Level 3 History

Year 13 History builds on the skills and ideas introduced in Year 11 and developed in Year 12. The Year 13 programme focuses on:

1. ‘Turning Points’ i.e. 20th century events which have led to significant changes in the world. 

2. Historiography i.e. the historical debate around these turning points - what historians have to say.

3. Analysing historical sources.

This topic explores the evolution of Nazi anti-Semitism from 1933 to 1945. It includes a history of anti-Semitism, 19th century eugenics, the situation in Weimar Germany, Hitler’s anti-Semitism, early anti-Semitic measures, the Nuremberg Laws, Kristallnacht, the invasion of Poland; the Einsatzgruppen, the Ghettos, the T4 Programme, the invasion of Russia, the Wannsee Conference, and the death camps. The historical debate around just how intentional or haphazard the road to genocide actually was, is also covered.

Preparation for an internal assessment worth 5 credits.

Aotearoa Archive: This topic includes a day trip to Wellington to visit the Holocaust Centre and Museum. Students will participate in a range of seminars including the relevance of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust to New Zealand (below right).

For 45 years the USA and the USSR were engaged in a ‘cold war’. Why this happened and what forms the Cold war took will be explored before focussing on why the Cold War ended. Several factors were at play including the inefficiency of Soviet Communism, new leadership in both countries (Reagan and Gorbachev) and ‘people power’ movements in the Eastern Bloc countries. There is a rich historical debate about the most important reasons why the Cold War ended. 

Analysing the historical debate will be preparation for an internal assessment worth 5 credits.

Until 9/11, the Munich Massacre was the most important terrorist event in modern history. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, eight members of Black September penetrated the Olympic village killing two of the Israeli team and taking nine others hostage. Eventually the West German police attempted a rescue but this failed. All of the Israelis, five of the terrorists and one policeman were killed. This topic focuses on the causes and consequences of this turning point in terrorism.

Preparation for an external achievement standard worth 6 credits.

Analysing historical sources is preparation for an external achievement standard worth 4 credits. Papers are almost always about New Zealand contexts. They have included Truby King and the Plunket Society, the cartoonist David Low, Blackbirding (literally slavery) in the Pacific, the miraculous survival of the crew of the Rose Noelle, the experiences of Chinese and Dalmatian immigrants in nineteenth century New Zealand. How to analyse historical sources will be developed with several opportunities for practice and feedback.