Modern History syllabus, dot point by dot point

The development of anti-colonial and independence movements in the 20th century, including the Indian independence movement (Gandhi, 1947), the decolonisation of Africa, and the ideas of pan-Africanism, non-alignment and post-colonial nationalism

Cold War ideologies (1945-1991), including the ideological foundations of capitalism and liberal democracy in the West and communism under the Soviet model in the East, and the global proxy contests through which they competed

The development of fascism as a 20th century political idea, including its origins in post-First World War crisis, Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany, the concept of totalitarianism, and the contrast with liberal democracy and communism

The development of feminism and environmentalism as 19th and 20th century political ideas, including suffrage movements, second-wave and third-wave feminism, and the emergence of environmentalism from conservation to climate politics

Globalisation as a defining feature of late modernity, including the economic integration of the late 20th century, the digital revolution, debates about its benefits and costs, and historiographical readings (Hobsbawm, Friedman, Stiglitz)

The development of European imperialism and colonialism from the 15th to the 20th century, including the ideological justifications (civilising mission, social Darwinism), the Scramble for Africa (1881-1914), and the consequences for colonised peoples

The Industrial Revolution as a transformation of economic, social and political life from the late 18th century, including key technological changes, urbanisation, class conflict, and the rise of new social ideas (utilitarianism, early socialism)

The development of liberalism as a political and economic idea from the 17th century, including its key thinkers (Locke, Smith, Mill), its variants (classical and social liberalism), and its impact on 19th and 20th century governance

Methods of historical inquiry, including source analysis (origin, purpose, perspective, usefulness, reliability), the use of primary and secondary sources, historiographical awareness, and the writing of evidence-based historical argument

The development and impact of nationalism and liberalism as ideas in the modern world, including their origins, key thinkers, and their role in 19th and 20th century history

The role of revolutionary ideas in producing political change in the modern world, including case studies of major revolutions (American 1776, French 1789, Russian 1917)

The development of socialism and Marxism as critiques of industrial capitalism, including utopian socialism (Owen, Saint-Simon, Fourier), Marx and Engels, the Second and Third Internationals, and the divergence of social democracy and communism in the 20th century

The Enlightenment as the intellectual origin of modernity, including key thinkers (Locke, Voltaire, Rousseau, Kant) and the influence of reason, individualism and liberty on 18th and 19th century political revolutions

The anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, 1948-1994, including the formal apartheid system, the African National Congress, the Sharpeville Massacre (1960), Nelson Mandela, the armed struggle, international sanctions, and the negotiated transition to democracy

The anti-war and counterculture movements of the 1960s and early 1970s, including the US anti-Vietnam War movement, the May 1968 events in Paris, the Australian Moratorium marches (1970-1971), and the cultural shifts of the period

Methods of analysing causation, continuity and change in historical inquiry, including the distinction between short-term and long-term causes, contingent vs structural factors, and the writing of evidence-based historical argument

The development of environmental movements from the 1960s, including Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962), the first Earth Day (1970), the Australian campaigns over Lake Pedder (1972) and the Franklin Dam (1983), the formation of green parties, and contemporary climate activism

The development of the global human rights movement, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the Helsinki Accords (1975), Amnesty International (founded 1961), Human Rights Watch (1978), and contemporary international criminal justice institutions

Nationalist and independence movements of the 20th century, including the Irish independence movement (1916-1921), Indian independence under Gandhi and Nehru (1947), and African nationalist movements such as those in Ghana, Kenya, Algeria and South Africa

The Australian Indigenous rights movement from the 1930s, including the Day of Mourning (1938), the 1967 referendum, the Wave Hill walk-off (1966), the Aboriginal Tent Embassy (1972), the Mabo decision (1992), and the development of the Uluru Statement from the Heart (2017)

The development of labour and trade union movements from the 19th century, including the Chartist movement, the rise of mass unions and the Labour Party in Britain, the Australian Labor Party (1891) and Harvester Judgment (1907), the New Deal in the United States, and the late-20th century decline of organised labour

The development of LGBTQ rights movements from the late 1960s, including the Stonewall riots (1969), the decriminalisation of homosexuality across Western democracies, the AIDS crisis (from 1981), and the global progress toward marriage equality

Movements for civil and political rights in the 20th century, including the US Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), second-wave feminism, anti-apartheid movement, and Indigenous rights movements

Peace and anti-nuclear movements from the 1950s, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the Aldermaston marches, the international peace movement of the 1980s, and Australian protests against US bases and French Pacific nuclear testing

The postwar world order from 1945, including the United Nations, the Cold War, decolonisation, and the major shifts of the late 20th and early 21st centuries

The United States Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968, including Brown v Board of Education (1954), the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956), the Civil Rights Act (1964), Voting Rights Act (1965), the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr, and the contesting visions of Black Power

Analyse Australia's involvement in World War II, including the European and Mediterranean campaigns, the fall of Singapore in 1942, the Pacific war, Curtin's appeal to the United States, the home front mobilisation, and the experience of women and Indigenous Australians

Describe and explain the Australian experience of World War I on the battlefield and the home front, including Gallipoli, the Western Front, the role of women, and the development of the Anzac legend

Explain the political, social and economic conditions of Australia in 1914 and the reasons for Australia's involvement in World War I, including the imperial relationship with Britain and the role of public opinion

Analyse the conscription debates of 1916 and 1917, including the role of Billy Hughes, the split in the Labor Party, the influence of Archbishop Daniel Mannix and the social and political consequences of the two referenda

Describe and explain the political, social and economic developments in interwar Australia, including post-war reconstruction, the 1920s political settlement, the Great Depression, the Premiers' Plan, the dismissal of Jack Lang and the rise of new political movements

Evaluate the social, political and economic developments in post-war Australia between 1945 and 1949, including the Chifley government's reconstruction program, the mass migration scheme, the 1948 Citizenship Act, Indigenous policy, the early Cold War and the lead-up to the 1949 election

Examine the major crises of the Cold War in Europe between 1948 and 1962, including the formation of the Warsaw Pact, the Hungarian uprising of 1956, the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, and Soviet responses to Western policy

Examine the causes, course and outcome of the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 1962), including the Cuban Revolution, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the discovery of Soviet missiles in Cuba, the thirteen-day standoff, and the resolution of the crisis

Examine the period of detente (1969 to 1979), including the SALT I and SALT II treaties, the Helsinki Accords (1975), Nixon's opening to China (1972), and the eventual breakdown of detente by the end of the 1970s

Examine the end of the Cold War, including the Reagan-Gorbachev relationship, Gorbachev's reforms (glasnost and perestroika), the collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe (1989), the reunification of Germany (1990), and the dissolution of the Soviet Union (December 1991)

Explain the causes, course and consequences of the Korean War (1950 to 1953) as the first major military conflict of the Cold War, including United Nations involvement, Chinese intervention, and the entrenchment of the division at the 38th parallel

Evaluate the nature and historiography of the Cold War, including the orthodox, revisionist and post-revisionist interpretations of its causes and conduct, and apply these to historical evidence in IA3 and EA contexts

Explain the origins of the Cold War, including the wartime alliances and tensions between the USA and USSR, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, and the division of Germany and Berlin

Explain the causes, course and consequences of the Vietnam War (1955 to 1975), including the failures of French colonialism, the partition at the 17th parallel, US escalation in the 1960s, the Tet Offensive, anti-war movements, and the final fall of Saigon