Canning Vale College
Course Outline
Modern History – ATAR Year 11
Unit 1 – Elective 7: Capitalism – the American experience (1907–1941)
Week
1
2–3
4
5
6–8
Key teaching points
Introduction
 introductory work on US source materials
 key ideas, including the theories of capitalism
The rise of capitalism
A review of the period from 1850–1907
 expansion of the railways
 post-Civil War reconstruction
 mass immigration and immigrant labour
 discovery of oil and the importance of JD Rockefeller and Standard Oil
 mass production
Task 1: An in-class essay of 45 minutes based on content related to the factors contributing
to the rise of capitalism in the USA. (Week 3)
1907–1914
 Henry Ford, the Model T and consumerism
 Theodore Roosevelt and expansionism
 Taft and economic reform to curb laissez-faire policies
World War 1
 Woodrow Wilson and America’s involvement in World War I
 the Fourteen Points and the return to isolationism
 the impact of World War I on American capitalism
 industrialisation
 capitalism
 constitutional amendments: women voting
 immigration restriction
The 1920s and the shaping of the American Dream
After all, the chief business of the American people is business – Coolidge
 limited government involvement and economic liberty (laissez-faire)
 mass production in industry and agriculture
 impact of the specialisation of industry
 mass marketing, consumerism and a change in lifestyle, including:
 the Jazz Age
 film
 fashion
 prohibition
Task 2: A Source analysis based on key areas of life in America in the 1920’s.
Course outline | Modern History | ATAR Year 11
2
Week
9–10
11
12–14
Key teaching points
The Great Depression and the New Deal
 the impact of the stock market dealings throughout the 1920s
 how these led to the Wall Street Crash of 1929
 other factors which contributed to the Great Depression
 the spiral into economic depression
 the short-term and long-term social, political and economic impacts, including the
impact on capitalism and on different groups in society
 political responses, including:
 Hoover and ‘Rugged Individualism’
 Roosevelt and the ‘New Deal’
Task 3: Source analysis 2 – FDR, Hoover, Great Depression, New Deals (Week 10)
Impact of WWII to 1941
The impact of World War II on American capitalism
 the armaments industry
 other industries
 foreign affairs and trade
 women in the workforce
Impact of capitalism on different groups in society 1907–1941: An Inquiry
At least two of the following groups should be considered:
 African Americans
 immigrants
 urban workers
 rural workers
 wealthy industrialists
 the Indian Nations
Divisions within society
Division caused, or widened, by capitalism
15
16
Task 4 Part A: Historical inquiry – the inquiry process (Week 14)
Task 4 Part B: Validation essay (Week 14)
The significance of capitalism
A comparison with other economic systems at the time, particularly Communism
Task 5: Explanation 2 – An in-class essay of 45 minutes based on the impact of Capitalism on
minority groups during the period. (Week 15)
Task 6: Semester 2 examination (3 hours) using the examination design brief from the ATAR
Year 12 syllabus.
Course outline | Modern History | ATAR Year 11
Canning Vale College
Course Outline 2017
Modern History – ATAR Year 11
Unit 2 – Elective 6: Nazism 1918-1945
Week
Key teaching points
Introduction: the democratic changes under the Weimar Government and
reasons for its failure to deal with social, political and economic problems.
Sem 2
Week 1-2
(Term 2
wk 8-9)

background

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Constitution

Uprising

 1923 Crisis – hyperinflation / Stresemann

HAND OUT HISTORICAL INQUIRY DUE SEM 2 WEEK 7
Rise of Fascism and the Nazi Party in Germany:
Sem 2
Week 3 -4
(Term 2
wk 10 Term 3 wk 1)
Sem 2
Week 5 - 6
(Term 3
wk 2-3)
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Nature of fascism
Nazi ideology
Hostility to communism
Nazi Party’s organisational and tactical skills
Nazi Party utilisation of popular fears
Mein Kampf
Mussolini’s fascism
Task 8: An in-class source analysis adapted from the WACE examination
questions. Sources based on content related to the instability of the
Weimar Republic - Hyperinflation. (Week 3)
Reasons for the Nazi Party’s rise to power:

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Effects of Great Depression
Enduring effects of the `Treaty of Versailles’
Nazi policies
Nazi electoral progress
Article 48 & the collapse of Weimar Republic
Hitler becomes chancellor
Interpretations of Nazi Rise to power.
How important was Hitler?
Task 9: An in-class essay of 45 minutes based on the main reasons for the
fall of the Weimar Republic and the Great Depression. (Week 5)
4
Week
Sem 2
Week 7-8
(Term 3 wk 4-5)
Key teaching points
The nature and effect of key aspects of Nazi state:
 Reichstag Fire & the Enabling Act
 Process of “Gleischaltung”
 Night of the Long Knives
 Military Mobilisation
Task 7 Due Part A: The historical inquiry process. Topic: Persecution of
minority groups in Nazi Germany. (Wk 7)
Task 7 Due Part B: An in-class validation essay of 45 minutes. Research
notes may be used. (Wk 7)
Sem 2
Week 9 - 10
(Term 3 wk 6 - 7)
Impact of the Nazis on various groups within society:





Youth & Education policies
Women in Nazi Germany
Persecution of Minorities
Opposition to the Nazis – terror and oppression
Trade unions
Task 10: An in-class essay of 45 minutes based on the impact of Nazism on
Germany. (wk 10)
Hitler’s foreign policy aims:
Sem 2
Week 11-13




Foreign policy 1933-39
Different interpretations of foreign policy - `Appeasement’
Lebensraum (living space)
Social policies on religion
st
Excursion Friday 21 September – Holocaust Institute
(Term 3 wk 8 - 10)
Task 11: An in-class source analysis adapted from the WACE examination
questions. Sources based on content related to persecution of minority
groups in Nazi Germany. (Wk 12)
Sem 2
Week 14
Nazi policies of anti-Semitism:



Invasion of Poland
Ghettos (Warsaw) – efforts to persecute and subsequently exterminate
Jewish population
Final Solution - Holocaust
(Term 4 wk 1)
Course outline | Modern History | ATAR Year 11
Week
Key teaching points
The role and impact of significant individuals in Weimar and Nazi Germany:
Sem 2
Week 15 -16
(Term 4
wk 1-2)
Sem 2

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Adolf Hitler
Gustav Stresemann
President von Hindenburg
Leni Riefenstahl
Alfred Krupp
Joseph Goebbels
Hermann Göring
Albert Speer

the legacy of Nazism after WWII
Revision
Week 17
(Term 4 wk 3-4)
Sem 2
Week 18
(Term 4 wk 5)
Task 12: Semester 2 examination (3 hours) using the examination design
brief from the ATAR Year 12 syllabus.