• Best of luck to the class of 2024 for their HSC exams. You got this!
    Let us know your thoughts on the HSC exams here
  • YOU can help the next generation of students in the community!
    Share your trial papers and notes on our Notes & Resources page
MedVision ad

General Thoughts: Modern History (3 Viewers)

Sparksy21

New Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Messages
3
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
At that time the British HighCom was expecting Germany to be held up by Belgian forces, and there isnt any evidence to suggest they were going to be deployed to Belgium:
"You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my Empire. Belgium, whose country we are pledged to defend, has been attacked and France is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe."

The only toubling multiple choice was the German War Expenditure, as the question was raised in my mind that; Where was the German Gov. getting the extra Marks from? One of the answers was increased taxation but I chose Ludendorff's offensive.
 

crowley926

Active Member
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
252
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
At that time the British HighCom was expecting Germany to be held up by Belgian forces, and there isnt any evidence to suggest they were going to be deployed to Belgium:
"You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my Empire. Belgium, whose country we are pledged to defend, has been attacked and France is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe."
Yeah it sounds more like they are being sent to France - like Belgium has already been invaded and now we're trying to prevent France from being invaded
 

evasharman

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2013
Messages
77
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
I assumed "British Empire troops" would mean troops from the actual Empire lol #misconstruing ...

but yeah probably a case of "most right" answer being British Empire troops, i kinda just assumed they were going to France ???
 

Sparksy21

New Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2014
Messages
3
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Shouldn't be British Empire troops as it was directly to the BEF. The BEF at that time was only elite regiments (Coldstream, Scots, Welsh Guards) from Britain itself. Then again BOS might not actually know the details and claim it was to the empire.
 

mcchicken

madman in a box
Joined
Dec 18, 2014
Messages
1,009
Location
In Taylor Swift's asshole
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
how did you find it? and which options did you do haha?
I felt it was pretty easy because they've asked the same two questions for the past few years so I rote learnt my consolidation of power essay, I'm happy with my response :) How/what did you do? and btw is that username a supernatural reference I see


And for the rest of you guys, I think that MC is the empire soldiers. But then again BOSTES loves having multiple correct answers lol (omg pdhpe fml)
 

crowley926

Active Member
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
252
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
I felt it was pretty easy because they've asked the same two questions for the past few years so I rote learnt my consolidation of power essay, I'm happy with my response :) How/what did you do? and btw is that username a supernatural reference I see
Oh lucky haha I did the soviet foreign policy one cos we were tested on that in school. I think i went well for russia
lmaaaoooo yes it is :p i was so obsessed with supernatural when i made this account haha
 

mkristie

Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
55
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
WWI - not a bad section, I felt like the sources were a bit simplistic in comparison to previous years but nonetheless it was still a fairly easy section. One of the mcs (the intended audience of source A) threw me off and I think I might have got it wrong + I really disliked the 2 marker on how the text added to the message of the image (but it was only 2 marks so no big deal). It wasn't as directly linked to the syllabus as I was expecting but I've never found WWI particularly difficult so I'm fairly happy with my performance in this section.

Germany - ah, Nazi consolidation of power. The dotpoint I completely skipped. Luckily I was prepared for a racial policy essay and so I found this section okay. I argued that racial policy was definitely a key factor in the Nazi consolidation of power because they first used the whole Jews = November Criminals/scapegoat for TOV to garner support for Nazism, and then once they rose to power in 1933/1934 they introduced basic social reforms, then formal legislation, then the Nuremburg laws which were all underpinned by racial policy and were able to help the Nazis consolidate power -> this culminated in kristallnacht and shows the power the Nazis had over society/how they'd been able to consolidate their power using racial policy. I'm pretty pissed at myself for not including more information on how they used propaganda, terror and repression but not much I can do now since it's over.

Speer - not a bad section, but I felt it difficult to link the quote in with Speer who didn't really face any "challenges". I basically argued about how Speer was an opportunist and when faced with different challenges (like the growing dominance of Nazism in society when he claimed to be 'apolitical', the demands placed on him as armaments minister and how he responded to them, and the Nuremburg trials) he basically used/abused the things around him (like using the Nazis to fulfil his own architectural desires, using slave labour for armaments production, and adopting the image of the 'repentant Nazi' to save his own life) and therefore both Speer and his "achievements" were underpinned by deceit, lies, opportunism etc. Ah, what a load of bullshit. Probs my weakest section and I barely used historiography in part b so I have soo many regrets.

Indochina - good questions! I particularly liked the links between Tet and anti-war (plus I was banking on an anti-war question so I'd prepared for it). Basically argued that Tet was a turning point in the anti-war movement and led to its significant growth in America as although it was a military defeat, it won the "media war" and undermined General Westmoreland's claims that victory was close etc. Also talked about how the My Lai massacre was essentially caused by the Tet Offensive and this played a huge role in the anti-war movement -> Americans had started to question the morality of the war etc and caused a huge shift in the general public opinion towards the war. Also mentioned how the resulted in incidents like the Kent State University shooting which shows how intense/significant the anti-war movements had become and how they'd polarised America etc etc. I felt like I did okay, probably not my best essay but I'm still happy with how I went.

Overall, the paper wasn't too difficult. I found it surprising that they began to link dotpoints/sections of the syllabus together (i.e Nazi consolidation with racial policy or Tet offensive with anti-war) because they normally only ask questions on one dotpoint, but it definitely does allow you to make your answers more sophisticated and show how extensive your knowledge is of the links between the syllabus dotpoints. I regret not studying more, but not much I can do now haha. Expecting a mid-high band 5 at this point but idk how hard they mark in HSC so we'll just have to wait and see
 

HecticSandWitch

2007 fuccboi hustler king
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
527
Location
Oregon
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
The source is here
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/georgev_aug1914.htm

But yeah, you make a valid point FlyingKanga. They were going to Belgium first, and France was going to be invaded. I could very well be wrong. The answers were all a bit funky, I'd say this one will end up being a case of the ubiquitous and thoroughly annoying bostes favourite of "most right answer" wherein more than one or no answers are entirely correct, yet one prevails...

Anyone remember the other answers besides British empire troops & troops headed to France?
Wasn't the wording: Troops defending the British Empire? or something to that extent?
 

HecticSandWitch

2007 fuccboi hustler king
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
527
Location
Oregon
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
At that time the British HighCom was expecting Germany to be held up by Belgian forces, and there isnt any evidence to suggest they were going to be deployed to Belgium:
"You are leaving home to fight for the safety and honour of my Empire. Belgium, whose country we are pledged to defend, has been attacked and France is about to be invaded by the same powerful foe."

The only toubling multiple choice was the German War Expenditure, as the question was raised in my mind that; Where was the German Gov. getting the extra Marks from? One of the answers was increased taxation but I chose Ludendorff's offensive.
They printed their own currency with the hope that it would be offset by the allies footing the bill at the end of the war. Oh how wrong they were...
 

FlyingKanga

The optimistic pessimist.
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
410
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
I really disliked the 2 marker on how the text added to the message of the image (but it was only 2 marks so no big deal). It wasn't as directly linked to the syllabus as I was expecting but I've never found WWI particularly difficult so I'm fairly happy with my performance in this section.
I KNOW RIGHT!!! I was so afraid of accidentally answering it like a paper 1 english question... "The employment of a patriotic tone within the text in conjunction with a mid-shot angle of multiple women evokes an emotional response within the female audience to join the cause of knitting garmets." xD

I think I instead said the queen's message appealed to the patriotism of British women to motivate them for supporting the homefront. I hated that question.
 

HecticSandWitch

2007 fuccboi hustler king
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
527
Location
Oregon
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
I KNOW RIGHT!!! I was so afraid of accidentally answering it like a paper 1 english question... "The employment of a patriotic tone within the text in conjunction with a mid-shot angle of multiple women evokes an emotional response within the female audience to join the cause of knitting garmets." xD

I think I instead said the queen's message appealed to the patriotism of British women to motivate them for supporting the homefront. I hated that question.
yeah that question was fucking shit, had dem strong paper 1 bullshit vibez
 

JohnnyG

New Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2014
Messages
22
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Wasn't the wording: Troops defending the British Empire? or something to that extent?
I can't remember the 4th option but I think the first 3 were soldiers going to defend France, soldiers of the British Empire, soldiers defending Britain
 

dylanmcgirr

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2015
Messages
6
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
damn I said soldiers of the empire for multiple choice question 2 and there seems to be a consensus that the troops were going to defend France which seems pretty fair enough, what a bad question
 

oht

New Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
23
Gender
Female
HSC
2015
Uni Grad
2018
damn I said soldiers of the empire for multiple choice question 2 and there seems to be a consensus that the troops were going to defend France which seems pretty fair enough, what a bad question

That seems to be a trend in the exams this year, ridiculous multiple choice questions... legal made me want to spoon out my eyes
 

RecklessRick

Active Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Messages
281
Gender
Undisclosed
HSC
N/A
bro idk if ur going to make ur HSC aims, tho u look on track for 4u tbh.
Yeah bro literally everyone from ruse and nsbhs who said they're getting full marks raw in 4u is going to do so no doubt whatsoever

That 69 in history extension might be a struggle though given the course is out of 50
 

HecticSandWitch

2007 fuccboi hustler king
Joined
Apr 4, 2014
Messages
527
Location
Oregon
Gender
Male
HSC
2015
Yeah bro literally everyone from ruse and nsbhs who said they're getting full marks raw in 4u is going to do so no doubt whatsoever

That 69 in history extension might be a struggle though given the course is out of 50
bro there's about zero% chance that they're going to make any silly mistakes so yeah pretty sure B6 cut off this year for 4U is going to be 101? Extra mark comes from writing a little love letter to the marker.

Nah I think History Extension u can make EZ, you just have to do the test twice and add ur marks
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 0, Guests: 3)

Top