History HL Papers 1 & 2 -- May 2010

[sweetnsimple786]

Hey guys! How'd history go for you?

-This is only for the first two papers-

I'm in TZ1, and I thought that Paper 1 was pretty nice!

I didn't review Ethiopia specifically, but I went of League of Nations stuff & we'd covered Mussolini earlier in the year, so it was fine.

I almost ran out of time. I wrote the last question in 15 minutes, but I'm glad I finished!

Paper 2 for me was decent. What'd you guys pick?

I did one on the naval warfare question. I talked about WW1 because I didn't review WW2 battles. In fact, I didn't mention any WW1 battles either, so that wasn't the best answer, but I think I had enough to say about technology and peace treaties and strategies and key players.

Then I did my second one on the left-winged ruler and what conditions led him to rule.

I talked about Stalin, but I wasn't sure what 'conditions' meant exactly. I talked about the context some, but I also included what Stalin did in response to the context. Is that how you'd have approached it?

By the way, did anyone find the Paper 1 format to be different than expected?

[ABC123456]

Hey guys! How'd history go for you?

-This is only for the first two papers-

I'm in TZ1, and I thought that Paper 1 was pretty nice!

I didn't review Ethiopia specifically, but I went of League of Nations stuff & we'd covered Mussolini earlier in the year, so it was fine.

I almost ran out of time. I wrote the last question in 15 minutes, but I'm glad I finished!

Paper 2 for me was decent. What'd you guys pick?

I did one on the naval warfare question. I talked about WW1 because I didn't review WW2 battles. In fact, I didn't mention any WW1 battles either, so that wasn't the best answer, but I think I had enough to say about technology and peace treaties and strategies and key players.

Then I did my second one on the left-winged ruler and what conditions led him to rule.

I talked about Stalin, but I wasn't sure what 'conditions' meant exactly. I talked about the context some, but I also included what Stalin did in response to the context. Is that how you'd have approached it?

By the way, did anyone find the Paper 1 format to be different than expected?

Hey! TZ1 too! We didn't really review Ethiopia either, but we did talk about the failure of the League of Nations. I don't think I included much of my own knowledge for the last question, since I didn't know much. I just said that it was an example that Hitler looked to to see that Britain wouldn't do anything, so it led him to rise in power or something like that.

I'm hoping I didn't outrightly fail Paper 2 because I felt like I didn't know so much. I did number 1 about the states other than Germany in the outbreak of WW1 and the question in the Cold War section about Gorbachev's policies ending the Cold War. I talked about Glasnost and Perestroika, and how it wasn't only his policies but the factor that both sides were exhausted by war already. I think I did better on Cold War but both were iffy. =/

[rainbow]

I thought history was not too bad. There were plenty of do able essay questions on papers 2. I did the one about why germany lost world war 1 and the circumstances leading to a right wing leader and I chose Hitler. For the second one I analysed the relative importance of the great depression, political weakness of weimar, resentment of T of V helping hitler rise to power and what he did to exploit the factors...I hope that's what they want for circumstances wasn't quite sure.

Paper 1 about Abyssinian crisis was also ok. Actually I did not think that the format was different - the usual OPVL, similarities and differences, cartoon, nothing unexpected in my oppinion. I just finished in time, always struggle with time menagement. Thank God history is over!!!

[soadquake981]

I thought history was not too bad. There were plenty of do able essay questions on papers 2. I did the one about why germany lost world war 1 and the circumstances leading to a right wing leader and I chose Hitler.

Uhh... the question about conditions of a state was for a left-wing leader. The right-wing question was regarding the ideologies and support for the leader.

I did Arab-Israeli for paper 1. I thought it was okay, but I spent all my time at home studying the later crises. When I saw that the exam was about the Arab exodus of 1947-1948, I was pretty pissed off, haha.

For paper 2, I felt really stupid because I wasn't sure whether Castro was left-wing. So, I avoided that question altogether and made stuff up for the Hitler propaganda question. I could have written a great Castro essay! But I did write a decent second essay on US policy in 1945-1949 in relation to the origins of the Cold War.

[CommeDesEnfants]

I was expecting something horrific (stayed up till 4:30am studying; yay for afternoon exams!), but it wasn't too bad.

I did Arab-Israeli for Paper 1, and when I saw the topic, I was relieved that it wasn't anything on the economic development of Israel or anything. I wish I could've had more time for the last question, although I managed to finish in time.

For Paper 2 (TZ1), I did the first question on two states leading towards the outbreak of WW1 and the ideology and support for one right-wing ruler. I did Britain and Austria-Hungary for the first because I had historiography for it, but I kind of ran out of time since I did that essay second. For the ideology one, since they explicity separated it into (a) and (b), do you think that they expected us to talk about them individually? I kind of combined them together, since his ideology basically led to growing support for the regime anyways.

I hope I did okay, but I thought it was kind of hard to be analytical. :/ Oh well.

[sweetnsimple786]

Hey! TZ1 too! We didn't really review Ethiopia either, but we did talk about the failure of the League of Nations. I don't think I included much of my own knowledge for the last question, since I didn't know much. I just said that it was an example that Hitler looked to to see that Britain wouldn't do anything, so it led him to rise in power or something like that.

I'm hoping I didn't outrightly fail Paper 2 because I felt like I didn't know so much. I did number 1 about the states other than Germany in the outbreak of WW1 and the question in the Cold War section about Gorbachev's policies ending the Cold War. I talked about Glasnost and Perestroika, and how it wasn't only his policies but the factor that both sides were exhausted by war already. I think I did better on Cold War but both were iffy. =/

I didn't mention that explicitly but what you said is true.

I was going to do that Gorbachev question! I really wanted to do that for my second one instead of Stalin, but I only had 30 minutes, and Stalin was easier though the Gorbachev question was more interesting haha

I think my second averaged with my first one brings the quality to average. Whatever. It's over!

I thought history was not too bad. There were plenty of do able essay questions on papers 2. I did the one about why germany lost world war 1 and the circumstances leading to a right wing leader and I chose Hitler. For the second one I analysed the relative importance of the great depression, political weakness of weimar, resentment of T of V helping hitler rise to power and what he did to exploit the factors...I hope that's what they want for circumstances wasn't quite sure.

Paper 1 about Abyssinian crisis was also ok. Actually I did not think that the format was different - the usual OPVL, similarities and differences, cartoon, nothing unexpected in my oppinion. I just finished in time, always struggle with time menagement. Thank God history is over!!!

That sounds right for circumstances, although I didn't think about that one too much.

What'd you say about the political cartoon? I felt that I might have made up the thing about the title. I said that Rome represented Greece and the Albanian conflict. Is that wrong? It would suck if the incident at Albania came after the one with Ethiopia ahah I suck at dates and timelines

For paper 2, I felt really stupid because I wasn't sure whether Castro was left-wing. So, I avoided that question altogether and made stuff up for the Hitler propaganda question. I could have written a great Castro essay! But I did write a decent second essay on US policy in 1945-1949 in relation to the origins of the Cold War.

Aw. I think of him as left-wing, but things get really crazy in the exam room. I looked at one of the questions that said something something Castro, and I was thinking... who is Castro, again? This name is spelled so weirdly. It looks all wrong. Have you ever spelled a word so often that its spelling seems wrong? But then I convinced myself Castro was Fidel and all made sense again

I was expecting something horrific (stayed up till 4:30am studying; yay for afternoon exams!), but it wasn't too bad.

I did Arab-Israeli for Paper 1, and when I saw the topic, I was relieved that it wasn't anything on the economic development of Israel or anything. I wish I could've had more time for the last question, although I managed to finish in time.

For Paper 2 (TZ1), I did the first question on two states leading towards the outbreak of WW1 and the ideology and support for one right-wing ruler. I did Britain and Austria-Hungary for the first because I had historiography for it, but I kind of ran out of time since I did that essay second. For the ideology one, since they explicity separated it into (a) and (b), do you think that they expected us to talk about them individually? I kind of combined them together, since his ideology basically led to growing support for the regime anyways.

I hope I did okay, but I thought it was kind of hard to be analytical. :/ Oh well.

I don't know. I was considering that. I think that you could go either way, but perhaps integrating the responses would allow for greater analysis?

I realized as I was writing the essays that I didn't know a lot of dates. Well I thought I knew them, but I was really paranoid, so I avoided putting dates down for the most part. And I just vaguely said "Some historians consider..." Is the date thing kind of necessary? And does vague semi-BS like that mean anything to the graders?

[Cavy]

Is anybody else doing Route 2 that got a weird question on the first paper? We are supposed to be doing Route 2 and the Arab-Israeli for Paper 1, but we got the China DBQ instead and it really freaked us out. Everything was okay because it was just a DBQ after all, but uhm...weird much?

[sweetnsimple786]

Hmm. We're doing Route 2, but we're doing Peacemaking, peacekeeping, international relations. On your Paper 1, did it mention Arab-Israeli anything next to History? I think mine always said History--Peace on the cover sheets and the test booklet.

[Cavy]

Hmm. We're doing Route 2, but we're doing Peacemaking, peacekeeping, international relations. On your Paper 1, did it mention Arab-Israeli anything next to History? I think mine always said History--Peace on the cover sheets and the test booklet.

No, we're doing Route 2 Communism in Crisis and that's what it said on the coversheet of Paper 1, even though our school's 'option' is supposed to be A-I. o_O

[102jon]

Just want to know what people thought of the first two exams. Paper 1 was relatively straightforward, with the cartoon referring to the events at Tiananmen Square 1989. The documents were easy as well, with Source A being a speech by Deng where he seems to embrace democracy.

For Paper 2, I answered the question about civil war with reference to the Spanish Civil War, and also the one about Gorbachev and whether or not his policies led to the end of the Cold War.

[CommeDesEnfants]

Hmm. We're doing Route 2, but we're doing Peacemaking, peacekeeping, international relations. On your Paper 1, did it mention Arab-Israeli anything next to History? I think mine always said History--Peace on the cover sheets and the test booklet.

No, we're doing Route 2 Communism in Crisis and that's what it said on the coversheet of Paper 1, even though our school's 'option' is supposed to be A-I. o_O

I think this whole option thing kind of messed up a lot of schools... The beginning of my course companion actually said that you only get the option you were registered for, but my history teachers said otherwise. I guess it's okay since it is only DBQ, but being unfamiliar on the context of the topic isn't too good, especially for things like the last essay question as well as understanding any political cartoons.

By the way, to those that did A-I Conflict: what did you write for the very first question? I mean, what else is there really to say from the map... They split Palestine up, Arabs didn't really like it, Zionists didn't really like it but went along with it anyways. Should've put a cartoon instead; they make me laugh.

(I hope the whole Paper 1 mix-up keeps mark boundaries lower...)

[sweetnsimple786]

So Cavy, did your teacher teach A-I and your IB Coordinator signed you up for Communism?

(I hope the whole Paper 1 mix-up keeps mark boundaries lower...)

Bahaha ditto!

[CommeDesEnfants]

Haha, we're horrible.

[Nattu]

Oh my I thought Paper 1 was pretty easy because it was about LON!

I think it was because my teacher told me that paper 1 is about peace keeping peace making so that's why I studied the peace treaties and anything related.

PAPER 2 was horrendous.

I think i did terrible because I didnt have time to finish the second essay T___T I didn't have time to write my conclusion

But thank god, I still have another year! so if I dont do well, I will take it again.

[IBdem522]

Is anybody else doing Route 2 that got a weird question on the first paper? We are supposed to be doing Route 2 and the Arab-Israeli for Paper 1, but we got the China DBQ instead and it really freaked us out. Everything was okay because it was just a DBQ after all, but uhm...weird much?

Did your proctors not read the IB notices to you? If there's something wrong with your paper you're supposed to be able to let the IB coordinator know... =/

[caleyfollmer]

Hey everyone!

I did the Abyssinia DBQ and was very happy about it since I happened to go over that topic the night before and that morning quickly! Plus I was able to talk about the failures of the League!

Paper 2 - I did Q1 about two countries that led to the outbreak of war and did Britain and Austria-Hungary talking about things like militarism, alliances, nationalism, etc. so I thought that one was pretty good. Then I did the one about Gorbachev which a lot of people seemed to do! It was my IA topic almost word for word so it was awesome even though I forgot a lot of stuff since my IA was due in Jan.!

Overall I think paper 1 and 2 went well!

[PositiveVibes]

I thought history was not too bad. There were plenty of do able essay questions on papers 2. I did the one about why germany lost world war 1 and the circumstances leading to a right wing leader and I chose Hitler.

Uhh... the question about conditions of a state was for a left-wing leader. The right-wing question was regarding the ideologies and support for the leader.

I did Arab-Israeli for paper 1. I thought it was okay, but I spent all my time at home studying the later crises. When I saw that the exam was about the Arab exodus of 1947-1948, I was pretty pissed off, haha.

For paper 2, I felt really stupid because I wasn't sure whether Castro was left-wing. So, I avoided that question altogether and made stuff up for the Hitler propaganda question. I could have written a great Castro essay! But I did write a decent second essay on US policy in 1945-1949 in relation to the origins of the Cold War.

I'm quite sure it was "conditions leading to the rise of a RIGHT wing leader", 'cus I did that one too.

[CommeDesEnfants]

Be warned that they flipped the questions around for the time zones in terms of right-wing and left-wing for those Topic 3 questions.

[Cavy]

Our Coordinator was basically like *blank stare* uhhh you were taught this....

I'm kind of foggy on what actually happened, but my History teacher was told to teach Arab-Israeli, so I assume there was some sort of mix-up in the registration area. I mean honestly though, it cost me maybe two points IF that (because the seniors last year learned China and I had to sit in on their course due to a schedule problem) and I'm sure that with my marks on Paper 2 and the IA it'll make up for it, it was just a really weird moment in time for all of us, you know?

Apparently in previous years, you were given all documents and all options--does anybody know if this is true? Because if so, I'm thinking that the registration process was definitely the mix-up.

[Krazim]

Time Zone 1~

Bleh, I was mad at the fact that I didn't get to finish. ;-; But yeah, I'm glad that Paper 1 was on the whole League of Nation. Totally wish that it gets mix-up. Haha~ more points, pleeease?

Paper 2 totally killed me. x_X I felt horrible and... bleh, I don't think I've written well since I was on a time restraint. ;-;