Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919-1946

11 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Focus Study 3: The search for peace and security 1919-1946

The policy of appeasement and the road to war, including the Anschluss (1938), Munich Agreement (1938), the Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939), and the invasion of Poland

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on appeasement. The Anschluss, the Munich Agreement, the Nazi-Soviet Pact, the invasion of Poland, and the historiographical debate between A.J.P. Taylor and Richard Overy.

12 min answer →

The League of Nations and the system of collective security, including the major crises of the 1930s (Manchuria 1931, Abyssinia 1935, Rhineland 1936) and the reasons for the League's failure

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on the League of Nations. The structure, the major crises (Manchuria, Abyssinia, Rhineland), the reasons for failure, and the verdict of historians including Northedge and Henig.

9 min answer →

Focus Study 4: The conduct of WWII and the post-war settlement

The conduct of World War II and the post-war settlement, including the major turning points 1939 to 1945, the Holocaust, the use of the atomic bomb, and the Nuremberg Trials

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on the conduct of WWII and the post-war settlement. The turning points (Stalingrad, Midway, D-Day), the Holocaust, the atomic bomb debate (Alperovitz vs Frank), the Nuremberg Trials, and the formation of the United Nations.

11 min answer →

Focus Study 1: The peace and the rise of dictatorships, 1919-1939

The conditions that gave rise to dictatorship in Germany, including Hitler's rise to power 1919 to 30 January 1933, the failures of the Weimar Republic, and the collapse of parliamentary politics

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on Hitler's rise to power. The Weimar weaknesses, the 1923 Munich Putsch, the impact of the Depression, the 1932 elections, the appointment of Hitler as Chancellor on 30 January 1933, and the verdict of historians including Kershaw, Bullock, and Evans.

11 min answer →

The search for peace and security after WWI, and the rise of dictatorships and militarism, including the breakdown of Taisho democracy and the rise of militarism and ultranationalism in Japan and Japanese expansion in the Asia-Pacific

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study on the rise of militarism in Japan. The collapse of Taisho democracy, the Depression, ultranationalism and the army, the Mukden Incident (1931), the China War (1937), the Tripartite Pact (1940) and the road to Pearl Harbor, with the verdicts of Maruyama, Beasley and Bix.

9 min answer →

The conditions that gave rise to dictatorship in Italy, including Mussolini's rise to power 1919 to 1925 and the establishment of the Fascist state

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on Mussolini's rise to power. The Biennio Rosso, the squadristi, the March on Rome (October 1922), the Matteotti crisis, the Leggi Fascistissime (1925-1926), and the verdict of historians including Duggan and Gentile.

8 min answer →

The conditions that gave rise to dictatorship in the USSR, including Stalin's rise to power after Lenin's death in 1924 and his consolidation through the late 1920s

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on Stalin's rise to power. The succession struggle after Lenin's death (1924), Lenin's Testament, Stalin's tactical alliances against Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Bukharin, and the verdict of historians including Figes and Service.

8 min answer →

The peace treaties that ended World War I, including the Treaty of Versailles, and the impact of these settlements on Germany and on the post-war international order

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on the Treaty of Versailles. The terms (Article 231, reparations, territorial losses, military restrictions), the immediate political impact in Germany, and the verdict of historians such as Margaret MacMillan and A.J.P. Taylor.

9 min answer →

Focus Study 2: The Nazi state 1933-1939

The methods by which the Nazi regime consolidated power between January 1933 and August 1934, including the Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act, Gleichschaltung, the Night of the Long Knives, and the death of Hindenburg

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on the Nazi consolidation of power. The Reichstag Fire, the Enabling Act, Gleichschaltung, the Night of the Long Knives, and the death of Hindenburg, with the verdict of Kershaw and Bracher.

9 min answer →

The development of Nazi racial policy 1933 to 1939, including the Nuremberg Laws (1935) and Kristallnacht (1938), and the historiographical debate over the path to the Holocaust

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on Nazi racial policy 1933 to 1939. The 1933 boycott, the Nuremberg Laws (1935), Kristallnacht (1938), the historiographical debate between Dawidowicz and Mommsen, and the path from persecution to the Final Solution.

10 min answer →

The nature of the Nazi state 1933 to 1939, including the role of terror and propaganda, the polycratic structure of government, economic policy, and the impact on women, youth, and churches

A focused answer to the HSC Modern History Core Study dot point on the nature of the Nazi state. The polycratic structure, the role of the SS and Gestapo, propaganda under Goebbels, economic recovery under Schacht and the Four-Year Plan, and the historiographical debate between intentionalists and structuralists.

10 min answer →