Who and when
OCR GCSE History A J410
Castles: Form and Function c.1000–1750Historic environment
Topic overviewThe location of Kenilworth CastleThe appearance and layout of Kenilworth Castle at different times in its historyThe day-to-day functions of Kenilworth CastleThe evidence historians use for a castle’s changing functionLife in Kenilworth Castle at different times in its historyKey events associated with Kenilworth Castle at different times in its history
China 1950–1981: The People and the StateDepth study
Topic overviewEarly purges, the Hundred Flowers and social policy in the 1950sLand reform, collectivisation, the First Five Year Plan and the Great Leap ForwardCauses and impact of the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guards and TibetThe nature of Communist propaganda and its impactCommunism in China after the death of Mao 1976–1981The Communist state and the Chinese people
Germany 1925–1955: The People and the StateDepth study
Topic overviewThe Weimar Republic 1925–1928 and the impact of the DepressionRising support for Nazis 1929–1933The Nazi consolidation of power 1933–1934The Nazi terror state, propaganda and the people's communityNazi economic and social policy, and the lack of effective oppositionReaction to war, changing fortunes and the home front 1939–1945Racial persecution, the Holocaust and opposition during the warDefeat, occupation and the two Germanys 1945–1955The state and the German people, 1925–1955
International Relations: The Changing International Order 1918–1975
Topic overviewThe Versailles settlement, the League and the agreements of the 1920sThe Depression, the failure of the League and the road to warSoviet actions in Eastern Europe and the Western response, 1945–48NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile CrisisOrigins of US involvement in Vietnam and the tactics of the warUS withdrawal from Vietnam, opposition at home and the end of the warChanging interpretations of AppeasementChanging interpretations of the responsibility for the Cold WarThe big ideas behind the twentieth-century international order
Migration to Britain c.1000 to c.2010Thematic study
Topic overviewDiversity before 1066, and the impact of the Norman ConquestJews in medieval England: treatment, integration and expulsionResident aliens in later medieval EnglandAfricans in sixteenth-century England, the East India Company and Britain’s black communitiesThe readmission of Jews in 1656, and Protestant refugeesIndustrial-age migration: the Irish, Eastern European Jews, abolition and ChartismNaturalisation, port communities and immigration law 1870–1948Attitudes towards Jews in the 1930s and migrants in the two world warsThe impact of post-war migration on BritainImmigration as a political issue c.1990–c.2010The big questions about migration to Britain
Personal Rule to Restoration 1629–1660British depth
Topic overviewRelationship between Parliament and Charles I 1629–1642Attempts at settlement, the radical groups and the Army 1646–1649The execution of Charles I 1649The Rump, Cromwell and the Protectorate 1649–1658Attempts to reach a settlement September 1658 – April 1660The tensions that led to war, and the changes that followed
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014Thematic study
Topic overviewAnglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchyMagna Carta and the emergence of ParliamentRichard II’s deposition and the Wars of the RosesTudor government, personal rule and the Civil WarsThe Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of RightsThe rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchyParliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unionsVotes for women, and the state in war and peaceChallenges to Parliament since 1980Claiming, keeping and losing power
South Africa 1960–1994: The People and the StateDepth study
Topic overviewConsolidating apartheid in the 1960s: the Bantustans, state control and SharpevilleReasons for, methods of and impact of different types of resistanceThe further development of resistanceThe Anti-Apartheid Movement and the regime's response in the 1970sGrowing pressure on the regimeThe State of Emergency and the failure of total strategy 1985–1990Negotiations between the government and the ANCThe state and the South African people, 1960–1994
The English Reformation c.1520–c.1550British depth
Topic overviewThe church in England c.1520 and its criticsPopular attitudes to reform, the annulment and the Reformation ParliamentCromwell, the Valor Ecclesiasticus and the dissolution of the monasteriesImmediate reactions to Dissolution including supportResistance and protestDevelopment and changes in religious policy under Henry VIII and Edward VIEnforcing the new religious policies and the Prayer Book Rebellion 1549The English Church before and after the Reformation
The Impact of Empire on Britain 1688–c.1730British depth
Topic overviewThe Glorious Revolution, the Hanoverian succession and the British IslesDarien, the Act of Union, the 1715 rising and emigration to the AmericasEconomic impact of war and imperial expansionThe Treaty of Utrecht, the South Sea Bubble and the slave-based colonial economyConsumerism, the slave-trading ports and the coffee housesIdeas of racial hierarchy, and opposition and resistance to slaveryWhat empire did to Britain and the British Isles
The USA 1919–1948: The People and the StateDepth study
Topic overviewThe US economy and women in the ‘Roaring Twenties’Prohibition, the Red Scare and immigration restrictionsJim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan and attempts to combat prejudiceEconomic and social effects of the Great Depression and government responseThe Second New DealThe mobilisation of the US people for the war effortSocial impact of the warThe Detroit Race Riots 1943 and segregation in the armed forcesThe state and the American people, 1919–1948
The USA 1945–1974: The People and the StateDepth study
Topic overviewFears of Communism at home, the Red Scare and McCarthyismJim Crow and the development and achievements of the civil rights movementOpposition to civil rights and the role of the Supreme Court and EisenhowerThe roles of Kennedy and Johnson in civil rights campaignsBlack Power, radical leaders, and Native American and Chicano campaignsThe impact of feminismStonewall, anti-war protest and the Great SocietyThe state and the American people, 1945–1974
Urban Environments: Patterns of MigrationHistoric environment
Topic overviewWhen immigrant groups arrived, why and from whereSpitalfields: who came, when and whyWhere immigrants settled and how they were receivedSettling in Spitalfields, and how newcomers were receivedThe experiences of immigrantsWork, housing and faith in SpitalfieldsKey events in local migration historyAltab Ali, Brick Lane 1978 and other key events in SpitalfieldsThe impact of migration on the areaSpitalfields today: impact and the multicultural communityReading an urban site for its migration historyReading the buildings, maps and records of Spitalfields
War and British Society c.790 to c.2010Thematic study
Topic overviewViking raids and the Norman ConquestThe feudal system and feudal military serviceWar in medieval society, c.1290–c.1450Elizabeth I’s wars with Spain, and English privateersBorder warfare, the Civil Wars and the Jacobite risingsImperial wars of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuriesThe Crimean War and the Boer WarsThe two world wars and the Cold WarThe IRA campaigns and conflict since 1945What war did to British people and their rulers
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014
- 10 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- Paper 2
- Paper 2, one British thematic study of three; it fixes the Paper 3 pair
What Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 covers
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 is examined in Paper 2, British thematic study. It covers Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchy; Magna Carta and the emergence of Parliament; Richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the Roses; Tudor government, personal rule and the Civil Wars; the Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of Rights; the rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy; Parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918, reform and the unions; votes for women, and the state in war and peace; challenges to Parliament since 1980; and claiming, keeping and losing power.
Where it is assessed
Paper 2
British thematic study, one of three; 25% of the GCSE.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 10 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Anglo-Saxon kingship, 1066 and the Norman monarchyThe Witan, coronation and disputed successions, the fyrd, the geld and the thegns, the three claimants of 1066, William's claim and Hastings, the fate of the English aristocracy, Domesday Book, the Salisbury oath and the barons' dependence on the king by 1087.Open →
- Magna Carta and the emergence of ParliamentJohn's accession and the loss of Normandy, the barons' grievances, Runnymede, Magna Carta's promises on justice and taxation and how it was to be enforced, Simon de Montfort's parliament of 1265 and Edward I's assemblies.Open →
- Richard II’s deposition and the Wars of the RosesRichard II's treatment of his critics, the seizure of the Lancastrian inheritance, Bolingbroke's takeover and its legal dressing, Richard's death, Lancaster and York, Henry VI's weaknesses, Richard of York, Bosworth and what the wars showed.Open →
- Tudor government, personal rule and the Civil WarsThe Act of Supremacy, Thomas Cromwell's methods, why Henry VIII used statute, Elizabeth I's forbidden subjects, Charles I's personal rule, ship money, the recall of Parliament in 1640, Naseby, the King's trial and the Commonwealth.Open →
- The Restoration, 1688 and the Bill of RightsCharles II's return and the Declaration of Breda, James II's Catholicism and fall, the invitation to William, the Bill of Rights, why 1688 mattered, the Triennial Act, annual Parliaments and the Act of Settlement.Open →
- The rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchyThe first Whigs and Tories and what divided them, Whig dominance under George I, the growing influence of ministers, Walpole as the first Prime Minister, parliamentary monarchy, patronage, rotten boroughs, the narrow franchise and the powers the monarch kept.Open →
- Parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unionsThe unrepresented industrial towns, Old Sarum, open voting, Peterloo, the 1832 Act, the Acts of 1867 and 1884, party organisation, new unions, the dock strike of 1889, Labour's founding and Taff Vale.Open →
- Votes for women, and the state in war and peaceSuffragists and suffragettes, militant action and the Cat and Mouse Act, why some women won the vote in 1918, the Defence of the Realm Act, state control in the Second World War, the Beveridge Report, the NHS and nationalisation.Open →
- Challenges to Parliament since 1980The Miners' Strike and why it failed, CND, Greenpeace, Thatcher's prime ministerial power, Blair's presidential style, devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the coalition of 2010.Open →
- Claiming, keeping and losing powerHow rulers claimed the crown from the Witan to elections in 2014, how they kept it through castles, land, religion, display, patronage, censorship and concession, and how power was challenged from 1215 to the Chartists.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Who fought the Wars of the Roses, and how did the fighting end?
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How did Britain's system of government and elections work in the eighteenth century?
Numbers
How was the succession crisis of 1066 settled, and what became of the English nobility?
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What event in June 1688 turned discontent into an invitation to invade?
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What makes governing in coalition difficult?
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What survey did William order in 1086, and what was it for?
Who and when
How did John come to the throne in 1199, and who was his rival?
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How did Richard II treat his leading critics in 1397?
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How did Thomas Cromwell make Henry VIII’s government stronger?
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What was ship money, and why was it so resented?
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Who was brought back to the throne in 1660, and who made it possible?
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What were the two groupings called that grew into England’s first political parties?
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Why did the fast-growing industrial towns feel shut out of politics before 1832?
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What was Old Sarum, and why was it notorious?
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What was the difference between the suffragists and the suffragettes?
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What was the Cat and Mouse Act?
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What triggered the Miners’ Strike in March 1984?
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How did the Witan’s choice of a ruler differ from the rule of inheritance that took hold later?
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How did William III’s title to the throne differ from James II’s?
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Which council of leading nobles and churchmen chose who should be king in late Anglo-Saxon England?
Numbers
Which defeat abroad damaged John’s standing at home?
Who and when
What did Richard II do that provoked Henry Bolingbroke’s return from exile?
Numbers
Which side won the fighting between king and Parliament, and what force decided it?
Key term
What did Charles II promise in the Declaration of Breda?
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Why did one party dominate government after George I came to the throne in 1714?
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Why did the absence of a secret ballot matter so much?
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Why were some women granted the vote in 1918?
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Why is Margaret Thatcher’s time in office described as a period of strong prime ministerial power?
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How did medieval kings use land to keep their nobles loyal?
Take Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Witan vs Fyrd
Witan: council of leading nobles and churchmen that chose the king. Fyrd: army raised from the free men of the shires that only the king could summon.
Bill of Rights vs Act of Settlement
Bill of Rights: 1689 law forbidding a monarch to suspend laws, keep a peacetime army or tax without Parliament. Act of Settlement: 1701 law passing the crown to Protestant Hanover and protecting judges from dismissal.
Suffragists vs Suffragettes
Suffragists: Millicent Fawcett's peaceful campaigners using petitions and meetings. Suffragettes: Emmeline Pankhurst's militant campaigners who smashed windows and chained themselves to railings.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Which council of leading nobles and churchmen chose who should be king in late Anglo-Saxon England?
Model answer
The Witan, which selected a man from the royal house rather than automatically taking the dead king’s eldest son.
- 2
Apart from royal blood, what qualified a man to rule England around the year 1000?
Model answer
A record of success in war and the backing of the greatest earls, because a king who could not lead an army could not defend the kingdom.
- 3
What did the coronation ceremony add to a king’s authority?
Model answer
He was anointed with holy oil by churchmen, which presented him as God’s chosen ruler and made rebellion against him a sin.
- 4
Why was the succession in Anglo-Saxon England so often disputed?
Model answer
Because there was no fixed rule of inheritance, so several men of royal or noble blood could each argue that they had the better claim.
- 5
What was the fyrd, and who alone could summon it?
Model answer
The army raised from the free men of the shires, which only the king had the right to call out.
- 6
Name three things subjects expected a late Anglo-Saxon king to provide.
Model answer
Defence against invasion, justice through the shire and hundred courts, and a trustworthy silver coinage.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 revision questions
- What does Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 cover in OCR GCSE History A?
- 10 subtopics: anglo-saxon kingship, 1066 and the norman monarchy, magna carta and the emergence of parliament, richard ii’s deposition and the wars of the roses, tudor government, personal rule and the civil wars, the restoration, 1688 and the bill of rights, the rise of political parties and a parliamentary monarchy, parliament and the people, c.1800–c.1918: reform and the unions, votes for women, and the state in war and peace, challenges to parliament since 1980 and claiming, keeping and losing power. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014 organised?
- By the OCR J410 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Power: Monarchy and Democracy in Britain c.1000 to 2014, on a schedule.
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