modern history for germany and ww2 (1 Viewer)

fuggu1

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i hear that ppl predict nazi foreign policy and d day?

i just want to know, what would they be asking? would they ask about "how significant ______ was to ________? " or evaluate or something like that?
 

enoilgam

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For Foreign policy in Germany, I think (not 100% sure) they could ask "To what extent was German foreign policy influenced by Hitler in the period 1933-1939". For D-Day, it would probably be "Analyse the view that D-Day was the most significant turning point of the European war" - if that is the question, I would try and avoid it. They could ask "Analyse the impact which D-Day had on the European war" - I would still try and avoid this question as well.
 

fuggu1

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would there be a chance of asking "why the League of nations was doomed from its beginning?" because im really prepared for that hahahaha
thanks for the response anyway
 

D94

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would there be a chance of asking "why the League of nations was doomed from its beginning?" because im really prepared for that hahahaha
thanks for the response anyway
I'm predicting a LoN questions because it hasn't been tested yet and it seems pretty important for this topic, and as well as the German advances. Most of the "end of conflict" dot points haven't been examined yet as well.

I don't think the question would be that subjective, in a sense that it uses emotive language.
 

enoilgam

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Why ? It seems straightforward:l
Well, what many people do is they argue that D-day wasnt the most significant turning point of the war and instead they discuss the russian front, North africa etc. The problem with that is the essay is asking about D-day, and going off on a tangent will lose you marks. We got the D-day question on our trials and nearly everyone who attempted it got less than 20 because they took that approach. What you need to do if you wish to argue that D-day was not the most significant factor is integrate it throughout out your response. So if you say "the russian front was more important" you must compare and contrast the impact of D-day with the impact of the russian front, not just say "the russian front was significant because...". This is very difficult to do in an essay which you only have 45 minutes to write.
 

fuggu1

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i really hope its on collective security because i am so damn well prepared for it.
 

umz93

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What are the chances of BOS repeating a question?
 

juliastegner

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Well, what many people do is they argue that D-day wasnt the most significant turning point of the war and instead they discuss the russian front, North africa etc. The problem with that is the essay is asking about D-day, and going off on a tangent will lose you marks. We got the D-day question on our trials and nearly everyone who attempted it got less than 20 because they took that approach. What you need to do if you wish to argue that D-day was not the most significant factor is integrate it throughout out your response. So if you say "the russian front was more important" you must compare and contrast the impact of D-day with the impact of the russian front, not just say "the russian front was significant because...". This is very difficult to do in an essay which you only have 45 minutes to write.
ohhh I seee thank you! REPPED :)
 

bigbirdbanana

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I think it's really likely that they'll ask one about League of Nations because it's never been assessed. Something along the lines of 'Evaluate the impact of the failure of the League of Nations and collective security in the growth of European tensions that led to the outbreak of war.'

For the other question I think they might ask about D Day, as you were saying enoilgam.

In Germany i think the Weimar question will be something like 'Assess the impact of the Treaty of Versailles in leading to the collapse of the Weimar Republic'. I reckon the Nazi question will probably be on the effect of Nazi racial policies on civilians.

I'm just hoping i'm on relatively the right track for both, because while i know the whole course, these are the areas i will be studying in depth/having strong historians quotes for (yes i know historians aren't the be all and all, but markers have said you must at least refer to them in order to gain full marks). So keen for this exam though; it's my last one! :D
 

WorryWartCob

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Well, what many people do is they argue that D-day wasnt the most significant turning point of the war and instead they discuss the russian front, North africa etc. The problem with that is the essay is asking about D-day, and going off on a tangent will lose you marks. We got the D-day question on our trials and nearly everyone who attempted it got less than 20 because they took that approach. What you need to do if you wish to argue that D-day was not the most significant factor is integrate it throughout out your response. So if you say "the russian front was more important" you must compare and contrast the impact of D-day with the impact of the russian front, not just say "the russian front was significant because...". This is very difficult to do in an essay which you only have 45 minutes to write.
but couldnt you say that D-DAY was the most significant, and the lead up of other fctors contributed to the success of this build up, accumulation and use of the resources and manpower? :). While Germany had used the majority of their troops and manpower around the country. The British, US and French couldb build up sufficient resources to effectively destroy the German army, and with the Germans fighting on a variety of fronts, with lack of resources.

D-DAY would be the killer blow to the German army.

or am i completely wrong? and off in a tangent.

or is that still off in a tangent.
 

D94

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D-DAY would be the killer blow to the German army.

or am i completely wrong? and off in a tangent.

or is that still off in a tangent.
We all have different perspectives, we all need relevant sources and information to back up our argument. If we take the view of Sir Ian Kershaw, he believes that the war was lost for Germany in December 1941. Now, this was 3 years before the D-Day landings, but he has his reasons as to why certain events around that time were the decisive factors as to why Germany lost.

But, you're not completely wrong; if you believe the D-Day landings was the most important reason as to why Germany had lost the war then you go argue that the best you can. Others will take a different view, but requirement that same depth in argument as you.
 

Croompets

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Oh i hope they do a 'significance of D-day' question. We did it as our only assessment for ww2 and I'd be really prepared for it.
 

cem

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but couldnt you say that D-DAY was the most significant, and the lead up of other fctors contributed to the success of this build up, accumulation and use of the resources and manpower? :). While Germany had used the majority of their troops and manpower around the country. The British, US and French couldb build up sufficient resources to effectively destroy the German army, and with the Germans fighting on a variety of fronts, with lack of resources.

D-DAY would be the killer blow to the German army.

or am i completely wrong? and off in a tangent.

or is that still off in a tangent.
There is nothing wrong with your arguement - don't forget the enormous loss that the Germans suffered on the Eastern Front if you are going to argue that D-Day was the most significant because you will have to prove that what happened on the Eastern front from 41 onwards was less significant despite the fact that the German army was worn down and resources used in that campaign.
 

WorryWartCob

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sweet...

im hoping to hell its about appeasement / well some sort of appeasement or the LON.
because that was in the CSSA.

D-Day would be nice as welll..
 

nephh22

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I think they will have a question on the battle of Britain or conflict in North Africa. Hopefully they do. :)
 

Croompets

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There is nothing wrong with your arguement - don't forget the enormous loss that the Germans suffered on the Eastern Front if you are going to argue that D-Day was the most significant because you will have to prove that what happened on the Eastern front from 41 onwards was less significant despite the fact that the German army was worn down and resources used in that campaign.
You do have to understand though that the huge losses Germany suffered would have been significantly reduced if D-day never happened. D-day is important as it offered a distraction for Germany (moving troops from east to west) thus weakening the eastern line for a huge Soviet push. While im not saying the eastern front is insignificant, I'm rather expressing that without D-Day the soviets may not have broken through or decimated Germans as much, hence its significance. Imo D-day doesn't draw its importance from the actual land recaptured or the physical damage it did to Germany, but from the distraction it created.
 

D94

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You do have to understand though that the huge losses Germany suffered would have been significantly reduced if D-day never happened. D-day is important as it offered a distraction for Germany (moving troops from east to west) thus weakening the eastern line for a huge Soviet push. While im not saying the eastern front is insignificant, I'm rather expressing that without D-Day the soviets may not have broken through or decimated Germans as much, hence its significance. Imo D-day doesn't draw its importance from the actual land recaptured or the physical damage it did to Germany, but from the distraction it created.
And someone can argue differently; leading expert Sir Ian Kershaw takes a different perspective to you. Does that make your argument void? No Does it make his? No. Because everything is based on potentiality.

But I reckon Kershaw and cem make the valid point that by December 1941, Germany could not have won the war, no matter how much longer they fought for. It's known that Speer genuinely thought that if it wasn't for his organisation, the war would have been reduced by about 2-3 years, which essentially is around the time of a little after December 1941. The widening of the Eastern Front, the poor state of resources and the fact that by the end of 1941, the Battle of Britain had been lost, Barbarossa had failed and so the German army was spreading itself quite thin, meaning they had almost no chance to win.

But this is one perspective; your's is as valid as mine, or Kershaw's or cem's. It's how your argue it which makes the difference. Good luck though ;)
 

cem

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You do have to understand though that the huge losses Germany suffered would have been significantly reduced if D-day never happened. D-day is important as it offered a distraction for Germany (moving troops from east to west) thus weakening the eastern line for a huge Soviet push. While im not saying the eastern front is insignificant, I'm rather expressing that without D-Day the soviets may not have broken through or decimated Germans as much, hence its significance. Imo D-day doesn't draw its importance from the actual land recaptured or the physical damage it did to Germany, but from the distraction it created.


Good argument - you see as a marker this is the sort of thing we look for - someone who is prepared to see the potential arguments both ways and argue it. Just because the majority of people (except maybe most Americans) accept that effectively by D-Day the Germans were already on the back foot in the East anyway doesn't alter the validity of your argument.

It is the argument and the support for the argument (along with verifiable facts where necessary) that gets marks not the idea that you have to agree with the markers. We aren't like that in Modern History.

The very fact that at the same time as D-Day the Soviets were launching Operation Bagration through Belarus pushing the Germans further and further out of Soviet territory can't be ignored when arguing the importance of D-Day and remember that the leaders of the allies were in discussions about the conduct of the war - so Stalin was well aware that D-Day was about to be launched along with the fact that the allies were aware that Bagration was on the cards and on top of that - the allies were also reaching Rome (which fell on 4th June) so the allies were already fighting on the European mainland.
 

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