← Modern History syllabus

SAModern History

Modern Nations

6 dot points across 6 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How and why did Australia develop as a modern nation between Federation in 1901 and the post-war settlement of the 1950s?

Analyse the creation of the Australian nation at Federation, the search for national identity, the social and economic transformations of war and depression, and Australia's changing place in the world to 1956.
Federation, the search for national identity, the impact of two world wars and the Depression, the White Australia Policy and Australia's shift from Britain to the United States as it became a modern nation to 1956.
6 min answer →

How and why did Mao Zedong transform China between 1949 and 1976?

Analyse the establishment of the People's Republic, the consolidation of communist power, the social and economic transformations including the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, and their human cost to 1976.
The founding of the People's Republic, the consolidation of communist power, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and Mao's transformation of China to 1976.
9 min answer →

How and why did democracy collapse into dictatorship in Germany between 1918 and 1948?

Analyse the challenges to the Weimar Republic, the Nazi seizure and consolidation of power, life under the Third Reich, and the impact of war and defeat to 1948.
The collapse of Weimar democracy, the Nazi rise and consolidation of power, the nature of the Third Reich, and Germany's defeat and division to 1948.
9 min answer →

How and why did Indonesia emerge and develop as a modern nation between Japanese occupation in 1942 and the democratic reforms of 2005?

Analyse the Japanese occupation, the revolution and independence struggle, Sukarno's Guided Democracy, Suharto's New Order, and the transition to reform democracy in modern Indonesia to 2005.
Japanese occupation, the independence revolution, Sukarno's Guided Democracy, the 1965 killings, Suharto's New Order, the Asian financial crisis and the transition to democracy as Indonesia became a modern nation to 2005.
6 min answer →

How and why was Tsarist Russia transformed into a Stalinist state between 1914 and 1941?

Analyse the collapse of Tsarism, the 1917 revolutions, the Bolshevik consolidation of power, and Stalin's transformation of the Soviet Union to 1941.
From the fall of the Tsar through the 1917 revolutions and civil war to Stalin's rise, the Five-Year Plans, collectivisation and the Great Terror to 1941.
9 min answer →

How and why was the United States transformed from boom to depression and recovery between 1920 and 1941?

Analyse the prosperity of the 1920s, the causes and impact of the Great Depression, the New Deal response, and the changing role of the federal government to 1941.
The boom of the 1920s, the Wall Street Crash and Great Depression, Roosevelt's New Deal, and the transformation of the role of the US federal government to 1941.
9 min answer →