GCSE Podcasts

Paper 1 Sources Questions

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 13:26:51 +0000

This podcast helps to unravel some of the complexities of using the source work in the World War I section of Paper 1. There are four questions: 3 Marks Comprehension 6 Marks Explanation 8 Marks Usefulness 8 Marks Evaluation of Interpretation The podcast will show how the COUL mnemonic can be used

10 Mark Questions

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:14:30 +0000

This podcast is to help with students taking AQA Modern World History Paper 1. The 10 mark essay is worth 5% of the final GCSE mark and it is important to learn from the examiners about what makes a strong response. Here we take you through the DEAD mnemonic: D is for Description E is for Explana

Paper 2 Sources

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:27:30 +0000

This podcast enables you to identify the different types of source question which you will encounter in both Sections A and B. Making use of COUL analysis, you will be able to work through comprehension, inference, comparison, usefulness and accuracy of interpretations. You can be helped with this

15 Mark Essay Questions

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:49:36 +0000

15 mark essays are at the pinnacle of challenge at GCSE, you need to choose one on Germany and one on the USA. This podcast guides you through the question styles and provides examples of how you can create DEAD EASY answers in the exam. Here we identify the three Cs: Cause, Condition and Conseque

Introduction to GCSE History

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:57:48 +0000

This provides an overview of what to expect on the AQA Modern World History GCSE course at Handsworth Grammar School. It provides a summary of the content and and skills required in each examination and for coursework.

Nazi Germany 1934-1939

Thu, 8 Jun 2006 18:39:52 +0100

This podcast focuses on the what life was like under the Nazis up to 1939. The key area to consider is if Hitler was able to improve the quality of German people’s lives. We focus initially on how Hitler maintained his dictatorship through the use of terror and persecution, particularly of minorit

The Development of Nazi Dictatorship

Thu, 8 Jun 2006 13:23:41 +0100

How does Hitler become a dictator? In this podcast we explore the events of 1933 and 1934 when Hitler assumes greater powers and becomes the Fuhrer on the death of President Hindenburg. We will look at the impact of the Reichstag Fire and the March Election, the Enabling Act and the removal of pol

The Rise of Adolf Hitler

Wed, 7 Jun 2006 13:21:54 +0100

How could someone like Hitler become Chancellor of a civilised and democratic country? In this podcast we explore how Hitler was able to exploit the political and economic weaknesses of the Weimar Republic to win greater and greater support for his ideas in the early 1930s. We will focus on what H

The Stresemann Years

Tue, 6 Jun 2006 19:17:08 +0100

This podcast features the often forgotten area of the syllabus based upon events in Weimar Germany in the period from late 1923 to 1929. This era is dominated by the personality of Gustav Stresemann, Chancellor and then Foreign Minister of the Republic. It focuses on the economic recovery but also

Challenges to the Weimar Republic

Tue, 6 Jun 2006 13:41:47 +0100

This podcast is the first of a series of five on developments in Germany in the inter-war period. Here we explore the origins of the Weimar Republic and its troubled first five years. It will look at how the Republic was created after the abdication of the Kaiser and the armistice to end the war.

The Impact of the New Deal

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:57:52 +0100

This podcast explores the era of the New Deal in America - it focuses on the role of Roosevelt, his aims, the hundred days, alphabet agencies, criticism of the New Deal, the dispute with the supreme court, the successes and failures of the New Deal.

1932 election

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:52:48 +0100

This podcast asks why Roosevelt was able to emerge as the overwhelming choice of the US public in the election of 1932. It explores the state that the USA was in as a result of the depression and the failures of the existing President, Herbert Hoover. It looks at what Roosevelt had to offer, his p

The Great Depression

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:48:45 +0100

This podcast looks at the causes of the Great Depression and then at the impact on the USA. The first part will focus on how the US economy was struggling by the end of the 1920s and how the Wall Street Crash led to the deepening of the depression. The latter part will explore the impact of the de

The Roaring Twenties

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:41:14 +0100

This podcast allows to students to find out more about aspects of life in the 1920s in the USA. The first part focuses on the boom in the economy and how many Americans were able to enjoy a standard of living unequal anywhere else in the World, we also feature those who failed to enjoy this time so

causes of the boom in the 1920s

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:30:21 +0100

This podcast focuses on the reasons why the boom took place in America in the 1920s. It will focus on a range of reasons why the economy grew so spectacularly - USA's natural resources, the effects of World War I, government policies, new industries and methods of production, the car industry, cons

Isolationism in the USA

Fri, 26 May 2006 09:11:27 +0100

This podcast is a brief description of the key features of the US policy of isolationism which was prevalent in the 1920s and 1930s. In particular it focuses on the use of economic tariffs to protect American industry and the immigration quota system which sought to limit the influx of new citizens

Origins of the Cold War

Thu, 25 May 2006 19:35:02 +0100

This podcast looks at what started the Cold War after the defeat of Japan and Germany. It will look at the ideological differences between communism and capitalism, the history of mistrust before 1945 and the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences. It then proceeds to focus on the division of Europe by the

Appeasement

Thu, 25 May 2006 14:58:18 +0100

This podcast focuses on the policy of appeasement carried out by the British during the 1930s. It asks why appeasement was considered to be a sensible option and why it has also been severely criticised. We focus on the Munich Agreement of 1938 as the pinnacle of this policy and then consider the

German Foreign Policy 1933-1939

Thu, 25 May 2006 12:49:47 +0100

This podcast features the events which brought the world to war in 1939. It examines the aims of Hitler’s foreign policy and how he was able to exploit the weakness of the Versailles settlement. It looks at the stages in which Hitler rearms and regains territory - the Saar, the Rhineland, Austria

Failure of the League of Nations

Tue, 23 May 2006 15:55:22 +0100

This podcast focuses on the reasons why the League of Nations failed in the 1930s. It assesses whether the League really was crippled at birth and how the absence of the USA in particular hindered the League’s ability to resist aggression. It features in depth the Manchuria and Abyssinia Crises wh

The establishment of the League of Nations

Mon, 22 May 2006 19:42:26 +0100

This podcast describes the aims for the League as established by Woodrow Wilson, its role, its organisation and the methods it could use to overcome aggression.

Reactions to Versailles

Mon, 22 May 2006 09:28:45 +0100

This podcast looks at how the Treaty of Versailles was received across the world. We will look at how the key victors each reacted to signing of the Treaty: French fears for future security, British ambivalence and American reluctance to accept it. It then focuses on how the Weimar Republic reacte

The Treaty of Versailles

Mon, 22 May 2006 09:19:11 +0100

This episode looks at the terms of the Treaty - War Guilt, Reparations, Military Restrictions, Loss of Territory and the creation of the League of Nations. It also gives an overview of the other Treaties signed in Paris.

The Paris Peacemakers

Mon, 22 May 2006 09:13:19 +0100

This podcast seeks to explain the aims of the peacemakers who met in Paris in 1919. It will explore the motives of the 'big three' - the USA under President Woodrow Wilson, France under Georges "Tiger" Clemenceau and Britain under David Lloyd George. It will also look at how the Germans were seekin

How Britain changed as a result of the Great War

Sat, 20 May 2006 19:00:55 +0100

This podcast focuses on the changes that took place in Britain as a result of total war. The need to achieve victory led to many significant changes in the lives of British people. Millions were signed up for the army, women were to play a much more significant role in the workplace, food shortage

How Britain contributed to German defeat in World War I

Fri, 19 May 2006 21:39:22 +0100

This podcast looks at the experience of fighting from the British perspective in the First World War. It starts with exploring the role of the BEF in thwarting the German Schlieffen Plan, then considers an in-depth appraisal of the nature of trench warfare. The success or failure of the Battle of t

1914 - The outbreak of war

Fri, 19 May 2006 19:55:56 +0100

This podcast focuses on the immediate cause of the First World War, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo which resulted in the Great Powers being at war by the first week of August 1914. We will explore the motives of the assassins and the reactions of the Austrians and their G

Causes of increased tension between the Great Powers

Fri, 19 May 2006 19:43:08 +0100

This is the first of two podcasts relating to the origins of the First World War - it is able to look at the longer term factors which led to the increase in tension in Europe between 1900 and 1914. The alliances will be explored in detail and the associated arms race. This will be followed up by