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History & Politics Key Stage 3 |
The first part of the Year 9 course consists of a study of Britain between 1750 and 1900. This encompasses a period of British history where the country was transformed from a mainly agricultural to an industrial society. Much of the emphasis in the course is on the experiences of those living through these times: the effect on workers including children in factories and mines; the expansion of towns such as Brighton with its new attractions, and the growth of cramped housing with its dangers in the form of disease. Industrialisation is also studied through the effect it had on people's outlook, through the speeding up of transport and other communication, and ultimately the promotion of Britain into an imperial power.
The second half of the year involves a study of the Twentieth Century World. This primarily focuses on the impact of the two world wars. Again the emphasis is on the impact on those who lived through these times, not only combatants, but civilians and those who refused to fight. An understanding of how the trench warfare was understood and portrayed at the time is studied through a series of source exercises based on film footage, stills and written sources. The Second World War is examined through debating controversial issues such as the rights and wrongs of the European bombing campaigns, and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan, and the experiences of civilians in the Blitz, as evacuees and in the Holocaust.
Other twentieth century topics that are studied to give a flavour of the period's diverse history include the Russian Revolution and the Easter Rising.
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