American International School of Lagos

IB History SL/HL Syllabus

Teacher: Mr. Carlos De la Sobera, MA
Room 200, Annex Building
Office Hours: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 3:00 to 4:00pm
Email contact: cdelasobera@aislagos.com

Course Title: IB History – SL/HL

Course Description: See below

Course Standards: See below

Attendance/Tardiness Policy: Needless to say, being in class each and every day is
critical to your success in any IB course. Unexcused absences will not be tolerated, and
make up work will not be allowed for those who fail to justify their nonattendance.
Tardies are my biggest pet peeve, so if nothing else, make sure you’re always in class on
time and ready to go.

Behavioral Expectations: We are all grown-ups and shall treat each other as such. All
of us have a right to be respected and an obligation to be respectful to one another and to
our school. Disrespect toward any member of our class will not be tolerated. For those
that do not behave appropriately, the following procedures will be carried out:

1. Minor misbehavior: verbal warning

2. Recurring minor misbehaviors: recess/lunch detention
3. Recurring misbehavior despite warnings and detention: Student-led conference
with parents and teacher
4. Severe misbehavior: Student-led conference with Secondary Principal, parents,
and teacher
Understand that our number one priority in class is to learn while having fun. We just
need to make sure that we keep everything within the lines of respect and cooperation.
Honestly, I truly don’t expect to ever have to use any punitive measures with anyone.

Assessments:
Exams 40% (unit exams, roughly once every three weeks)
Message Board Prompts 20% (to further class discussions, every three weeks)
Homework 15% (short writing assignments, short research activities)
Research Project 15% (once every 9 weeks, two per semester)
Classwork & Participation 10% (this includes announced/unannounced quizzes)

Make-up Policy: No make-up work is allowed. Period. If you leave early to go on a

trip, or are absent from class, it is your responsibility to talk to me beforehand or check
the Swift Board to ensure you know what assignments, readings and tasks are due any
given week. When absent, work must be submitted to me via email at
cdelasobera@gmail.com Please note that I do NOT give out work beforehand, so you
must ensure that if you go away for any reason whatsoever, you check the Swift Board
(or email me) daily for any assignments due.

Textbook: Culpin, Christopher & Hening, Ruth. Modern Europe. Longman, 2008
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
Summary of the SL/HL IB history curriculum: Our course encompasses the main
developments in 20th Century World History. At HL, students will also be covering
important aspects in the History of Europe and the Middle East. Throughout the course,
students will be required to make comparisons between similar and dissimilar solutions to
common human situations whether they are political, economic or social. The course will
also invite comparisons between different cultures, polities and national traditions.
Students will be encouraged to respect and understand people and events in a variety of
cultures throughout the world.

Distinctions between SL and HL:

SL Hours HL Hours
Syllabus Arab-Israeli Conflict 20 Arab-Israeli Conflict 20
Prescribed subjects

Topics of Choice Causes, practices and 45 Causes, practices and effects 45

effects of war of war
Cold war 45 Cold War 45

HL Option History of Europe and the 90

Middle East
Historical Investigation Historical Investigation
Internal Assessment Historical Investigation 20 Historical Investigation 20% 20
25%
External Assessment Paper 1----- 30% Paper 1-----20%
Paper 2------45% Paper 2-----25%
Paper 3----- 35%
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
History and Theory of Knowledge

The course will attempt to put into perspective the relationship between theory of
knowledge and the study of history. To that end, we will focus on the following questions
throughout the syllabus:

• Why study History?

• Is knowledge of the past ever certain?
• Does the study of History widen our knowledge of human nature?
• Can History help in understanding the present or predicting the future?
• To what extent does emotion play a role in an historian analysis? Is historical
objectivity possible?
• Why do accounts of the same historical events differ? Whose history do we study?
• What determines how historians select evidence and describe and interpret or
analyze events?
• When studying History, what problems are posed by changes in language and
culture over time?
• Can History be considered in any sense scientific?

Aims of the IB History Course

The aims at both SL and HL are:

• Promote an understanding of history as a discipline, including the nature and

diversity of its sources, methods and interpretations.
• Encourage an understanding of the present through critical reflections upon the
past.
• Encourage an understanding of the impact of historical developments at national,
regional and international levels.
• Develop an awareness of one’s own historical identity through the study of the
historical experiences of different cultures.

Assessment Objectives

• Knowledge and understanding

• Application and interpretation
• Synthesis and evaluation
• Use of historical skills

Approaches to the Teaching of IB History

1: The gathering and sorting of historical evidence.

• Developing the research skills of locating and selecting relevant and appropriate
evidence from books, articles, websites and audio-visual resources
• Recognizing the distinctions between different kinds of evidence: primary and
secondary, textual, audio-visual, oral, graphic and tabular.
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus

2: The evaluation of historical evidence.

• Recognizing the subjective nature of historical evidence.

• Examining sources for information and interpretations, and for cases where they
corroborate, complement or contradict each other.
• Recognizing the value and uses of sources and reasons to use them cautiously.
• Recognizing and appreciating why and how opinions and interpretations differ.

3: Recognizing and understanding historical processes and their relationships to human

experience, activity and motivation.

• Recognizing, explaining and analyzing causes and consequences.

• Recognizing, explaining and analyzing continuity, change and development over
time.
• Recognizing, explaining and analyzing similarity and difference.
• Relating human activities, experiences and motivations in history to a range of
cultural and social dimensions.
• Synthesizing material studied across time and space.

4: Organizing and expressing historical ideas and information.

• Posing questions and hypotheses and answering or testing them.

• Handling and synthesizing several sources for one inquiry.
• Selecting and deploying information and ideas.
• Constructing narratives, with ideas, analysis and relevant substantiation.
• Summarizing and arriving at conclusions.
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
Course of Study: Paper 1, Prescribed Subject 2, The Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1945-79

This prescribed subject addresses the development of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1945
to 1979. It also requires consideration of the role of outside powers in the conflict either
as promoters of tension or mediators in attempts to lesson tensions in the region. The
prescribed subject requires study of the political, economic and social issues behind the
dispute and specific causes and consequences of the military clashes between 1948-1949
and 1973. The nature and extent of social and economic developments within the
disputed territory of Palestine/Israel within the period and their impact on the populations
should also be studied. The end date for the prescribed subject is the 1979 signing of the
Egyptian-Israeli peace accords.

The course will focus on:

• Last years of the British Mandate; UNSCOP Partition Plan; outbreak of the civil
war.
• British withdrawal; establishment of Israel; Arab response and the 1948-49 War.
• Demographic shifts: the Palestinian Diaspora from 1947 onwards; Jewish
immigration and the economic development of the Israeli State.
• Suez crisis of 1956: role of Britain, France, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Israel and the
U.N.O.
• Arabism and Zionism; emergence of the P.L.O.
• Six-Day War of 1967 and the October War of 1973: causes, course and
consequences.
• Role of the U.S., U.S.S.R. and U.N.O.
• Camp David and the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Agreement.

Course of Study: Paper 1, Prescribed Subject 3, Communism in Crisis, 1976-1989

This prescribed subject addresses the major challenges – social, political, and economic –
facing the regimes in the leading Communist states from 1976 to 1989 and the nature of
the response of these regimes. Some of these challenges, whether internal or external in
origin, produced responses that inaugurated a reform process contributing significantly to
the end of the U.S.S.R. and the satellite states in Central and Eastern Europe. In other
cases, repressive measures managed to contain the challenge and the regime maintained
power throughout the period.

The course will focus on:

• The struggle for power following the death of Mao, Hua Guofeng, the re-
emergence of Deng Xiaoping: economic policies and the Four Modernizations.
• China under Deng Xiaoping: political changes and their limits culminating in
Tiananmen Square in 1989.
• Domestic and foreign problems of the Brezhnev era: economic and political
stagnation; Afghanistan.
• Gorbachev, glasnost, perestroika and consequences for the Soviet state.
• Consequences of Gorbachev’s policies for Eastern Europe; reform movements:
Poland – the role of Solidarity; Czechoslovakia – the Velvet Revolution; fall of
the Berlin Wall.
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus

Course of Study: Paper 2, Topic I – Causes, Practices and Effects of Wars

War was a major feature of the 20th century. In this topic, the different types of war
should be identified and the causes, practices and effects of these conflicts should be
studied.

Major Themes:

Different types and nature of 20th century warfare –

• Civil
• Guerilla
• Limited war
• Total war

Origins and causes of wars –

• Long-term, short-term and immediate causes
• Economic, ideological, political and religious causes

Nature of 20th century wars –

• Technological developments, tactics and strategies, air, land and sea
• Home front: economic and social impact (including changes in the role and status
of women
• Resistance and revolutionary movements

Effects and results of wars –

• Peace settlements and wars ending without treaties
• Attempts at collective security pre- and post-WW II
• Political repercussions and territorial changes
• Post-war economic problems

Material for Detailed Study:

• WW I (1914-1918)
• WW II (1939-1945)
• Africa: Algerian War (1954-1962), Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970)
• Falklands War (1982), Nicaraguan Revolution (1976-1979)
• Indo-Pakistan wars (1947-1949, 1965, 1971), Chinese Civil War (1927-1937 and
1946-1949)
• Spanish Civil War (1936-1949, Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), Gulf War of 1991
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
Course of Study: Paper 2, Topic Five - The Cold War

This topic addresses East-West relations from 1945 to 1990. It aims to promote an
international perspective and understanding of the origins, course and effects of the Cold
War – a conflict that dominated global affairs from WW II to the early 1990’s. It includes
superpower rivalry and events in all areas affected by Cold War politics such as spheres
of interest, proxy wars, alliances and interference in developing countries.

Major Themes:

Origins of the Cold War –

• Ideological differences
• Mutual suspicion and fear
• From wartime allies to post-war enemies

Nature of the Cold War –

• Ideological opposition
• Superpowers and spheres of influence
• Alliances and diplomacy in the Cold War

Development and impact of the Cold War –

• Global spread of the Cold War from its European origins
• Cold War policies of containment, brinkmanship, peaceful coexistence, détente
• Role of the U.N. and Non-Aligned Movement
• Role and significance of leaders
• Arms race, proliferation and limitation
• Social, cultural and economic impact

End of the Cold War –

• Break-up of the Soviet Union: internal problems and external pressures
• Breakdown of Soviet control over Central and Eastern Europe

Material for Detailed Study:

• Wartime conferences: Yalta and Potsdam
• U.S. policies in Europe: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO
• Soviet policies: Sovietization of Eastern and Central Europe, COMECON,
Warsaw Pact
• Sino-Soviet relations
• U.S.-Chinese relations
• Germany (especially Berlin, 1945-1961), Congo (1960-1964), Afghanistan (1979-
1988), Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Middle East
• Castro, Gorbachev, Kennedy, Mao, Reagan, Stalin, Truman
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
Course of Study: HL Paper 3, Option 1 – History of Europe and the Middle East

This paper is an essay examination on the History of Europe and the Middle East from
1815 to 2000. AISL will choose 7-8 sections to focus on (from the list below), which
should comprise about 100 years of history. Students receive 2 hours 30 minutes for this
examination, held at the end of their senior year (May). The examination paper comprises
24 questions (two from each section), of which three must be answered as an essay:

• Section 1: The French Revolution & Napoleon, mid 18th Century to 1815
• Section 2: Unification & Consolidation of Germany & Italy, 1815 to 1890
• Section 3: Ottoman Empire, Early 19th to 20th Century
• Section 4: Western & Northern Europe, 1848-1914
• Section 5: Imperial Russia, Revolutions, Emergence of Soviet State, 1853 to 1924
• Section 6: European Diplomacy and the First World War, 1870-1923
• Section 7: War & Change in the Middle East, 1914 to 1949
• Section 8: Interwar Years: Conflict & Cooperation, 1919-39
• Section 9: The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1924-2000
• Section 10: The Second World War & Postwar Western Europe, 1939-2000
• Section 11: Postwar Developments in the Middle East, 1945-2000
• Section 12: Social & Economic Developments in Europe & the Middle East in the
19 or 20th Century
th

The American International School of Lagos’ IB History program places primary focus
on Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 with particular emphasis on those that overlap with
topics in Papers 1 & 2.

Assessment Outline – SL – First Examinations in 2009-2010

Assessment Component Weighting

External Assessment (2 hours 30 minutes) 75%

Paper 1 (1 hour) 30%

Route 2: Arab-Israeli Conflict; Communism in Crisis
4 short-answer/structured questions
Assessment objectives 1-3
(25 marks)

Paper 2 (1hour 30 minutes)

Route 2: Causes, practices and effects of wars; 45%
The Cold War
2 extended-response questions
Assessment objectives 1-4
(40 marks)
Internal Assessment 25%

Historical investigation on any area of the syllabus

Approximately 20 hours
Assessment objectives 1-4
 American International School of Lagos
IB History SL/HL Syllabus
(25 marks)
Assessment Outline – HL – First Examinations in 2009-2010

Assessment Component Weighting

External Assessment (5 Hours) 80%

Paper 1 (1 hour) 20%

Route 2: Arab-Israeli Conflict; Communism in Crisis
4 short-answer/structured questions
Assessment objectives 1-3
(25 marks)

Paper 2 (1 hour 30 minutes) 25%

Route 2: Causes, practices and effects of wars;
The Cold War
2 extended-response questions
Assessment objectives 1-4
(40 marks)

Paper 3 (2 hours 30 minutes) 35%

History of Europe and the Middle East
3 extended-response questions
Assessment objectives 1-4
(25 marks)

Internal Assessment 20%

Historical investigation on any area of the syllabus

Approximately 20 hours
Assessment objectives 1-4
(25 marks)