoliesThe Holy Synod, the Senate and Church ReformThe Colleges, Provincial Government and the Table of RanksWesternisation, Opposition and Peter's Legacy by 1725The Great Northern War and Peter's Foreign PolicyThe Service State under Peter the GreatThe Supreme Privy Council, the Guards and Empress ElizabethElizabeth, the Service State and Foreign Policy, 1725-1762Peter III and Catherine II's Seizure of PowerThe Legislative Commission and Catherine's Government ReformsThe Charter to the Nobility and Catherine's Education ReformsSerfdom and Toleration under Catherine IIPlots and the Pugachev RevoltCatherine II's Wars and the Partitions of Poland
1F Industrialisation and the People: Britain, c1783–1885
Topic overviewThe British Political System in 1783Pitt the Younger and His MinistriesPitt's Financial and Trade ReformsEarly Industrialisation: Textiles, Iron and SteamEnclosure and Agricultural ChangeSocial Classes, Working Conditions and the Old Poor LawThe French Revolution and British RadicalismThe Irish Rebellion of 1798 and the Act of UnionThe Wars with France and the Home FrontLuddism and Britain by 1812Lord Liverpool, the Corn Laws and PeterlooCanning, Wellington and Catholic EmancipationTextiles, Iron, Coal and the Common LandsUrbanisation and Working-Class DiscontentRadicals, Abolitionists and the Rise of MethodismThe Great Reform Act of 1832Grey, Melbourne and Whig ReformThe Factory Act, the New Poor Law and Whig Reforms, 1833-1835Education Grants, Chartism and the Anti-Corn Law LeagueFactory Reform, Public Health and Working-Class LifePeel's Reforms, Railway Mania and Corn Law RepealThe Peelites and the Birth of the Liberal PartyGladstonian Liberalism and Disraeli's ReformsThe Second and Third Reform ActsChartism and Its DeclineIrish Nationalism, Home Rule and the Victorian EconomyVictorian Values, New Model Unions and EducationBritain's Position by 1885Irish Land Reform and the Liberal Unionists
1G Challenge and Transformation: Britain, c1851–1964
Topic overviewParliament and the Franchise before 1867The Second Reform Act, Gladstone and DisraeliThe Workshop of the World, Free Trade and Agricultural DepressionClass and Region in Victorian BritainThe Domestic Reforms of Gladstone and DisraeliIreland, the Great Famine and the Land QuestionGladstone's Home Rule Bill and Its OpponentsConservative Dominance before 1905Socialism and the Birth of the Labour PartyNew Liberalism, the People's Budget and the Parliament ActThe Great Depression, Industrial Decline and Tariff ReformNew Unionism, the Great Unrest and Women's SuffrageLiving Standards, Poverty and the Liberal Welfare ReformsThe Home Rule Movement and the Irish PartyThe Decline of the Liberal PartyThe National Governments and the Fascist ChallengeThe Staple Industries and the General StrikeWomen's Work and Interwar Living StandardsIreland and Northern Ireland, 1916-1964Churchill, 1945 and Labour's ProgrammeLabour Divisions and the Conservative EstablishmentWartime Mobilisation and the Post-War BoomRationing, Affluence and Commonwealth ImmigrationBeveridge, the Welfare State and Education
1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964
Topic overviewAutocracy and Serfdom in 1855The Emancipation of the Serfs and Alexander II's ReformsReform, Reaction and the Death of Alexander IIPobedonostsev and RussificationLiberals, Populists and the Tsarist PoliceEconomy and Society after EmancipationNicholas II, Bloody Sunday and the Fundamental LawsThe Dumas, Stolypin and Witte's IndustrialisationWorkers, Peasants and the Grain TradeLiberals, Socialist Revolutionaries and MarxistsThe First World War and the February RevolutionLenin's Return and the October RevolutionLenin's Ideology, War Communism and KronstadtThe New Economic Policy and the Ban on FactionsStalin's Rise and the Power StruggleTerror, the 1936 Constitution and CollectivisationThe Five Year PlansInternal Passports, the Gulag and Soviet SocietyThe Party Oppositions and the Moscow Show TrialsThe Great Purges and the USSR by 1941Barbarossa and the Soviet War EffortHigh Stalinism and the Succession to StalinThe Secret Speech and the Anti-Party GroupSoviet Economic Policy from Stalin to KhrushchevThe Thaw, the Fall of Khrushchev and the USSR by 1964
1J The British Empire, c1857–1967
Topic overviewThe Suez Canal and the Occupation of EgyptThe Indian Mutiny and the Government of India ActThe Scramble for Africa and the Chartered CompaniesMissionaries, the Civilising Mission and Party Attitudes to EmpireThe Boers, the Zulu War and Southern AfricaExpansion in Africa and the Government of IndiaLord Cromer and the Veiled Protectorate in EgyptIndirect Rule and the Entente CordialeChamberlain, Tariff Reform and Cecil RhodesThe Justifications for Empire and National EfficiencyExhibitions, Youth Movements and Popular ImperialismThe Boer War and the Union of South AfricaThe Mandates and the Empire after the Great WarThe Dominions, Imperial Defence and Imperial CultureGandhi and Colonial Nationalism between the WarsThe Independence of Britain's Colonies after 1945Africanisation, the Suez Crisis and the Cold WarThe Commonwealth and Britain's Post-War WeaknessNationalist Leaders and the Case for EmpirePost-Colonial Ties, Migration and the Legacy of EmpireIndependence Talks, Mau Mau and the Wind of ChangePost-War Nationalist Movements and British ResponsesRhodesia and UDI
1K The Making of a Superpower: USA, 1865–1975
Topic overviewJohnson, Grant and Radical ReconstructionThe Redeemers and the Gilded Age PresidentsThe Post-Reconstruction South and Jim CrowThe Railroad Boom and Big Business in the Gilded AgeThe Closing of the Frontier and Gilded Age Foreign PolicyThe Populist Movement and the People's PartyProgressivism and Roosevelt's Square DealWilson's New Freedom and America's Economic RiseImmigration, Urban Growth and SegregationAmerican Imperialism and the War of 1898Neutrality and Entry into the First World WarAmerican Society and Industrial Power by 1920Republican Government in the 1920sThe First and Second New DealsThe Boom of the 1920s and the Wall Street CrashThe Jazz Age, Women and ProhibitionThe Depression and the Second World War at HomeThe American Regions and Southern DiscriminationThe Klan's Decline and American IsolationismTruman's Fair Deal and EisenhowerThe New Frontier, the Great Society and NixonThe Post-War Boom, the GI Bill and the Consumer SocietyMcCarthyism, Youth Culture and the Anti-War MovementThe Civil Rights MovementThe Cold War and VietnamThe United States by 1975
1L The Quest for Political Stability: Germany, 1871–1991
Topic overviewThe States of the German Empire in 1871The Constitution of 1871: Bundesrat and ReichstagBismarck's Domestic PoliciesWilhelm II and WeltpolitikGerman Industrial Power before 1914The Burgertum and the Prestige of the EliteWorkers, Pressure Groups and Germany by 1914War, Revolution and the Weimar Constitution, 1914-1919Reparations, Putsches and the Crisis of 1923Stresemann, the Dawes Plan and LocarnoThe Slump and the Fall of the Grand CoalitionThe Enabling Act, the Night of the Long Knives and the Terror StateThe Four Year Plan and the VolksgemeinschaftGermany at War and the HolocaustOccupation and the Division of Germany, 1945-1949Adenauer and the Basic LawBad Godesberg and the Grand CoalitionProtest, the Economic Miracle and West German SocietyReunification and Its Consequences
2A Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154–1216
Topic overviewThe Anarchy and the Legacy Henry II InheritedHenry II's Challenges and Early ReformsThe Church and the Angevin EmpireHenry II, Becket and IrelandThe Great Rebellion and the Management of the BaronsPhilip II and the Last Years of Henry IIRichard I and the CrusadeGovernment, Society and the Jews under Richard IRichard's War with Philip II and His DeathThe Accession and Character of King JohnJohn's Finances, Hubert Walter and the InterdictThe Loss of NormandyJohn in Scotland, Ireland and WalesBouvines, Magna Carta and the Death of John
2B The Wars of the Roses, 1450–1499
Topic overviewHenry VI, Cade's Rebellion and the Loss of NormandyRichard of York and His Claim to the ThroneThe Protectorates, St Albans and the Uneasy PeaceThe War of the Barons and TowtonEdward IV and the Woodville MarriageWarwick, Margaret of Anjou and the ReadeptionBarnet, Tewkesbury and the Impact of the WarsEdward IV's Second Reign and Royal FinanceThe Rise of the Woodvilles and Court FactionTrade, Society and Regional Power under Edward IVThe Succession Crisis of 1483Richard III and the Princes in the TowerThe Battle of BosworthLovell, Lambert Simnel and Stoke FieldMargaret of Burgundy and the Yorkist PretendersThe Economic Cost of the Wars and Recovery by 1499
2C The Reformation in Europe, c1500–1564
Topic overviewPapal Supremacy and the Church HierarchySalvation and the Seven SacramentsCorruption, Humanism and Demands for Reform before 1517The Holy Roman Empire and Its ElectorsThe Imperial Diet, the Young Luther and the 95 ThesesThe Disputations, Luther's Theology and the 1520 TreatisesLuther in Print, Excommunication and the Diet of WormsKarlstadt, the Zwickau Prophets and Luther's ReturnZwingli, the Eucharist and the Knights' RevoltThe German Peasants' WarThe Swiss Reformation, the Kappel Wars and MarburgThe Diets of Speyer, the Augsburg Confession and MelanchthonThe Radical Reformation and the AnabaptistsThe Schmalkaldic LeagueThe Formation of John CalvinCalvin in Geneva and the Ecclesiastical OrdinancesThe Consensus Tigurinus and Reformed ReligionLuther's Death and the Schmalkaldic WarThe Peace of AugsburgThe Reforming Popes, the Inquisition and the JesuitsThe Council of Trent and the Catholic Reformation
2D Religious Conflict and the Church in England, c1529–c1570
Topic overviewThe English Church and Its Wealth in 1529Humanism and the Call for Church ReformHenry VIII's Great MatterThe Reformation Parliament and the Break with RomeReformist and Conservative Factions at CourtFaction, Diplomacy and the DissolutionThe Reasons for and Effects of the DissolutionThe Pilgrimage of GraceThe Ten Articles, the Six Articles and the King's BookReligion and War in Henry VIII's Last YearsSomerset's Protectorate and Northumberland's RiseCranmer, the Prayer Books and the Chantries ActMary I's Accession and Her Religious AimsCatholic Restoration, Persecution and Opposition under MaryElizabeth I's Settlement and the Peace with FranceThe Act of Uniformity, Enforcement and the Vestiarian ControversyMary Queen of Scots and the Rising of the Northern Earls
2E The English Revolution, 1625–1660
Topic overviewJames I's Legacy and Charles I's KingshipCharles I, Buckingham and the Petition of RightThe Personal Rule and Its MinistersLaud's Reforms and Protestant FearsThe Scottish Prayer Book and Thorough in IrelandPuritan Emigration, the National Covenant and the First Bishops' WarThe Bishops' Wars and the Recall of ParliamentCharles I and the Parliamentary Opposition in 1640John Pym and the Long ParliamentDeadlock, the Fall of Strafford and the Irish RebellionThe Attempt on the Five MembersThe Militia Ordinance and the Drift to WarThe Nineteen Propositions and the Outbreak of WarRoyalist Strengths at the Outbreak of WarRoyalist Weaknesses and War FinanceParliament's Commanders and the Wealth of LondonThe Solemn League, Marston Moor and the New Model ArmyNaseby, Popular Radicalism and the PressPresbyterians, Independents and the Captive KingThe Politicisation of the Army and the LevellersThe Sects, the Heads of the Proposals and the King's EscapeThe Engagement and the Second Civil WarPride's Purge and the RegicideThe Third Civil War: Dunbar and WorcesterRadical Sects, the Rump and Barebone's ParliamentCromwell, the Instrument of Government and the CrownThe Collapse of the Protectorate and the Restoration
2F The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643–1715
Topic overviewRichelieu and the Regency of Anne of AustriaMazarin, the Parlement and the FrondesWestphalia and the Treaty of the PyreneesThe Start of Personal Rule and France in 1661Louis XIV's Conception of KingshipThe Royal Council, the Intendants and VersaillesColbert, Mercantilism and the Royal AcademiesThe Huguenots and the Edict of FontainebleauGloire, Foreign Policy Aims and Louvois's ArmyThe Decline of Spain and Louis XIV's Wars to 1684The Strengths and Weaknesses of Personal RuleFrench Finances and the Cost of WarGallicanism, Jansenism and the HuguenotsFrench Society and Popular Unrest under Louis XIVWilliam of Orange and the Anglo-Dutch AllianceThe Nine Years WarThe Spanish Succession and the Will of Charles IIRamillies, Malplaquet and the Crisis of 1709The Treaty of UtrechtThe Death of Louis XIV and His Legacy
2G The Birth of the USA, 1760–1801
Topic overviewMercantilism, Salutary Neglect and the Colonies in 1760The Thirteen Colonies and the Impact of the Seven Years WarFrom the Proclamation of 1763 to the Boston Tea PartyThe Intolerable Acts of 1774The First Continental CongressCommon Sense and the Organisation of ResistanceGeneral Gage and the Road to LexingtonThe Declaration of IndependenceBritish Strengths and Weaknesses in 1776American Strengths and Weaknesses in the WarThe Limits of British Power and the French AllianceFrench Intervention, the Chesapeake and Spain's EntrySpain, Congress and British Failures in the WarWashington and the Continental ArmyThe Surrender at YorktownThe Articles of Confederation and Post-War ProblemsThe Presidencies of Washington and AdamsThe Alien and Sedition Acts and Hamilton's ProgrammeThe Birth of the Party SystemFederalists, Republicans and the Election of 1800
2H France in Revolution, 1774–1815
Topic overviewLouis XVI and French AbsolutismThe Three Estates and Seigneurial RightsTaxation and the Weaknesses of the Ancien RegimeThe Philosophes and the EnlightenmentThe Financial Crisis of the Ancien RegimeCalonne and the Assembly of NotablesThe Crisis of 1788 and the Estates-GeneralThe Cahiers and the Opening of the Estates-GeneralThe National Assembly and the Fall of the BastilleThe Civil Constitution of the Clergy and the Constitution of 1791The Political Clubs, Varennes and the Fall of the MonarchyThe Founding of the RepublicThe Execution of Louis XVI, the Vendee and the Federalist RevoltThe Levee en Masse and the Coming of the TerrorThe Fall of the Factions and the Great TerrorThermidor and the Dismantling of the TerrorVendemiaire and the DirectoryThe Rise of BonaparteThe Coup of BrumaireThe Constitution of the Year VIIIThe Imperial Nobility and the Legion of HonourEducation and the Position of Women under NapoleonCensorship and Propaganda under NapoleonThe Concordat and Napoleon's Relations with the PapacyThe Civil Code and the Napoleonic CodesPrefects and Centralised AdministrationThe Police, the Prisons and the Bank of FranceNapoleonic Taxation, the Currency and the Continental SystemThe Cost of War and the Napoleonic EconomyThe Grande Armee and the Grand EmpireJena, Friedland and the Treaties of TilsitThe Peninsular War, Russia and the Fall of Napoleon
2J America: A Nation Divided, c1845–1877
Topic overviewFederalism and States' RightsThe Northern Economy by 1845Cotton, Plantations and the Southern EconomyThe Missouri Compromise and the Nullification CrisisManifest Destiny and the Compromise of 1850The Fugitive Slave Law, Abolitionism and Pro-Slavery ArgumentsThe Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding KansasThe Formation of the Republican PartyDred Scott, the Lincoln-Douglas Debates and Harper's FerryThe Election of 1860, Secession and Fort SumterConfederate Strengths and the Union's NumbersLee, States' Rights and King CottonUnion Strengths, Lincoln, Grant and ShermanThe Course of the Civil War, 1861-1865Why the Confederacy Lost and the Destruction of the SouthThe War's Legacy and the Death of LincolnThe Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's PlanRadical Republicans and Presidential ReconstructionGrant's Presidency and the Fifteenth AmendmentThe Reconstruction Acts, Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
2K International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890–1941
Topic overviewHow Britain and France Made Foreign PolicyThe Economic and Military Strength of the Great PowersThe Scramble for Africa and Great Power RivalryBalkan Nationalism and Austria-HungaryThe Naval Race, the Arms Race and War PlansThe Moroccan CrisesThe Entente Cordiale and the Triple EntenteThe Decline of the Ottoman EmpireThe Bosnian Crisis of 1908The Balkan WarsSarajevo and the Austrian UltimatumMobilisation and the Schlieffen PlanThe July CrisisItaly, the USA and the Widening WarRevolution in Russia and the Collapse of GermanyThe Collapse of the Habsburg and Ottoman EmpiresClemenceau, Wilson and the Aims of the PeacemakersLloyd George and the Treaty of VersaillesSaint-Germain, Trianon, Neuilly, Sevres and LausanneAmerican Isolation and the League of NationsSoviet Russia, Rapallo and the Corfu IncidentThe Ruhr Occupation and Europe by 1923Locarno and the Dawes PlanThe Depression, the Revisionist Powers and the Failure of the LeagueHitler's Foreign Policy Aims and the RhinelandNon-Intervention in Spain and Aggression in AsiaAppeasement and the Czech CrisisPoland, the Nazi-Soviet Pact and the Outbreak of WarBarbarossa, Pearl Harbor and Global War
2L Italy and Fascism, c1900–1945
Topic overviewA Young Kingdom: North, South and the RisorgimentoThe Italian Monarchy and the Narrow FranchiseGiolitti and the Gentiloni PactIndustrial Growth, Socialism and Labour UnrestNationalism, Futurism and the Triple AllianceIntervention in 1915 and Italy's War AimsThe Isonzo Front and CaporettoThe Home Front and the Peace SettlementFiume and the Mutilated VictoryPost-War Crisis and Political InstabilityThe Biennio Rosso and the Fascist ResponseThe March on Rome and Mussolini's AppointmentWhy the Elites Accepted MussoliniFascist Ideology, the Ras and the Cult of the DuceThe Grand Council, the Acerbo Law and the Matteotti CrisisBuilding the Dictatorship, 1925-1926Corfu, Fiume and the Consolidation of PowerPress, Radio and Film under FascismThe Balilla, the Dopolavoro and the 1938 Race LawsThe Corporate State and the Charter of LabourThe Church, Women and Society under FascismMare Nostrum and Mussolini's Imperial AmbitionsAbyssinia, Spain and the Road to the Pact of SteelItaly's Entry into the War and Early DefeatsDefeat in Russia and the Italian Home FrontThe Grandi Resolution and the Fall of Mussolini
2M Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906–1957
Topic overviewThe Liberal Landslide of 1906 and New LiberalismThe Lib-Lab Pact, Tariff Reform and the Edwardian EconomyEdwardian Class, Poverty and the People's BudgetThe Liberal Welfare ReformsThe Parliament Act, Women's Suffrage and Home RuleThe Labour Unrest of 1910 to 1914The Wartime Coalitions and the Liberal SplitThe War Economy, DORA and Post-War IndustryWomen's War Work, the Vote and ConscriptionThe War Poets, the Easter Rising and Irish IndependenceLiberal Decline, the First Labour Government and BaldwinThe Return to Gold, the Coal Crisis and the General StrikeThe Divided Regions, Women and Culture in the 1920sThe Flapper Vote and the 1929 ElectionThe Second Labour Government and the SlumpThe Formation of the National GovernmentThe Crisis of 1931, the Gold Standard and ProtectionThe Means Test and the Depths of the SlumpThe Peace Ballot, the Abdication and the LeftMosley and the British Union of FascistsThe Fall of Chamberlain and Churchill's Wartime LeadershipThe Wartime Economy and Bevin's Direction of LabourConscription, Women's War Work and EvacuationInternment, Rationing and PropagandaThe BlitzThe Beveridge Report and the Butler Education ActThe 1945 Election and Attlee's Labour ProgrammeBritain's Post-War Debt and the Export DriveLabour's Nationalisation ProgrammeNational Insurance, National Assistance and Family AllowancesThe National Health ServiceHousing, the New Towns and the Festival of BritainAusterity, Korea and the Bevanite SplitThe Industrial Charter and the New ConservatismConservative Leadership from Churchill to MacmillanConsensus, Affluence and Social Change in the 1950s
2N Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917–1953
Topic overviewTsarism and the Strain of War by 1917The February RevolutionThe Provisional Government and the April ThesesThe October RevolutionThe First Decrees, the Constituent Assembly and the Leaders of 1917The Cheka and the Rise of One-Party RuleBrest-Litovsk and the Causes of the Civil WarTrotsky and the Building of the Red ArmyWhy the Reds Won the Civil WarBolshevik Social Reform, War Communism and the Red TerrorTambov and KronstadtThe New Economic PolicyForeign Intervention, the Comintern and Soviet DiplomacyLenin's Death, His Testament and the Contenders for PowerPermanent Revolution and Socialism in One CountryThe Defeat of the Oppositions and the Great TurnThe Stalin Cult and Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1920sCollectivisation and the Collective FarmsThe Five Year PlansThe Costs of Planning, the Stalin Cult and Socialist RealismCinema, Schooling and the Soviet Economy by 1941Stalinism and the Machinery of TerrorThe Show Trials, the 1936 Constitution and the YezhovshchinaMass Terror and the Purge of the Red ArmyThe Gulag and the End of the PurgesReligion, Women and the Family under StalinSoviet Foreign Policy and the Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1929-1941Barbarossa and the Great Patriotic WarHigh Stalinism and the Post-War TerrorThe USSR as a Superpower and the Soviet Bloc
2O Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918–1945
Topic overviewThe Collapse of 1918 and the Kiel MutinyThe Weimar Constitution and the Terms of VersaillesThe Military Terms of Versailles and German ReactionsThe Ruhr Occupation and the Hyperinflation of 1923The Spartacist Uprising and the FreikorpsThe Ruhr Crisis, the Courts and the Munich PutschThe Munich Putsch and Weimar's CoalitionsStresemann and the Dawes PlanWeimar Culture: Bauhaus, Art and TheatreHindenburg's Election and the Golden YearsStresemann's Foreign Policy and LocarnoThe Wall Street Crash and the German BanksBruning's Deflation and the Nazi Electoral BreakthroughNazi Propaganda, the SA and Nazi AppealThe Divided Left, Hindenburg and PapenThe Prussian Coup and Hitler's Refusal of OfficeThe Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act and the End of DemocracyGleichschaltung and the One-Party StateThe Night of the Long KnivesThe SS, the Gestapo and the Terror StateOpposition and Non-Conformity in Nazi GermanyGoebbels and Nazi PropagandaSchacht and the New PlanThe Hitler Youth and the Nazification of SchoolsNazi Policy towards Women and LeisureThe Churches and the VolksgemeinschaftRacial Ideology, Euthanasia and the Persecution of MinoritiesThe Boycott, the Civil Service Law and NurembergThe Conquest of Poland and the EinsatzgruppenWartime Rationing, Propaganda and MoraleTotal War, Speer and Wartime Resistance
2P The Transformation of China, 1936–1997
Topic overviewJapanese Encroachment and the GuomindangThe Encirclement Campaigns, the Long March and Mao's IdeologyYan'an, the Xi'an Incident and the Second United FrontThe Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945The Race for Territory and the Marshall MissionThe Nationalist Position in 1946The Civil War and the Nationalist CollapseChina in 1949 and the Founding of the RepublicThe Mass Campaigns and the Grip on PowerThe Soviet Alliance and the Korean WarThe Hundred Flowers and the First Five Year PlanThe Great Leap Forward and the People's CommunesRectification, the Marriage Law and Social ChangeMao's Retreat and the Divided LeadershipThe Little Red Book and the Socialist Education MovementWomen, Education, Culture and Religion in the Early 1960sThe Sino-Soviet SplitThe Origins of the Cultural RevolutionThe Red Guards, Lin Biao and the PLAThe Four Olds, the Lost Generation and Rapprochement with the USAThe Death of Mao and the SuccessionThe Fall of the Gang of FourThe Two Whatevers and Deng's New LeadershipDecollectivisation, the SEZs and Deng's Economic ReformsThe Democracy Wall and Tiananmen SquareDeng's Southern Tour and China by 1997China's Foreign Relations under DengThe Return of Hong Kong
2Q The American Dream: Reality and Illusion, 1945–1980
Topic overviewAmerican Power and Politics in 1945Truman and the Fair DealContainment, NATO and the Korean WarTaft-Hartley, the 1948 Election and McCarthyismCivil Rights in the Truman YearsEisenhower and Modern RepublicanismThe Fall of McCarthy and the Fifties EconomySuburbia, the Highways and the New LookHungary, Rollback and the Berlin CrisisEisenhower, South Vietnam and SEATOBrown, Montgomery and Little RockThe Election of 1960The New Frontier and the Berlin WallCivil Rights under Kennedy and America by 1963Johnson, the Great Society and the 1964 ElectionJohnson's Legislative Strategy and Rolling ThunderCivil Rights, Black Power and Protest under JohnsonThe Election of 1968 and the Democratic SplitNixon's Domestic ConservatismKissinger, Detente and the Paris Peace AccordsWatergate and Nixon's ResignationFord's Pardon and Carter's ElectionCarter, Afghanistan and the End of DetenteAmerica by 1980 and the Election of Reagan
2R The Cold War, c1945–1991
Topic overviewYalta, Potsdam and the Wartime AllianceThe Sovietisation of Eastern EuropeThe Marshall Plan and American Aid to EuropeThe Division of Germany, the Berlin Blockade and NATOJapan, China and NSC-68Korea in 1950 and the UN ResponseMcCarthyism and the Isolation of ChinaNATO, the Warsaw Pact and the First Indochina WarKhrushchev and the Crises of 1956 in Poland and HungaryThe Hungarian Uprising, Peaceful Coexistence and the Paris SummitThe U-2 Affair, the Missile Race and the Space RaceThe Berlin Crisis and the Berlin WallThe Division of Vietnam and the NLFCuba, the Bay of Pigs and the Missile CrisisThe Gulf of Tonkin and American EscalationViet Cong Tactics, Tet and VietnamisationArms Control, the Prague Spring and the Sino-Soviet SplitThe Paris Accords and the Fall of SaigonThe Cost of Vietnam and the Road to SALT ISALT II, Ostpolitik and the Helsinki AccordsAfghanistan, Reagan and the Second Cold WarThe Pope, Solidarity and Martial Law in PolandAngola, Ethiopia and ChileGrenada and the ContrasGorbachev's Inheritance and New ThinkingThe Geneva and Reykjavik SummitsBush, Gorbachev and the Brezhnev DoctrineThe Revolutions of 1989 and the Collapse of the USSRThe End of the Cold War in the Third World
2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951–2007
Topic overviewThe Conservative Prime Ministers, 1951 to 1964The Long Boom and Stop-GoWomen, Youth, Immigration and the Notting Hill RiotsForeign Policy, Suez and Decolonisation, 1951-1964Harold Wilson and the National PlanDevaluation and Labour's Economic Policy, 1965-1969In Place of Strife, Education and Northern IrelandThe Abolition of Hanging and Divorce ReformThe Media, the Permissive Society and Race in the 1960sVietnam, the EEC Veto and the Atlantic AllianceHeath, the 1970 Election and Selsdon ParkThe Industrial Relations Act and the 1972 StrikeThe Oil Crisis and the Second Miners' StrikeNorthern Ireland from Bloody Sunday to SunningdaleThe Social Contract, the IMF Crisis and the Winter of DiscontentFeminism, Equality Legislation and Immigration in the 1970sPunk and the New Politics of the 1970sBritain's Entry into the EEC and the 1975 ReferendumThe Special Relationship and Detente in the 1970sThatcher's Rise and Her Political CreedLabour's Divisions and the SDPNorthern Ireland, Monetarism and PrivatisationRight to Buy and the Miners' StrikeProtest, the Riots of 1981 and the Falklands WarThe Falklands Factor and the Reagan AllianceThatcher, Gorbachev and EuropeThe Poll Tax and the Fall of ThatcherMajor, Black Wednesday, Sleaze and the Peace ProcessMajor's Leadership Challenge and the Making of New LabourThe Landslide of 1997 and Society in the 1990sStephen Lawrence and the Single European MarketMaastricht, Bosnia and the End of the Cold WarBlair's Leadership and Downing Street GovernmentConstitutional Reform and the Good Friday AgreementNew Labour's Social and Economic PolicyThe Conservative Opposition, 1997 to 2005Society and Multiculturalism under New LabourBlair's Foreign Policy, Iraq and Britain by 2007
2T The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Topic overviewStalin's Death and the System He LeftKhrushchev's Rise and the Anti-Party GroupThe Secret Speech and De-StalinisationThe Sovnarkhozy, Housing and the ThawThe Virgin Lands Scheme and Agricultural FailureThe Thaw, China and Khrushchev's Foreign PolicyThe Fall of KhrushchevBrezhnev and His Leading ColleaguesThe Kosygin Reforms and Economic StagnationDetente, Afghanistan and the Second Cold WarDissidents and Nationalist Unrest under BrezhnevAndropov, Chernenko and the Rise of GorbachevGorbachev's Aims and PerestroikaGlasnost, Afghanistan and the End of the Cold WarChernobyl, Economic Restructuring and DemocratisationThe Opposition to GorbachevThe August Coup and the End of the USSRYeltsin and Shock TherapyPutin's Rise and the Second Chechen WarThe Leaders of the Satellite StatesParty Control and the NomenklaturaSovietisation and Daily Life in the SatellitesTravel, Conformity and Careers behind the CurtainThe Uprisings of 1953 and 1956The Berlin Wall and the Prague SpringGierek's Poland and Normalisation in CzechoslovakiaThe Strengths and Limits of the Satellite EconomiesWestern Influence and the Helsinki AccordsThe Gdańsk Strikes and the Birth of SolidarityMartial Law in PolandDissent in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the GDR in the 1980sCeausescu's Romania and the SecuritateZhivkov's BulgariaThe Revolutions of 1989 in East Germany, Poland and HungaryThe Velvet Revolution, Bulgaria and Romania in 1989Romania's Revolution and the Collapse of CommunismPost-Communist Politics and the Velvet DivorceShock Therapy, Gradualism and Privatisation
2T The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000
Gorbachev's Aims and Perestroika
- 3 things to know
- Component 2
Overview
Recall questions on how Gorbachev differed from his predecessors, the aims he set himself, his base of support and the stagnation behind restructuring.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Key term
How did economic stagnation contribute to the introduction of perestroika?
Key term
Why did the inefficiency of central planning necessitate perestroika?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What personality traits distinguished Gorbachev from previous Soviet leaders?
Model answer
Openness to dialogue, intellectual flexibility, and a willingness to acknowledge systemic failures.
- 2
What were Gorbachev's three primary aims when he came to power?
Model answer
Revitalising the Soviet economy, reducing Cold War tensions, and reforming the Communist Party to make it more responsive and legitimate.
- 3
On which groups within the Soviet system did Gorbachev's initial power base rest?
Model answer
Younger reformist elements within the Communist Party apparatus and technocrats who recognised the need for modernisation.
- 4
How did economic stagnation contribute to the introduction of perestroika?
Model answer
The Soviet command economy had stagnated, making restructuring necessary to revive economic performance.
- 5
Why was declining productivity a reason for introducing perestroika?
Model answer
Falling productivity levels demonstrated that the existing economic system was failing to generate adequate output.
- 6
How did the technological gap with the West justify perestroika?
Model answer
Soviet technological innovation lagged significantly behind Western countries, threatening the USSR's competitive position.
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