Why events happened and what they led to; short- and long-term, intended and unintended.
Continuity and change
What stayed the same and what changed over time, and how fast.
Perspectives
How different people, at the time and since, saw events differently.
Significance
Why an event, person or development matters, and to whom.
The new course is built around four concepts that run through every component and every paper: cause and consequence, continuity and change, perspectives, significance.
Paper 2 Section A asks a question directly on these concepts, using the thematic study you have learned.
Change can be sudden or gradual, deep or superficial, and uneven across groups; always look for what didn't change.
Significance can be judged by impact at the time, how long it lasted, how many it affected, and what it reveals.
Worked example
Use two concepts to analyse the abolition of serfdom in Russia (1861).
Change: 23 million serfs became legally free.
Continuity: peasants paid redemption payments for decades and stayed poor and tied to the commune (mir).
Significance: it began modernisation but raised expectations that later fed revolution.
Exam tip: Use the concept words in your topic sentences: “A key continuity was…”, “The most significant consequence was…”.
1.2Working with sources: context and usefulness
Key terms
Primary source
Produced at the time of the events studied.
Secondary source
Produced later, usually interpreting the past.
Provenance
Where a source comes from: author, date, type, audience.
Context
The circumstances in which a source was produced.
Usefulness
How far a source helps answer a specific inquiry question.
Usefulness is always for a purpose: a propaganda poster is poor evidence of what really happened but excellent evidence of what a regime wanted people to believe.
Ask: who made it, when, why, for whom, and what was happening then? How does that shape what it shows and omits?
Avoid generic points (“it is biased”); explain how the context affects what the source can tell you.
When combining sources, look for agreement, disagreement and how each perspective adds to the picture (synthesis).
Worked example
How useful is a 1936 Soviet poster showing happy collective farmers for studying collectivisation?
Context: made by the state during the drive for collectivisation and after the 1932–33 famine.
Limited for actual conditions: it hides the famine and resistance.
Valuable for the regime's aims and propaganda methods: it shows the image the state promoted.
Exam tip: Always link usefulness to the inquiry question: “useful for… because…, but less useful for… because…”.
1.3Writing history essays
Key terms
Thesis
Your overall argument answering the question.
Historiography
How historians have interpreted an event; their debates.
Evaluation
Weighing factors or arguments to reach a judgment.
Counter-argument
An alternative view you consider and assess.
Introduction: define key terms, set the context, state a clear thesis.
Paragraphs: point → precise evidence (names, dates, figures) → analysis → link back to the question.
Evaluate: compare the weight of factors, consider other views, and use historians' interpretations as support, not as a substitute for argument.
Conclusion: answer the question directly and consistently with your thesis.
Plan for 5 minutes: thesis, three or four main arguments, a counter-argument.
Worked example
Write a thesis: “To what extent was economic crisis the main reason for Hitler's rise to power?”
Thesis: “The Depression was the essential condition for Hitler's rise, turning the Nazis into a mass party, but the decisive factor was the backstairs intrigue of conservative elites in January 1933.”
It gives a judgment, weighs two factors and sets up the structure.
Exam tip: A thesis that answers “to what extent” with a nuanced judgment is the single biggest marker of a top essay.