IB History guide
22IB History units (2022-24)
Topics (based on IB Syllabus):
Paper 1: The move to global war (prescribed subject)
Case study 1: Japanese expansion in East Asia (1931–1941)
Case study 2: German and Italian expansion (1933–1940)
Paper 2: 20th century world history
a) Authoritarian states
b) The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries
Paper 3 (HL): History of Europe
a) Europe and the First World War, 1871-1918
b) Imperial Russia, revolutions and the establishment of the Soviet Union, 1855-1924
c) The Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Russia, 1924-2000
A schedule plan:
1st academic year
Term 1: HL students
• Europe and the First World War, 1871-1918
• Authoritarian states: Germany - Hitler
• The move to global war: Japan
• Authoritarian states: China - Mao
• Internal Assessment: Historical investigation (20 hours, during the periods 3 and 4)
Period 5: HL students
• Imperial Russia, revolutions and the establishment of the Soviet Union, 1855-1924
2nd academic year
Terms 1-3: HL & SL students
• Authoritarian states: The Soviet Union - Stalin
• The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries
• Authoritarian states: Italy - Mussolini & Egypt - Nasser
Term 4: HL students (Optional for SL)
• Preparation for the Final exams
History as an IBDP subject
History is an exploratory subject that fosters a sense of inquiry. It is also an interpretive discipline, allowing opportunity for engagement with multiple perspectives and a plurality of opinions.
Studying history develops an understanding of the past, which leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of humans and of the world today.
— History Guide (First Examinations 2017) IB Diploma Program
History is an area of knowledge that studies the recorded past. It raises knowledge questions such as whether it is possible to talk meaningfully about a historical fact and what such a fact might be, or how far we can speak with certainty about anything in the past.
Studying history also deepens our understanding of human behaviour, as reflecting on the past can help us to make sense of the present.
Documentary evidence plays an important role in history, which raises questions about the basis for judgments of reliability of that evidence. The individual historian also plays an important role in history and in the 20th century there was much debate over whether historical facts exist independently of historians.
— Theory Of Knowledge Guide (First Assessment 2015) IB Diploma Program