Having a look at that list, I'd say political, economic and social issues in the Weimar Republic to 1929 are likely to come up. It could be something like "Discuss the key issues faced by the Weimar Republic during the period up until 1929". I'm thinking that the Great Depression could also come up, maybe something like "To what extent was The Great Depression responsible for the collapse of the Weimar republic". The wildcard could be something on social and cultural life in the Nazi state: role of Hitler Youth, women, religion
I was very selective in the topics I chose to study for Germany and Conflict in the Pacific, only because I was simply overwhelmed in the weekend leading up the Modern exam. Thus, I went through past papers and eliminated questions that I thought wouldn't possibly be re-asked only a few years later. For Germany, I discovered it was EXACTLY what you discovered... The extent of the Great Depression on the collapse of the WR, and social/cultural life (women, churches and youth) during Hitler's reign... AND GUESS WHAT? BOTH options/questions literally focused on these two topics, with very similar wording i.e. no twists, no time frames etc. I was so pleased with this section, particularly as I learnt (not memorised!) chunks of my 23+/25 essay for the Great Depression's impact on WR!
THENNN... as I thought I wouldn't be anymore pleased... The SAME thing happened for Conflict in the Pacific! Though, with this topic, I was quite confused on what kind of areas the questions would touch, simply because I could sense indirect repetition, of what content will be used in the answers, in the past years. Nevertheless, I took a GREAT risk in only studying TWO topic areas (mind you, these are very specific and could not possibly be manipulated to suit any other question but a direct one) and, once again, they were covered in either options!
So, whilst normally 2x 25 marker questions are draining and every Modern student's unpleasant fright, they turned out to be my 2 favourite sections in the paper!
I guess this is one of the many tips I can give to the future HSC Modern (AND PDHPE - I did it for that subject too!) students, that it is quite useful to look through past papers and eliminate options (though, don't look beyond the past 3 years - it could be too risky!). Also, I'll admit that I took a great risk and refused to study the other topics, simply because of personal issues which contributed to a loss of study time in the lead up to the Modern exam. HOWEVER, this is not my recommendation to future students, simply because it would be quite risky to underestimate what questions the Board of Studies decide to throw in the papers! Repetition of questions and relative content is unlikely, though NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
The best of luck to my fellow 2013 peers across the state, I know I really hope my confidence in this exam is reflected in my marks (along with other marks for other subjects), so may yours too!
(though I wish I could go back and re-do my source analysis!
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