A Level History Edexcel - Germany and West Germany 1918-89
So with the exam fast approaching (6 June), I haven't yet covered all the content so I decided to do essay plans which would help with the content and exam techniques of course. But I was wondering if any of you guys will be covering the questions/themes of the questions last year? Time's running out and I've got 3 exams between 5-6th June and I don't want to cover more than I have to.
Last year's questions included:
Section A:
- opposition to the Weimar constitution
- popularity of Nazi government between 1934-45
Section B:
- German culture shaped around political ideology between 1918-45
- government intervention being the most important factor in German economic development 1945-89
Section C:
- outbreak of WW2 as result of Hitler and his opponents' blunders
SAMs questions included
Section A:
- political opposition from extreme right as the most significant threat to stability of the Weimar Republic 1919-29
- How far do you agree Federal Republic faced severe economic and political
challenges in the years 1965–83?
Section B:
- To what extent were the cultural developments of the Weimar years suppressed by the Nazi regime?
- nature of the government of the Federal Republic in the years 1949–69 was completely different from that of the Nazi regime?
Section C:
- how convincing do you find the view that Hitler always intended to destroy the state of Poland?
I appreciate that none of you are mind readers lol, but any suggestion/advice would be great!
P.S. I'm having difficulties with writing essays after reading the examiner's report from last year, so any tips in writing essays will also be very much appreciated !
Thank you !
Last year's questions included:
Section A:
- opposition to the Weimar constitution
- popularity of Nazi government between 1934-45
Section B:
- German culture shaped around political ideology between 1918-45
- government intervention being the most important factor in German economic development 1945-89
Section C:
- outbreak of WW2 as result of Hitler and his opponents' blunders
SAMs questions included
Section A:
- political opposition from extreme right as the most significant threat to stability of the Weimar Republic 1919-29
- How far do you agree Federal Republic faced severe economic and political
challenges in the years 1965–83?
Section B:
- To what extent were the cultural developments of the Weimar years suppressed by the Nazi regime?
- nature of the government of the Federal Republic in the years 1949–69 was completely different from that of the Nazi regime?
Section C:
- how convincing do you find the view that Hitler always intended to destroy the state of Poland?
I appreciate that none of you are mind readers lol, but any suggestion/advice would be great!
P.S. I'm having difficulties with writing essays after reading the examiner's report from last year, so any tips in writing essays will also be very much appreciated !
Thank you !
Scroll to see replies
Hi! Was actually going to have a look to work out what had and hadn't come up yet, so thank you for this! I imagine it's highly possible something on the role of women will come up, or something comparing leaders - I have a feeling Adenauer or Streseman will come up, and a question like 'How far do you agree that Streseman was the most successful leader in the period 1919-45?' (for example)
With essay questions, obviously a level of knowledge is needed, with some evidence to back up facts: for example, when talking about political popularity if you have a couple of examples of voter turnout to compare how it changed over time, this can be used to support your argument (as people are involved with politics, does that mean they are supporting the political system or are they voting in opposition? Twist it how you want). For A Level, one of the most important features is evaluating against criteria, which I'm sure you did in your coursework. This is easier in source questions IMO, as you can directly decide the value, weight etc of the source for enquiries. For knowledge based questions, you define 'how far' by the extent of influence something has: for example, 'How far were the Nazis a popular dictatorship in the years 1933-45?' for example, break it down. First, break down the time period, 1933-39 then 1939-45. Popularity does not stay the same throughout. How can you define popularity? Support for the government (is it possible to define support in Nazi Germany, under the terror regime?) Lack of active resistance? High voter turnouts? (This would only apply earlier really). And consider who the Nazi dictatorship is actually popular with - working classes? Middle classes? The old Junker class? Business owners, industrialists? Are they wholly popular with these aspects of society the whole time, or only partially on certain policies? Does their opinion change over time? It's SUPER IMPORTANT to reach a judgement, with support, at the end, so make sure you have a consistent argument with your final judgement, but make sure to have a balanced argument - just try and show how your argument is better than the opposing argument.
I hope that helps! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help
With essay questions, obviously a level of knowledge is needed, with some evidence to back up facts: for example, when talking about political popularity if you have a couple of examples of voter turnout to compare how it changed over time, this can be used to support your argument (as people are involved with politics, does that mean they are supporting the political system or are they voting in opposition? Twist it how you want). For A Level, one of the most important features is evaluating against criteria, which I'm sure you did in your coursework. This is easier in source questions IMO, as you can directly decide the value, weight etc of the source for enquiries. For knowledge based questions, you define 'how far' by the extent of influence something has: for example, 'How far were the Nazis a popular dictatorship in the years 1933-45?' for example, break it down. First, break down the time period, 1933-39 then 1939-45. Popularity does not stay the same throughout. How can you define popularity? Support for the government (is it possible to define support in Nazi Germany, under the terror regime?) Lack of active resistance? High voter turnouts? (This would only apply earlier really). And consider who the Nazi dictatorship is actually popular with - working classes? Middle classes? The old Junker class? Business owners, industrialists? Are they wholly popular with these aspects of society the whole time, or only partially on certain policies? Does their opinion change over time? It's SUPER IMPORTANT to reach a judgement, with support, at the end, so make sure you have a consistent argument with your final judgement, but make sure to have a balanced argument - just try and show how your argument is better than the opposing argument.
I hope that helps! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help
Original post by jodiee53
is it possible that same questions can come up??
I mean they won’t be worded the same, they can slightly alter them but they’d be more likely to make new questions.
Original post by Brandinho
What makes you say the role of women will come up?
It's only ever come up in the AS spec paper, not at all in A Level Papers, and it's a fairly significant part of the course - plus, just a gut feeling tbh
Had one last year that education and culture would come up in the AS Paper and it did, so I think it might. But I may be totally wrong!Original post by Brandinho
I mean they won’t be worded the same, they can slightly alter them but they’d be more likely to make new questions.
Adding to that - especially as it's only the 2nd year of the spec, they have way too many questions yet to ask before they need to repeat - though I imagine there'll be a standard at least one question on politics or economics!
How did you all find it? Not gonna lie, I think I messed it up - the paper itself was easy but my evaluation was the biggest pile of rubbish, even though I knew the stuff! Agh. Ah well, can't change it now.
Yeah the questions were as nice as they were ever going to be I thought, but the same I struggled with a evaluation and wasted time deciding which questions to do
Me and my teacher went over Nazi economic policies just before the exam started, so it was nice to see that come up although I'm certain I messed up somehow. Source question was decent, but ran out of time to conclude :/
I'm hoping my coursework and the other 2 exams will push me to an A. Fingers crossed!
I'm hoping my coursework and the other 2 exams will push me to an A. Fingers crossed!
I thought it went well! I did Weimar opposition and Nazi vs FRG economics and felt like they were pretty good essays, but I couldn't think of much to say post-1923 for Q1, and same for like post-1960 FRG. I felt like what I wrote was good but I'm worried it didn't cover the questions in the angles they were looking for, mostly. Interpretations was pretty good, I felt, very clear cut arguments that I could support + challenge so I think that went okay but I'm not good at judging my own work.
I put a lot into revising for this exam, probably at the expense of my other subjects heck. So I'm hoping it's at least a high A. The exam itself felt pretty good though, I didn't run out of stamina and I had time to plan and then read through my answers at the end, so I feel like I did as well as I could have.
I put a lot into revising for this exam, probably at the expense of my other subjects heck. So I'm hoping it's at least a high A. The exam itself felt pretty good though, I didn't run out of stamina and I had time to plan and then read through my answers at the end, so I feel like I did as well as I could have.
(edited 5 years ago)
What points did people put for each question?
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
Did the censorship question but compared it with women, aspects of control in the command economy, trade union control and concentration camp (ss and Gestapo control). Not sure how that went haha. Then did the question on women but my evaluation was a bit all over the place. What did people think about question 3 on western allies??
Original post by Phatty_Magoo
What points did people put for each question?
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
I did the economy question! I wrote about policies for recovery, reaction to full employment, and aims of economic policies.
Section C I really liked the question! But I had major doubts with my structure as I wasn't sure if we were supposed to bring in another argument 😖 i agreed with extract 1 though because of Hitler's military might when he invaded poland
Question 1 - about how political extremes challenged the effective govt, 1919-30? I did it saying that political extremes, ie KPD and Nazis were prominent during crisis times, but limited in only being a problem in limited time periods. Then I compared other challenges to effective govt - economic problems, opposition to the Weimar government, and problems within the constitution, and overall said the constitution problems were more significant challenge than political extremes. Was that totally the wrong way to go about it? BC if so, ****.
4 - change of role of women, 1945-89. Broke down into role at work/home, attitudes towards them and legal status, and how primarily whilst they gained more opportunities, the work they undertook was vastly similar, women remained primarily viewed in terms of the family and home - but the biggest change was their legal status, how they gained rights and autonomy legally. So it wasn't a total change, but there was a significant amount. Again, not sure.
5. Didn't expect western allies to go to war in 1939 - honestly I did this fairly straightforward agree disagree, although in hindsight the first extract contradicted itself a bit. Honestly not sure on this one, not sure I was critical enough of their arguments. I think in the end I argued that there was more evidence of a long term plan for war, so it wasn't unexpected that war occured in 1939 and was one of Hitler's intentions, whether at Poland or in further invasions. Idk tho. Not too confident bout this paper gotta admit.
4 - change of role of women, 1945-89. Broke down into role at work/home, attitudes towards them and legal status, and how primarily whilst they gained more opportunities, the work they undertook was vastly similar, women remained primarily viewed in terms of the family and home - but the biggest change was their legal status, how they gained rights and autonomy legally. So it wasn't a total change, but there was a significant amount. Again, not sure.
5. Didn't expect western allies to go to war in 1939 - honestly I did this fairly straightforward agree disagree, although in hindsight the first extract contradicted itself a bit. Honestly not sure on this one, not sure I was critical enough of their arguments. I think in the end I argued that there was more evidence of a long term plan for war, so it wasn't unexpected that war occured in 1939 and was one of Hitler's intentions, whether at Poland or in further invasions. Idk tho. Not too confident bout this paper gotta admit.
Original post by CrazyTeaParties
Question 1 - about how political extremes challenged the effective govt, 1919-30? I did it saying that political extremes, ie KPD and Nazis were prominent during crisis times, but limited in only being a problem in limited time periods. Then I compared other challenges to effective govt - economic problems, opposition to the Weimar government, and problems within the constitution, and overall said the constitution problems were more significant challenge than political extremes. Was that totally the wrong way to go about it? BC if so, ****.
4 - change of role of women, 1945-89. Broke down into role at work/home, attitudes towards them and legal status, and how primarily whilst they gained more opportunities, the work they undertook was vastly similar, women remained primarily viewed in terms of the family and home - but the biggest change was their legal status, how they gained rights and autonomy legally. So it wasn't a total change, but there was a significant amount. Again, not sure.
5. Didn't expect western allies to go to war in 1939 - honestly I did this fairly straightforward agree disagree, although in hindsight the first extract contradicted itself a bit. Honestly not sure on this one, not sure I was critical enough of their arguments. I think in the end I argued that there was more evidence of a long term plan for war, so it wasn't unexpected that war occured in 1939 and was one of Hitler's intentions, whether at Poland or in further invasions. Idk tho. Not too confident bout this paper gotta admit.
4 - change of role of women, 1945-89. Broke down into role at work/home, attitudes towards them and legal status, and how primarily whilst they gained more opportunities, the work they undertook was vastly similar, women remained primarily viewed in terms of the family and home - but the biggest change was their legal status, how they gained rights and autonomy legally. So it wasn't a total change, but there was a significant amount. Again, not sure.
5. Didn't expect western allies to go to war in 1939 - honestly I did this fairly straightforward agree disagree, although in hindsight the first extract contradicted itself a bit. Honestly not sure on this one, not sure I was critical enough of their arguments. I think in the end I argued that there was more evidence of a long term plan for war, so it wasn't unexpected that war occured in 1939 and was one of Hitler's intentions, whether at Poland or in further invasions. Idk tho. Not too confident bout this paper gotta admit.
I approached Q1 slightly differently but I'm hoping both ways are right - I approached it as left wing challenges, right wing challenges, and then did a paragraph on the Nazi Party too. I brought up constitution and economic challenges alongside it but didn't make those the focus. I saw the focus of being whether the extremists challenged government rather than what challenged the government most, if that makes sense?
Original post by StevetheIcecube
I approached Q1 slightly differently but I'm hoping both ways are right - I approached it as left wing challenges, right wing challenges, and then did a paragraph on the Nazi Party too. I brought up constitution and economic challenges alongside it but didn't make those the focus. I saw the focus of being whether the extremists challenged government rather than what challenged the government most, if that makes sense?
Ngl your way sounds way more legit than mine, honestly terrified for results day at this rate, really just so unsure about this exam and think I big time messed up - agh! I think I read the question wrong probably. Nothing I can do now, but terrified for results!
Did anyone clock how last years questions came up in the exam for Section A? Does anyone think questions will be repeated in other exams?
I had a strong feeling women’s role and political extremism would come up and something about the economic policies. It’s usually political and economic or cultural questions
I had a strong feeling women’s role and political extremism would come up and something about the economic policies. It’s usually political and economic or cultural questions
(edited 5 years ago)
Original post by Phatty_Magoo
What points did people put for each question?
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
For the censorship wrote about that, and use of propaganda and terror. And then for the nazi-frg economy did a paragraph on gov intervention, sustainability, and economic aims
I did the same but I put propaganda and censorship in one paragraph as well as doing repression/terror and social/economic programmes to help control people. Will I get marked down for doing censorship and propaganda in one paragraph ?
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