AS/A Level History Student Conference: Germany 1918-1945

10:25– 10:35 am
Welcome and Introductions 

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10.35– 11.15am
The Establishment and early years of Weimar, 1918-1924: to what extent is it fair to describe the early years of Weimar Germany as a complete failure? 

• The Peace Settlement: expectations and reality; terms and problems; attitudes within
• Germany and abroad – the stab in the back myth, Germany and victimhood
• Economic and social issues: post-war legacy and the state of the German economy and society; reparations, inflation and hyperinflation
• Political instability and extremism; risings on the left and right, including the Kapp Putsch; the political impact of the invasion of the Ruhr; the Munich Putsch
• Problems of coalition government and the state of the Republic by 1924: why was the political system unable to produce consensus?

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11:15 – 11:55am
How far was there really a Golden Age of the Weimar Republic between 1924 and 1928? 

• Economic developments: Stresemann; the Dawes Plan; industry, agriculture and the extent of recovery; the reparations issue and the Young Plan
• Social developments: social welfare reforms; the development of Weimar culture; art, architecture, music, theatre, literature and film; living standards and lifestyles
• The extent of political stability: President Hindenburg; parties; elections and attitudes to the Republic from the elites and other social groups; the position of the extremists, including the Nazis and Communists
• Germany’s international position; Stresemann’s foreign policy aims and achievements

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11.55 – 12.15 pm
Break – submit your questions on 20^th Century German History to our expert panel

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12.15 – 12.45
Effective evaluation of Historical Sources on the Collapse of Democracy, 1928-1933
Keith Milne

• Analyse example responses on the Collapse of Democracy that demonstrate the skills that gain the highest marks
• Examine what differentiates top from lower level responses when answering questions on the value of sources
• Improve real student responses to confirm how to reach higher mark bands and strengthen student exam performance

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12:45 – 1:25pm
The Nazi Dictatorship, 1933-1945 – how and why did the Nazis gain and maintain power? 

• Hitler’s consolidation of power, March 1933–1934: governmental and administrative change and the establishment of the one-party state
• The failure of German politicians: Hindenburg, von Papen, von Schleicher, the Night of the Long Knives
• The ‘Terror State’: the police, including the SS and Gestapo; the courts; extent, effectiveness and limitations of opposition and non-conformity
• Propaganda: aims, methods and impact; and the extent of totalitarianism
• Economic policies and the degree of economic recovery; Social policies: the benefits and drawbacks of Nazi rule and extent of its popularity

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1.25 – 2.00pm
Lunch

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2:00- 2.10 pm
Ask the Experts

• The experts answer the questions submitted by the students

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2.10 – 2.55pm
To what extent is it accurate to describe the Racial State as the most important aspect of Nazi Rule? 

• The radicalisation of the state: Nazi racial ideology; policies towards the mentally ill, asocials, homosexuals, members of religious sects, the Roma and Sinti
• Anti-Semitism: policies and actions towards the Jews, including the boycott of Jewish shops and the Nuremberg Laws
• The development of anti-Semitic policies and actions; the effect of the Anschluss;

Reichkristallnacht; emigration; the impact of the war against Poland

• The treatment of Jews in the early years of war: the Einsatzgruppen; ghettos and deportations
• The role of the public sphere in intolerance: why was opposition so ineffectual?

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2.55 – 3.00pm
Break

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3:00 –3:30pm
The key to excellent essays on German history with a focus on the Impact of War 1939-1945

• How to write high quality essays on 20^th Century Germany, using examples on the Impact of War
• Analysing the question – examine a sample question on Nazi Germany to establish its key aspects
• Explore exemplar responses to determine what examiners expect on German History at grades B to A*
• Excellent essay practice: students improve example responses to understand what the examiners want

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3:30-3:40pm
Final Top Tips and close

• Extra tips on excellent revision ideas, including using the specification
• Action plan – what to do after today to get the highest grades

Professor Richard Evans

Professor Richard Evans is Regius Professor of History and President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. His general area of research interest is modern German and European history, particularly social and cultural history since the mid-nineteenth century. He has published (Penguin publ) a large-scale history of the Third Reich in three volumes. Over the years, his work has won the Wolfson Literary Award for History, the William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine, the Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History, and the Hamburg Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft. He is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Historical Society, and an Honorary Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Birkbeck College, London. His most recent book is on British historians and the European Continent and he is currently completing a book on the years 1815-1914 for the Penguin History of Europe.

Professor Richard Overy

Richard Overy is Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He has written extensively on the history of the European dictatorships, the Second World War and air power in the twentieth century, including The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia (winner of the 2004 Wolfson Prize), The Morbid Age: Britain and the Crisis of Civilisation between the Wars, and The Bombing War: Europe 1939-1945 (winner of the Cundill Award for Historical Scholarship). He is a Fellow of the British Academy and a Member of the European Academy for Sciences and Arts.

Keith Milne

Keith has 25 years of teaching experience in a wide range of schools and is currently Head of History in a large and very successful department of eleven full-time teachers. In addition to lecturing part time at university, whilst studying for a PhD in European History, he has written and also advised on a number of textbooks for A Level History students. He is a highly experienced Principal Examiner and Principal Moderator for a major examination body, leading a large number of very popular online and face-to-face conferences detailing the routes to exam success for all A Level students.

Students £25+VAT

One free teacher place for every 10 student places
Additional teachers £35+VAT
Individual teachers £80+VAT