Edexcel: From kaiser to fuhrer 1900-1945, his03/d exam friday 10th june 2016

Hi,

My teacher hasn't taught the second controversy very well, so I don't understand it compared to controversy 1.

Could I get away with just revising controversy one?

Some centres only teach the first controversy I think so you'll be fine. I'm only gonna do WW1 because I enjoy that more/ find it more interesting (hitlers Germany is such a cliche topic I find now) and it is kind of simpler if you understand it.

So yeah only doing the first one will be fine

Will the first controversy definetly come up tho?

Hi,

My teacher hasn't taught the second controversy very well, so I don't understand it compared to controversy 1.

Could I get away with just revising controversy one?

I've been trying to find past papers for this exam, but unfortunately have been unable to find any. Would anyone happen to have a link as to where I can find them? Thanks.

I've been trying to find past papers for this exam, but unfortunately have been unable to find any. Would anyone happen to have a link as to where I can find them? Thanks.

It's all on the Edexcel website. This is Unit 3 Option D 'The Challenge of Fascism'.
You can find all the past papers here: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-a-levels/history-2008.coursematerials.html#filterQuery=Pearson-UK:Category%2FExam-materials

I like to let the sources guide how I structure my argument in the exam, as it is very much about how we use the sources and interrogate them, but there are some key things to stick to;

Introduction: mention all 3 sources and say who says what and who agrees with who and briefly say which ones you agree with - aka tell the examiner your line of argument (very much like every other essay for this whole A level)

Main body:

It depends on the content that is presented in the sources but I tend to do one or two paragraphs supporting the argument in the question and using the sources that do (if I disagree with the question it's often a good idea to recognise the argument that could be presented in these two paragraphs, and then suggest why actually you disagree)

Then j do one or two paragraphs disagreeing with the question, using sources that disagree, comparing them to the ones that agree and weighing up which argument is stronger etc etc

Then a conclusion really just needs to reiterate what your line of argument and give one or two strong reasons why - could be a good idea to mention a quote from one of the sources and reiterate one small piece of own knowledge previously mentioned.

I haven't done many of these essays yet - I did my first one for the hitler controversy the other week and I got 33/40 which I think is good for a first go but I would like to get more! When I do some more I will post them up for you

Hope that helps

My teacher is predicting the final solution (unit 6) to come up and for either unit 3 (golden years) or unit 4 (the debate on whether or not the Nazi's rise was a legal revolution), or unit 1 (greatest consequence of WW1 on Germany).

Just starting revision now because i had so many resits. Is it still possible for me to get a B/A?

Do you have a structure for part a questions

As I do not feel confident on the 1933-45 section of this scheme of work, I have already decided that I be answering the controversy question regarding Germany's involvement in the outbreak of war in 1914. I feel confident with 1900-1914, 1929-1933 and especially 1919-29. Do you think it is okay to almost disregard the 1939-45 period? Two part a questions on this topic has never come up and is likely not to, and there is no past papers where I have looked at it and not been able to answer either question, despite my lack of confidence in the Nazi war years. What do you think?

Hi there! I would please like someone to correct this essay for Edexcel "From Kaiser to Fuhrer" Unit 3 Option D and tell me the good points/bad points of my performance. I wish someone would grade it too. I'm sorry for my bad English.

The question is "The final solution evolved because of the chaotic nature of the Nazi Regime in the years 1939-42." How far do you agree with this opinion?" (June 2010)

Plan (I always do this before writing the main essay)

For: Competing agencies // Polycratic state // Working towards the Führer// Cumulative radicalisation.
Against: The effects of the war on the Holocaust// Hitler's commitment to erradicate the Jews (internationalist view) // Support from sectors of the German society.

Essay

This question asks me to evaluate the impact of the chaotic nature of the Nazi Regime on the evolution of the Final Solution. It can be argued that the competing organizations was the main factor that caused the Holocaust because every agency wanted to demonstrate its loyalty towards the Fuhrer by promoting antisemitism, every time in a more dramatic way. On the other hand, it can be considered that there were other factors which were more important in the evolution of process of planning the mass murder. During the first years of WW2, Germany witnessed an increase in the number of Jews within their borders and the war brought the desire to exterminate the Jewish population as an act of revenge. It can be also suggested that the Final Solution evolved due to Hitler's ruthless determination to annihilate the Jews, or even due to the support from sectors of the German society towards the extreme anti-semitism.

The chaotic nature of the regime undoubtedly made the Final Solution to be more likely. For example, when Poland was invaded by the Wehrmacht in 1939, Hans Frank complained that the General Polish Government was overcrowded by Jews who were deported from Germany to this "puppet" country. This was due to the rivalry between him and Himmler. By 1941 the SS was acting "as a state within a state" and had no formal restraints to annihilate the Jewish population from the Baltic states and occupied Russia using Eissatzgruppen commands. An example of how working towards the Fuhrer had an impact on the evolution of the Holocaust can be clearly seen when Goebbels launched a propaganda campaign to portray the Jews as the menace of the Aryan race. He had lost Hitler's confidence due to his affair with a Czech actress in 1938 and he slowly gained it by demostrating that he was the most active anti-semitic politician in the Nazi ranks. For example in 1941 he constantly demanded that all Jews in Germany should wear a yellow star for identification. All this evidence shows that by 1942, the idea of working towards the Führer, the internal rivalries within the Nazi regime and the cumulative radicalisation derived from it were factors which led to the evolution of the Final Solution.

The war also had a significant role in the evolution of the Final Solution. It is undeniable that as war progressed the restrictions upon the Jewish community, which only accounted for less than 1% of the population in whole Germany, were more strict. Firstly, France's defeat made Hitler think that Madagascar could be stripped from the French Empire and that all the Jews could be shipped there. However, the UK ruled the seas so this plan had to be discarted. Secondly, the war against Russia was said to be a racial struggle against inferior races such as the Slavs. Himmler wanted to deport the Jews beyond the Ural mountains. This was called the General Ostplan but the Operation Barbarossa in 1941 did not succeed. These two examples demonstrate that the Nazi Regime was forced to prosecute the Final Solution to achieve "racial cleansing" as all the other plans of deportation had been thwarted by the war.

The state of war caused there to be acts of revenge against the Jewish community which inevitably provoked the Final Solution. When Hitler once declared war on the USA, he said that "the USA was a half-negro/half Jew country". In addition, when the USSR defeated the German thrust into Moscow in 1941 and when Stalin deported many Germans from the Volga region, Hitler arranged the Wansee Conference when it was decided the fate of the Jewish community in occupied land. Hitler now treated the Jews as partisans. All this shows that the Nazi Regime attempted to take revenge from their enemies by inflicting suffering on those who were most vulnerable. It is perceived that the war accelerated the paranoia and therefore the final solution evolved because of the world conflict, not because of the chaotic nature of the regime.

Some intentionalist historians simply believe that the Final Solution evolved due to Hitler's brutal commitment annihilate the Jewish population. This can be clearly seen when in 1939 he accused the "international Jewry" making all European nations plunge into a war which he said he was avoiding. He often referred to the removal of the Jewish population in his book Mein Kampf in 1924 and although he never signed a document authorizing the Holocaust, his attacks on the Jewish community can be regarded as a long term plan for the execution of the Jews. He first confined the Jews in the ghettos in 1940, he then made them have a "J" letter printed in their official documents, making them more identifiable and easily grouped together for the final execution. It can be suggested that the role of an individual and his conviction was the main factor for the evolution of the Holocaust.

The Final Solution could not have evolved with at least some support of the German society. It is widely known that most Germans never knew what was really happening in the concentration camps, for example when Eisenhower took the population living in Bergen to the concentration camp they were astonished when they were forced to witness the crude reality. On the other hand, the Protestant Church was profoundly anti-semitic and so was the official Reich Church led by Müller. A lot of Germans participated in the burning down of many synagogues in Kristallnacht in 1938, although it cannot really be assessed if this meant that most Germans were willing to take even more extreme acts against the Jews such as mass murder. Even though it is a controversial statement, it is unconceivable that the Final Solution would not evolve with the support, or at least the complacency of some Germans.

Overall, the Final Solution evolved due to many factors. The competing agencies and radicalization, the war, Hitler's long-term plans and the support of some of the Germans towards anti-semitism are just a few. The war promoted revenge against the Jewish community which was more vulnerable. War destroyed all plans for deportation such as Ost Plan and the Madagascar Plan. War also meant that the Nazi Regime had more Jews within its own borders who had to be executed in a more efficient way. I am more inclined to believe that the war was the primary factor for the evolution of the Nazi regime and not the chaotic nature of the Nazi state.

B/A will probably be possible if you apply yourself really thoroughly from now until the exam. Historically in this exam there has always been a question on the Weimar years or Hitler's Rise, and then one of the other minor topics of Second Reich or WW2 for section A, so it may be good to focus your revision on Weimar and the Rise so you get confident with a that content.

What did you get last year for AS history because that'll probably help your grade this year if you got good? And what about your coursework?