HSC Modern History Question Thread

[dancing phalanges]

Hi there! As you probs know, didn't study this unit! However, I'd assume that, yes, it does include those things! Imperialism is inherently foreign policy, and both nationalism and militarism will always impact the application of foreign policy. When I wrote Soviet foreign policy essays, I always structured them thematically - for something like this, the themes I'd choose would be political, economic and social. Buuuuuuutttt this isn't the only way to structure an essay like this! Go with your gut - happy to take a look over any essay plans (or essays once you've reached the post count!)

Thematically sounds like it would be a clearer read for the marker. Thanks

[dancing phalanges]

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER QUOTE WEBB. Hahaha. Not just because, yes, its a well known fact I'm not his biggest fan haha, but also because he's not a historian. Don't quote textbooks But on the topic of paraphrasing, I think that's a fab idea! Though there really is nothing wrong with direct quoting (I did it all the time), paraphrasing is great, because it shows that you actually understand what they are saying, not that you just memorised a couple of sentences. It all comes down to effective integration - using quotes or paraphrased historians to back up your own arguments, rather than just parroting the words of an expert So "[your view], as supported by [insert historian here], whereby they state/assert....". That's how I would go about it

I just realised myself, I have found some good notes/essays on war in the pacific and some of them quote Cantwell and he wrote our Contested Spaces Pacific War textbook. I myself just can't find historiography as easily on Pacific in comparison to Germany. Another one I have used a couple of times is Daniel marston it says he is a professor in Military Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. With such limited time though to prep for trials should i leave it for hsc because i dont think our teachers mind/notice?

[mixel]

I just realised myself, I have found some good notes/essays on war in the pacific and some of them quote Cantwell and he wrote our Contested Spaces Pacific War textbook. I myself just can't find historiography as easily on Pacific in comparison to Germany. Another one I have used a couple of times is Daniel marston it says he is a professor in Military Studies in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at the Australian National University. With such limited time though to prep for trials should i leave it for hsc because i dont think our teachers mind/notice?

I really couldn't say because I don't have that experience, but maybe if your teachers are used to seeing quotes from Cantwell, a different historian will have a 'wow factor'?

[sudodds]

Oh no, I don't mean quoting Webb, I mean he includes direct quotations from historians a lot 
Thanks! I'll start finding some quotations. It might be a problem that I haven't actually read any historians except Richard J. Evans hahaha

ohhhhhh, okay that makes me feel a lot better! The amount of people that DO quote him has put me on edge hahaha. Quotes aren't too hard to find - I sourced most of mine by just doing google searches like "quotes on 1917 revolution" etc. etc. You can also find a bunch of resources and recommended readings over on our Modern History Reading and Resource Guide!

I put this in the Shout Out and Appreciation Thread already, but I wanted to make sure you guys saw this: Over the last few days, I have been hella proud of the modern fam. As much as both Jake and I love answering questions, and that'll never end, the massive increase in 2017 students contributing, helping each other out and cheering each other on is amazing, and is exactly in the spirit of ATAR Notes <3 Massive bonus that the answers you are all providing are fantastic, well thought out, and considered as well

Keep up the great work guys <3

Susie

[mixel]

I put this in the Shout Out and Appreciation Thread already, but I wanted to make sure you guys saw this: Over the last few days, I have been hella proud of the modern fam. As much as both Jake and I love answering questions, and that'll never end, the massive increase in 2017 students contributing, helping each other out and cheering each other on is amazing, and is exactly in the spirit of ATAR Notes <3 Massive bonus that the answers you are all providing are fantastic, well thought out, and considered as well

Keep up the great work guys <3

Susie

Thanks! I think the first time I heard about AN I scoffed at the concept but after finally sussing it out I can't believe how great the community is here, and I'm finding it super gratifying to see the HSC as a team sport instead of a law of the jungle competition. Thanks so much for everything you guys have done to get AN to where it is now!

[dancing phalanges]

ohhhhhh, okay that makes me feel a lot better! The amount of people that DO quote him has put me on edge hahaha. Quotes aren't too hard to find - I sourced most of mine by just doing google searches like "quotes on 1917 revolution" etc. etc. You can also find a bunch of resources and recommended readings over on our Modern History Reading and Resource Guide!

I put this in the Shout Out and Appreciation Thread already, but I wanted to make sure you guys saw this: Over the last few days, I have been hella proud of the modern fam. As much as both Jake and I love answering questions, and that'll never end, the massive increase in 2017 students contributing, helping each other out and cheering each other on is amazing, and is exactly in the spirit of ATAR Notes <3 Massive bonus that the answers you are all providing are fantastic, well thought out, and considered as well

Keep up the great work guys <3

Susie

Yeah only been here like 2 days or something and it is incredible how dedicated you guys are. Was at a specific other site before haha and there was literally no one replying to anything. Unfortunately tomorrow's the last day of holidays and I won't be spending any of it studying. Instead I have to somehow gather all my notes and sheets of paper and put them back into order. My sister is in Bali atm and I've taken her room and it was perfectly clean before but now it looks like it was hit by a bomb of papers it's not good haha

[bellerina]

Hey bellerina! There really isn't a set number Some people can get amazing marks with 3 paragraphs, some with 6! I typically wrote about 3, sometimes 4, however in the HSC my Cold War essay was only two paragraphs! It also greatly depends upon what type of essay you are writing - factor essays typically have more paragraphs than a thematic essay in my experience

Hope this helps!

Susie

I am looking at conflict in indochina. specifically on the tet offensive which was an event that significantly impacted the anti-war movement in USA. I looked at most of the past papers (aren't many might i add too) it really looked at communist victory, their strategies in achieving victory in the Second Indochina War and the impact of the tet offensive on the overall anti-war movement.

[dancing phalanges]

Hey Susie
Just wondering with the question I asked earlier regarding Japanese Foreign Policy and to what extent it was responsible for the outbreak of war, would I include a separate paragraph on the external influence of the war in Europe and how that in itself spurred Japan to take advantage of the areas in the Pacific colonised by countries fighting in Europe or does that still come under Japanese policy?

And also I am just wondering since I will be providing examples of both Japanese and American foreign policy, do I argue that for example Japanese foreign policy was so aggressive that it forced America into its foreign policy decisions which increased tensions and led to war?

Thanks

Mod Edit: Just merged your posts If you ever forget to add something, click edit and you'll be able to add it to the original post!

[sudodds]

I am looking at conflict in indochina. specifically on the tet offensive which was an event that significantly impacted the anti-war movement in USA. I looked at most of the past papers (aren't many might i add too) it really looked at communist victory, their strategies in achieving victory in the Second Indochina War and the impact of the tet offensive on the overall anti-war movement.

So are you saying you had a paragraph on communist victory, strategies in the Second Indochina War and the anti-war movement? That sounds like a factors essay, so you can have as many as you like, as long as all the important factors are covered

Hey Susie
Just wondering with the question I asked earlier regarding Japanese Foreign Policy and to what extent it was responsible for the outbreak of war, would I include a separate paragraph on the external influence of the war in Europe and how that in itself spurred Japan to take advantage of the areas in the Pacific colonised by countries fighting in Europe or does that still come under Japanese policy?

And also I am just wondering since I will be providing examples of both Japanese and American foreign policy, do I argue that for example Japanese foreign policy was so aggressive that it forced America into its foreign policy decisions which increased tensions and led to war?

Thanks

Can't really comment too much on the first question, as I don't really feel confident enough in my knowledge of the Pacific to be able to give an answer. If Japan was actively engaging with other countries, then yes, that should count as foreign policy - however I'm not 100% sure.

For the second question, I definitely believe you could argue that, and still be answering the question effectively

Sorry I couldn't be of more help,

Susie

[dancing phalanges]

So are you saying you had a paragraph on communist victory, strategies in the Second Indochina War and the anti-war movement? That sounds like a factors essay, so you can have as many as you like, as long as all the important factors are covered
Can't really comment too much on the first question, as I don't really feel confident enough in my knowledge of the Pacific to be able to give an answer. If Japan was actively engaging with other countries, then yes, that should count as foreign policy - however I'm not 100% sure.

For the second question, I definitely believe you could argue that, and still be answering the question effectively

Sorry I couldn't be of more help,

Susie

Nah youre being super helpful thanks it was just the european war meant that all other countries were focussed on that so japan sort of took the opportunity to take advantage of that distraction in a way if you get my drift

[sudodds]

Nah youre being super helpful thanks it was just the european war meant that all other countries were focussed on that so japan sort of took the opportunity to take advantage of that distraction in a way if you get my drift

Hmmmmmm potentially? I'm still not 100% sure if this counts as foreign policy, relying on others inaction - in this instance, I think it'd be best to shoot an email over to your teacher to clarify. Definitely an interesting argument that'd I think'd be worth mentioning, however whether you want to have a whole paragraph dedicated to it may be a different story

[dancing phalanges]

Hmmmmmm potentially? I'm still not 100% sure if this counts as foreign policy, relying on others inaction - in this instance, I think it'd be best to shoot an email over to your teacher to clarify. Definitely an interesting argument that'd I think'd be worth mentioning, however whether you want to have a whole paragraph dedicated to it may be a different story

Hey so since the question is to what extent was japanese foreign policy responsible for the outbreak of war i was thinking of using it as an example of how japanese foreign policy wasn't ie. bringing up another area which contributed being the war in europe and then the other thing i was going to bring up was british/us foreign policy if that clarifies things

[sudodds]

Hey so since the question is to what extent was japanese foreign policy responsible for the outbreak of war i was thinking of using it as an example of how japanese foreign policy wasn't ie. bringing up another area which contributed being the war in europe and then the other thing i was going to bring up was british/us foreign policy if that clarifies things

Ah okay Hmmm well if your judgement was that it was responsible only to a limited extent then I think it would be fine, but tbh, if I were you I'd probably first be looking at the ways I could justify it being highly significant, so I can discuss the stem of the question (japanese foreign policy) more in depth. If you really can't think of a way to argue that though, your approach is still valid, I'm just basing this off of the way I'd write Soviet Foreign Policy essays - arguing its high impact would have been a lot easier. I'd definitely be mentioning British and American foreign policy, and the way in which Japanese foreign policy dealt with it though!

Susie

[dancing phalanges]

Ah okay Hmmm well if your judgement was that it was responsible only to a limited extent then I think it would be fine, but tbh, if I were you I'd probably first be looking at the ways I could justify it being highly significant, so I can discuss the stem of the question (japanese foreign policy) more in depth. If you really can't think of a way to argue that though, your approach is still valid, I'm just basing this off of the way I'd write Soviet Foreign Policy essays - arguing its high impact would have been a lot easier. I'd definitely be mentioning British and American foreign policy, and the way in which Japanese foreign policy dealt with it though!

Susie

Yeah no I'm going to argue to a high extent, the war in europe was only to a small extent. I've done half of it, I'll just constantly make sure im looking at how the us/brit. foreign policy and japanese foriegn policy interlinks and impacts each other

[sudodds]

Yeah no I'm going to argue to a high extent, the war in europe was only to a small extent. I've done half of it, I'll just constantly make sure im looking at how the us/brit. foreign policy and japanese foriegn policy interlinks and impacts each other

Ah okay then! Just make sure that when you include it, you are making it clear that it was only a small factor. Like I wouldn't write a whole paragraph on it, I'd more so include it in one of my other paragraphs at the beginning, saying something like; "Though (your point about the war in europe) contributed to the increase in tensions, overall Japanese foreign policy was more critical, as blah blah blah ". So bring it in, but make sure that you assert that you still think that Japanese foreign policy was the more critical factor, so as to maintain a more sustained thesis!