| The
Third year course follows the theme of War and Revolution. At this point
boys study the 18th and 19th centuries - most groups begin with a study
of the French Revolution. Pupils will ponder whether there is a ‘recipe’ for revolution and learn to analyse long term, short term and trigger causes. In thier study of the French Revolution they look at the Terror and examine why it was thought to be necessary, and use statistical and other evidence to evaluate whether the images of the Terror portrayed in Blackadder and the Scarlet Pimpernel are accurate or not. Other groups might investigate different revolutions to examine how they came about and what impact they had - the American Revolution or the Industrial Revolution might provide the focus. The second key element of the course looks at World War One giving pupils an opportunity to experience part of the GCSE course. Pupils are challenged to get to grips with the complex causes of the war, before tracing the shape of the war on the Western Front looking at technological advance (land, sea and air), the slowness of the development of tactics (particularly through a case study of the Battle of the Somme) and the reasons for the final defeat of Germany. For the full GCSE syllabus breakdown for this unit click here. Challenging questions are addressed – were the troops 'lions led by donkeys', what was the significance of the tank and was it all it was cracked up to be, what impact did war have on the Home Front? We then take the opportunity to trace war tactics back to the 19th century, examining ‘fighting to a formula’ and ask why Napoleon was defeated – was he a military genius, what part did Britain play in his defeat, what was the significance of the royal navy? Once again this is designed to give a taste of things to come, as all these themes are available for study again in the Lower Sixth. A trip to Reading theatre to see ‘Journey’s End’ takes place in March and a visit to the Imperial War Museum is planned for subsequent years. |