IB History: Designing a High-Overlap Course

Inquiry question

Norse exploration (circa 982- 1020)

The Aztec Empire (circa 1428- 1469)

What factors prompted innovation?

1. Population pressures and lack of arable land
2. Technological advances in shipbuilding
3. Roles of Erik Thorvaldsson (circa 950-1003) and Leif Erikson (circa 970s-1018)

1. Triple Alliance and the establishment of the Aztec Empire
2. Imperial reforms, including the Flower Wars
3. Role of Moctezuma I (circa 1440-1469)

How did climate conditions shape innovation?

1. Medieval Warm Period
2. Emergence of new sea routes
3. Environmental conditions in Greenland and Vinland

1. Environmental conditions in the Mexican basin
2. Importance of water resources
3. Drought, including the famine of One Rabbit

What innovations took place?

1. Establishment of new settlements in Greenland and Vinland, including L’Anse aux Meadows
2. Food production
3. Relations with the Skrælingjar

1. Urban planning, including in Tenochtitlán
2. Food production, including chinampas
3. Aztec expansion and annexation of Totonacapan

Inquiry question

The Haitian Revolution (circa 1780-1811)

Kenyan independence (1945-1978)

What prompted the emergence of the independence movement?

1. French colonial rule
2. Slave resistance, maroonage and Vodou
3. Influence of the French Revolution

1. British colonial rule
2. Resistance of the Kenya African Union
3. Influence of the Second World War

How was independence achieved?

1. War for Freedom in Saint Domingue (1791) and the abolition of slavery (1793)
2. Independence struggle (1794-1804)
3. Roles of Toussaint L’Ouverture and Jean- Jacques Dessalines

1. Mau Mau Uprising (1952- 1960)
2. Lancaster House Conference (1960-1962), self-government and multi-party politics (1960-1963)
3. Role of Jomo Kenyatta

How, and with what challenges, was a new identity formed?

1. Constitution (1801) and Declaration of Independence (1804)
2. Continuing social inequalities established during French colonial rule
3. Independence debt

1. Independence Constitution (1963) and transition towards a one-party political system
2. Education and promotion of cultural diversity
3. Land reforms

Inquiry question

The Meiji Restoration (1853- 1894)

The Russian Federation (1985- 1999)

What caused the transition to take place?

1. Decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate
2. Stagnation and demands for rapid modernization
3. Influence of the United States (USA) and European countries

1. Role of the Communist Party
2. Impact of stagnation and failed economic reform
3. Challenges to communism in Eastern Europe

How was the transition achieved?

1. Roles of the Meiji oligarchy and Emperor Mutsuhito
2. Land reform, industrialization and trade
3. Constitution of 1889

1. Roles of Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin
2. Constitution of 1993
3. Privatization, market liberalization and tax reforms

What challenges did society face after the transition?

1. Peasant unrest
2. Satsuma Rebellion
3. Foreign relations and imperialism

1. Communist hardline coup (1991) and the constitutional crisis (September-October 1993)
2. Labour strikes, protests and organized crime
3. First Chechen War (1994- 1996)

Inquiry question

Post-war displacement in Europe (1945-1960)

Indochina refugee crisis (1975- 1990)

What were the conditions that led to mass displacement?

1. Combat operations and Allied victory
2. Persecution and fear of reprisals
3. Economic factors

1. Combat operations and Communist victory
2. Persecution and fear of reprisals
3. Economic factors

What was the national and international response to displacement?

1. Displaced persons camps, migration, emigration and repatriation
2. Role of Allied governments and non-governmental organizations, including the International Red Cross
3. Role of United Nations (UN), including the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and International Refugee Organization (IRO)

1. Displaced persons camps, migration, emigration and repatriation
2. Role of the USA and the Vietnamese government
3. Role of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), including the Orderly Departure Program 1979

How was displacement experienced by different groups?

1. Refugees and stateless persons
2. Concentration camp survivors, including Jews, Roma and prisoners of war
3. Former forces under German command

1. Vietnamese, including Hoa, Montagnard, Hmong and Chams
2. Cambodians fleeing the Khmer Rouge
3. Laotians and highland people of Laos

Inquiry question

Feminism in the USA (1960- 1979)

Revolution in Tunisia (1989- 2015)

What led to the emergence of protest movements?

1. Reactions to domesticity, including participation of women in the workforce
2. Impact of changing access to contraception
3. Influence of early feminist literature

1. Repression and censorship by the Ben Ali regime
2. Failed economic reform and unemployment
3. Influence and spread of revolutionary ideas

How did the protest movement challenge authority?

1. Protest and activism
2.  Role of groups including the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Women’s Political Caucus and organizations affiliated to the Women’s Liberation Movement
3. Role of mass media

1. December Revolution
2. Ennahda Party and Nidaa Tounes
3. Role of Social Media

What changes did the protest movement achieve, and with what limitations?

1. Political and legal changes, including Title IX (1972) and Roe v. Wade (1973)
2. Economic changes, including equal pay and employment rights
3. Experiences of marginalized women, including African American and working-class women

1. Political and legal changes, including the ousting of Ben Ali and the 2014 Constitution
2. Social changes, including youth radicalization and terrorism
3. Role and status of women