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NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 1 of 13
Assessment Schedule — 2011
History: Examine how a force or movement in an historical setting influenced people’s
lives, in an essay (90469)
Describe and explain how a force or movement influenced an individual or specific group of people to
attempt to change the political and / or social situation in their country.
Describe and explain the consequences that occurred because of these attempts.
Judgement Statement
This Achievement Standard requires writing an essay examining cause(s) and / or consequence(s) and / or
event(s) related to a force or movement in history, and the influence on people’s lives of the force or movement.
The criteria below are intended as guidance for making judgments, rather than as a prescriptive checklist.
Achievement
Achievement with Merit
Achievement with Excellence
NOTE 1: The specific group / individual must be identified by the candidate, either explicitly or implicitly
NOTE 2: While accuracy in evidence is desirable (eg dates, figures, statistics, quotes, names) this Standard is not
assessing recall of specific details; candidates should not be penalised at any grade level unless lack of accuracy
detracts from the examination of identity.
AS Criteria 2 CONTENT
One or more ways in which an
historical force or movement (which
may include related events)
influenced a specific group and / or
individual in their attempt to change
the political and / or social situation
in their country are described.
One or more ways in which an
historical force or movement (which
may include related events)
influenced a specific group and / or
individual in their attempt to change
the political and / or social situation
in their country are explained.
One or more ways in which an
historical force or movement (which
may include related events)
influenced a specific group and / or
individual in their attempt to change
the political and / or social situation in
their country are comprehensively
explained.
AND
AND
AND
AS Criteria 1 CONTENT
One or more consequences of
these attempts are described.
One or more consequences of
these attempts are explained.
One or more consequences of
these attempts are
comprehensively explained.
Describing means a relevant idea
is stated and followed up with some
amplification.
Explaining means describing and
then making links as to:
- how / why the force / movement
was influential on the group /
individual and their actions
- how / why the consequences were
linked to the attempt to change the
political and / or social situation in
their country
Comprehensive means the essay
covers a good range of relevant
content and supports the
description and explanation with
mostly accurate facts
STRUCTURE
The historical information is organised in an appropriate essay format that
could include:
 an introduction and conclusion that make reference to at least one of
the questions
 evidence of paragraphing
o Typically, a paragraph will open with a Key Idea (Topic) Sentence
that reflects the question and signals what aspect of the candidate
response will be covered in the paragraph body. Elaboration in the
body will be supported by evidence (statistics, short quotes, dates,
names etc)
The historical information is
organised in an effective essay
format that should include:
 an introduction and conclusion
that address both questions
 structured and / or sequenced
paragraphs with evidence of
argument
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 2 of 13
Selected historical force or movement: Serbian nationalism
Selected topic or setting: Lead up to the assassination of the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, and the
subsequent outbreak of World War I
Specific individual or group challenging the government / rival power: Dragutin Dimitrijevic (of the Black Hand)
or Black Hand (and / or other Serbian nationalist groups)
Ways in which an historical force or movement influenced a specific group of people and / or individual to
attempt to change the political and / or social situation in their country could include:
Serbian nationalism influenced those who belonged to the Black Hand (or other such nationalist groups) by
focusing their shared sense of grievance against Austria-Hungary. It led more radical nationalists to use violence,
and ultimately to assassinate the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, in an attempt to create a crisis that would
enable the overthrow of Austro-Hungarian rule and pave the way for the establishment of a pan-Slavic state.
 While other European states such as Germany and Italy had unified in the 1870s along ethnic lines, AustriaHungary seemed to be the main obstacle to Serbia’s similar goal.
 Patriotic books and newspapers carried the same pan-Slav message, and were widely read. In addition, free
education had been extended to more (male) children from the 1880s. A strongly nationalistic curriculum was
taught. The basic geography textbook showed much of the southern Balkans as Serbian. History texts
contained a similar message, and included tales of heroic martyrs who had killed, or were killed, for their
country.
 The ruling Serbian Royal Family was seen by many as being too weak in its dealings with Austria-Hungary. It
seemed to many that the King had allowed Austria-Hungary to dominate Serbia’s economy since the 1878
Congress of Berlin. (By 1905, 84 percent of Serbian exports went to Austria-Hungary, and Austria supplied 53
percent of goods entering Serbia.) Anti-monarchy feelings intensified when in 1903 police fired on students
who were demonstrating against King Obrenovic’s unwillingness to stand up to Austria-Hungary. That same
year a group of young, nationalist Army officers lost all patience with the King: led by Dragutin Dimitrijevic
(known as Apis, or ‘the Bee’), they killed the King. This act showed that nationalism had strongly influenced
elements within the Army, and it showed that they were not under the full control of their senior officers.
 In 1908 Austria precipitated the ‘Bosnian Crisis’ by annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina. Prior to this crisis, some
five million Slavs were already living within the borders of Austria-Hungary. Even though Serbia had been
granted its independence from Turkey in 1878, it was Austria-Hungary that had been granted administrative
control of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This angered nationalist Serbs, who had hoped to see the uniting of the Slavic
people there with those in Serbia. Relations deteriorated further from 1878 when Austria-Hungary began a
programme of crushing by force the customs, language, religion and other Slavic ways of the people of BosniaHerzegovina. The annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina outraged Serbian nationalists, not least because a further
one million Serbs living in Bosnia-Herzegovina were now under full Austrian control.
 After the Bosnian Crisis in 1908 a secret Serbian nationalist society – the Narodna Odbrana (National Defence)
– was formed. It engaged in anti-Austrian political action and propaganda. A much more dangerous
organisation was the very secretive ‘Black Hand’. It was organised in 1911 by Apis (‘the Bee’) from the
remnants of those who had assassinated the Serbian King in 1903. The Black Hand aimed to overthrow
Austrian rule and create a Greater Serbian state. To this end, it trained guerrilla fighters and saboteurs, and
arranged political murders. It also infiltrated the Narodna Odbrana from where it was able to publish virulently
anti-Austrian propaganda. (While few Serbs shared the Black Hand’s radical views, many were in tune with its
general anti-Austrian position.)
 After the first Balkan War, where Serbia almost doubled in size, Austria-Hungary was instrumental in having a
new state – Albania – created between Serbia and the Adriatic coast. (Austria-Hungary was fearful that an
expanding Serbia would be a threat to its own security, especially as Serbia wished to further expand by
encouraging other Slavs to join with it.) Serbia, for its part, was outraged as it lost access to the sea. Sea
access would have allowed Serbia to trade more freely, thus escaping economic domination by AustriaHungary. In addition, sea access could have dramatically increased Serbia’s power through allowing it develop
a Navy, bringing its pan-Slavic goal closer to realisation. Consequently, Austro-Serbian relations deteriorated
even further.
 Finally, the date of the Austrian Archduke’s visit – 28 June, the anniversary of Serbia’s defeat by Turkey in the
14th century – was extremely provocative to Serbian nationalists. Black Hand was determined to respond to
this provocation.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 3 of 13
Consequences of these attempts to change the political and / or social situation in the country could
include:
Austria-Hungary’s actions:
 Austria-Hungary was outraged and was determined to crush Serbian nationalism once and for all by striking at
Serbia itself. The Austrian government sought backing from Germany (the ‘blank cheque’) as it did not wish to
risk war alone against Russia, should Russia make good on its guarantee to defend Serbia if it was attacked.
 An extremely harsh ultimatum was sent to Serbia on July 23rd 1914. The Serbian government had not backed
the actions of the ‘Black Hand’ and, in order to avoid war, agreed to most of the terms, except the one that
would have extended Austrian control deep into the heart of the Serbian government: “This cannot be
accepted, as this is a violation of the constitution and of criminal procedure.” Serbia also suggested that the
International Court at The Hague or the Great Powers could be called upon to intervene. This did not satisfy
Austria-Hungary, who really wanted war in order to crush Serbia’s pan-Slavic aspirations.
 Despite efforts by Britain to negotiate a settlement, on 28 July 1914 Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
The Alliance System:
 Encouraged by French assurances of support, Russia mobilised its troops in support of Serbia, despite a flurry
of urgent telegrams between Germany and Russia (the ‘Willy-Nicky’ telegrams). Russia was determined that it
would not let Serbia down, or back down itself, as it had done through lack of military preparedness after the
1908 Bosnian Crisis.
 In accordance with the Schlieffen Plan (which required the defeat of France within six weeks using 90% of
Germany’s military strength, in order that Germany’s full military might could then be turned on Russia),
Germany mobilised in preparation for its pre-emptive attack on France. Ultimatums were issued by Germany to
Russia demanding that it demobilise, and to France demanding that it remain neutral. In response, France
mobilised.
 Germany subsequently invaded Luxembourg and neutral Belgium (whose neutrality was guaranteed by the
Treaty of London) in order to attack France. Belgian troops put up unexpectedly stiff resistance. Britain’s
commitment to Belgium left Britain with no option but to enter the war too. In all likelihood, Britain’s
commitments to France and Russia through the Triple Entente, and its concern about a Europe dominated by a
victorious Germany, would have seen it enter the war anyway. Russia surprised Germany with the speed of its
attack on East Prussia. The Great War had begun.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 4 of 13
Selected historical force or movement: Vietnamese nationalism (communist-influenced)
Selected topic or setting: First Indo-China War.
Specific individual or group challenging the government / rival power: Ho Chi Minh / Viet Minh or Viet Cong
Ways in which an historical force or movement influenced a specific group of people and / or individual to
attempt to change the political and/or social situation in their country could include:
Vietnamese nationalism, coupled with a desire for freedom from colonial rule, was a powerful force that influenced
groups like the Viet Minh, who attempted to overthrow French (and Japanese) rule in Vietnam.
 A long history of foreign intervention, especially by China, had led to regular uprisings that helped create a
sense of national identity based on a strong resentment of foreign interference. Despite regional differences,
there was a common language in Vietnam. Confucianism and Buddhism influenced cultural development. For
most, life was village based; the family and village leaders were extremely important, more so than an Emperor
or other ruler.
 Vietnamese nationalism, and a desire to oust the French, was fuelled by actions taken by the French colonial
rulers. Under the French laws applicable to individuals, Vietnamese were prohibited from travelling outside their
districts without identity papers; and they were not allowed to publish, meet, or organise. They were subject to
corvee, and they could be imprisoned at the whim of any French magistrate. By 1930 more than 80 percent of
the riceland in Cochin-China was owned by 25 percent of the landowners, and 57 percent of the rural
population were landless peasants working on large estates. More than 90 percent of rubber plantations were
French owned. Two-thirds of the coal mined in Vietnam (nearly two million tons in 1927) was exported to
France. Under French rule, the number of elementary schools was gradually increased, but even by 1925 it
was estimated that no more than one school-age child in ten was receiving schooling. As a result, Vietnam's
high degree of literacy declined dramatically during the colonial period. Economic hardship during the
Depression hit Vietnamese peasants hardest. By 1930 rubber prices had plummeted to less than one-fourth
their 1928 value. Peasants were forced to sell at least twice as much rice to pay the same amount in taxes or
other debts. Floods, famine, and food riots plagued the countryside.
 Of particular influence in the Viet Minh was Ho Chi Minh. His father was a nationalist who disliked French rule
of Vietnam, no matter how indirect in the central region. Ho was a messenger for his father’s activities and later
participated in a series of tax revolts. Through his Western-style education, Ho had learned of the high ideals of
the French Revolution – “liberty, equality and fraternity”. He travelled to France in 1911 and joined the French
communist party while in Paris. He took great interest in the anti-colonial views of Lenin (leader of the Russian
Revolution of 1917). Later, Ho studied and taught in the Soviet Union for a period. Ho came to believe that a
total focus on the goal of independence was the only way that Vietnam would be free. Formed in 1941, the Viet
Minh was a nationalist rather than communist organisation, although beliefs such as equality and land
distribution to the peasants were important.
o Denied a legal outlet for political expression, nationalists in the north joined the forcefully expanding
philosophy of communism during the 1920’s, while in the freer south, nationalists adopted the democratic
views of Sun Yat-sin. The gulf separating north and south was now, for all practical purposes, complete
and unbridgeable, made so by the radically different methods of nationalist expression adopted by the two
regions. Legally, politically and philosophically, South Vietnam was, by the end of the Second World War, a
sovereign nation, distinctly different in culture and national expression from the nation of North Vietnam.
Viet Cong (National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam / People's Liberation Armed Forces)
Many of the same influences led to the Viet Cong challenging the authority of the Bao Dai / Ngo Dinh Diem USbacked governments. Under the Viet Cong’s nationalist view, the governments in the South lacked legitimacy as
they were too heavily influenced by foreigners. They also sought to reunite a country that had been divided by the
Geneva Accords (see below), and by the Diem government’s refusal to hold the scheduled elections.
Consequences of these attempts to change the political and / or social situation in the country could
include:
Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam)
Political
 When the Japanese surrendered in August 1945, Ho – acting as leader of the Viet Minh – established a
Vietnamese government in Hanoi, and proclaimed an independent Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Ho used
words from the American Declaration of Independence: “All men are created equal. They are endowed by their
creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” However, the
Viet Minh was not strong enough to resist the return of the French, a compromise was negotiated that saw the
DRV reduced to the status of a ‘free state within the French Union of Indochinese states’ – a most
unsatisfactory arrangement, but one both sides knew would not last.
 The Viet Minh’s position was to negotiate to unite Vietnam under a Viet Minh government. Despite the efforts of
its delegate, Pham Van Dong, the real players at the conference were the major powers. The ‘temporary’
division of Vietnam was acceptable only because the Viet Minh already controlled up to two-thirds of Vietnam,
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 5 of 13

and because of the promise of elections in 1956 – the Viet Minh (and everybody else) believed that the DRV
would finally be established through the electoral process …
After the military defeat of the French at Dien Bien Phu, a political solution was sought at the concomitant
Geneva Conference. Expecting support from China and the USSR, and feeling that their military victory had
them in a powerful position, the Viet Minh was bitterly disappointed when the goal of a unified Vietnam free of
foreign intervention once again eluded them. The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam in half at the 17th parallel
(which for the Viet Minh meant ceding some territory it already held), with Ho Chi Minh's Communists ceded
the North, while Bao Dai's regime was granted the South. The Accords also provided for population transfer,
and national elections to be held in all of Vietnam within two years to reunify the country. Although
disappointed with the outcome, the remnants of the Viet Minh (the 10,000 or so ‘winter cadre’ / ’stay behinds’),
along with ‘agents’ from the North, engaged in political activity in an effort to ensure a victory at the elections in
1956. (These were not held in the end.)
Military
 Japan: Ho and the Viet Minh organised resistance to the Japanese occupation during WWII. Ho called for a
general uprising when the Japanese surrendered on August 10th 1945. The uprising’s slogan was: “Break
open the rice stores to avert famine.” (This was in order to feed the starving Vietnamese people).
 France: Ho and the Viet Minh also organised resistance against the return of the French after WWII. This led to
the First Indo-China War. As conflict with the French increased Ho ensured the survival of the Viet Minh by
moving into the mountains and conducting a guerrilla campaign. The decisive battle of the First Indo-China War
was at Dien Bien Phu in 1954. Ho knew that to have a strong position from which to negotiate Vietnamese
independence at the upcoming peace talks in Geneva, the Viet Minh would have to win. The Viet Minh, led
militarily by Vo Nguyen Giap, was prepared to sustain massive losses in order to win. Victory in this war was
significant in that it demonstrated that a western colonial power could be defeated by an indigenous
revolutionary force.
Social / Economic
 As WWII drew to an end, famine conditions occurred in the countryside, and unemployment was rampant in the
cities. In the Red River Delta alone, more than 500 000 people died of starvation between March and May
1945. The Viet Minh distributed food to the starving peasants during the August Revolution. (“Break open the
rice stores to avert famine.”)
 After WWII and the return of the French, and particularly as French rule broke down, the Viet Minh created its
own local administration to help run the country-side in its control. Villages were given – for the first time ever –
a real say in governing themselves.
 Rents were reduced, and in some cases land was redistributed to the peasants (although the Viet Minh relied
on landlords, too, for support, so couldn’t afford to antagonise them too much). Debts were often written off.
Education was increasingly provided. The tax system was changed to relieve the burden on the peasants.
Viet Cong
The Viet Cong (VC), as it was commonly known, was established at the end of 1960 by the North Vietnamese
communists to escalate the armed struggle in South Vietnam. In the early 1960s the VC grew rapidly and by 1964,
totalled over 30 000 soldiers.
Political / social
 Formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF) or Viet Cong in 1960, a broad-based coalition of Vietnamese
nationalist groups, as well as the Viet Minh ‘winter cadre’ or ‘stay behinds’ from the time of the partition of
Vietnam. Its goal was a unified Vietnam free of foreign intervention.
 Land reform and propaganda campaigns to win ‘hearts and minds’ of the Vietnamese peasants.
 Political aim behind the Tet Offensive (see below) was to undermine support for the war within the US itself by
showing the American public that their leaders had been deceiving them with regard to ‘winning the war in
Vietnam’.
 Insistence during post-Tet Offensive negotiations that the VC form part of the government in the South.
Military
 Formation of the People’s Revolutionary Army, commonly referred to as the Viet Cong, which was organised
into southern, provincial and local guerrilla units.
 Beginning of guerrilla campaign in 1961 against the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) and US forces
 Targeting of ‘strategic hamlets’ and villagers who supported the Diem regime or followed its instructions
 New VC tactic of full scale battles begins in 1963 at Ap Bac, when VC soldiers inflicted heavy casualties on the
Southern Vietnamese units.
o Tet Offensive (1968)
 Diversionary battle at Khe Sanh
 VC attacks on more than 100 centres in the South
 Hue, Saigon (US Embassy)
 (Huge VC losses, resulting in its virtual destruction)
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 6 of 13
Selected historical force or movement: Bolshevism / Communism
Selected topic or setting: Russian Revolution
Specific individual or group challenging the government / rival power: Lenin / the Bolsheviks
Ways in which an historical force or movement influenced a specific group of people and / or individual to
attempt to change the political and / or social situation in their country could include:
Lenin (building on the ideas of Engels and Marx) was fundamental to the development of Bolshevism / Russian
communism as an historical force / movement. Social, economic and political conditions peculiar to Russia directly
influenced the shape of Bolshevism and its goal of overthrowing the Tsarist regime and establishing a Bolshevik
state. Lenin’s view was that change in Russia should be brought about by a relatively small group of dedicated
revolutionaries, rather than by a mass movement. Lenin deviated from the orthodox Marxist view that the workers’
revolution would come only after a bourgeois class had developed and taken power, a process which could
possibly take up to a century. He believed that the proletariat and (less so) the peasants, led by his small group of
revolutionaries, could bypass this phase and proceed directly to the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’.
Economic and social conditions that influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and their desire to challenge the power of
the Tsarist government:
 The abolition of serfdom in 1861 left peasants legally free but still economically oppressed because of
redemption payments to be paid to the State. Extreme poverty was exacerbated by enormous population
growth, low agricultural productivity and high taxes.
 Urban workers suffered from overcrowded housing with often unsanitary and dangerous conditions, as well as
long hours at work (on the eve of WWI a 10-hour workday, six days a week, was the average, and many were
working 11–12 hours a day by 1916). On the other hand, workers living in cities were exposed to new ideas
about the social and political order.
 Centuries of oppression towards the lower classes, and the failure of land reforms in the early 1900s saw
increased peasant disturbances and sometimes full revolts, the goal being to secure ownership of their land.
(Russia consisted mainly of poor farming peasants, with 1.5% of the population owning 25% of the land.)
 The growth of a new 'proletariat', due to being crowded together in the cities, allowed revolutionary ideas of
freedom from oppression to spread. Between 1890 and 1910, the population of the capital of St Petersburg
swelled from one to two million, with Moscow experiencing similar growth. In one 1904 survey, it was found that
an average of 16 people shared each apartment in St Petersburg, with six people per room.
Political conditions that influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and their desire to challenge the power of the Tsarist
government:
 Tsar Nicholas II was a deeply conservative ruler. He believed in the myth of the ruler as a saintly and blessed
father of his people. A reactionary and often ignorant clergy kept religion static and persecuted dissenters, and
non-Russian nationalities in the empire were repressed. Pogroms were also instituted against the Jews, which
turned many radical Jews to revolutionary activities. Despite this, Nicholas was unable to believe that true
Russians were not as devoted to him as he felt he was to them. He was thus unwilling to allow the democratic
reforms that might have prevented revolution. Even after ‘Bloody Sunday’ and the failed 1905 ‘revolution’,
when he felt forced to allow limited civil rights (October Manifesto) and democratic representation (the Duma),
he tried to limit these in every possible way. Article 87 of the 1906 Fundamental State Laws reaffirmed his
autocratic rule, and the first two ‘uncooperative’ Dumas were dismissed. Unfulfilled hopes of democracy fueled
the Bolsheviks’ revolutionary ideas and violence targeted at the Tsarist regime.
 Despite the Tsar’s autocratic regime, there was a long history of opposition (although it had never been able to
achieve unity of purpose or action). From the 1890s socialists of different nationalities formed their own parties,
a process accelerated by the disastrous Russo-Japanese War. Russian liberal activists from the zemstva (local
councils) and from the professions joined with diverse nationalist groups to form an anti-autocratic alliance.
Lenin, politicised in part by the execution of his brother for his part in a plot to assassinate the Tsar, took a
Marxist-inspired revolutionary approach. Lenin opposed mass-movement groups, arguing instead for a small,
dedicated and tightly controlled core to drive forward to the revolution, when the time was right.
 In the wake of the Russo-Japanese War and the turmoil caused by ‘Bloody Sunday’ soviets (councils of
workers and soldiers) were formed in some cities, the most significant being that in St Petersburg. (Bolsheviks
were a minority here, but were a majority in the less significant Moscow soviet.) This was a direct challenge to
the Tsar’s authority, and was tolerated only whilst the regime struggled to reassert its control. Moderate
constitutional parties formed and held seats in the newly-formed Duma, but their scope for decisive action was
limited. Leftist parties resorted to assassinations and terror, but some also participated in the elections.
Factional fighting within the Left resulted in the establishment of a separate Bolshevik party in 1913, with Lenin
its leader. Except where expediency demanded it, the Bolsheviks refused to cooperate with other parties.
 During WWI, Lenin was appalled that many socialist parties inside and outside Russia supported the war.
Under Lenin, the Bolsheviks were convinced to adopt an internationalist stance of worker unity irrespective of
national boundaries, and total opposition to what Lenin saw as an exploitative capitalist-inspired war. These
views were articulated in Lenin’s ‘April Theses’, which he propounded upon his return in 1917 in the wake of
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 7 of 13
the March Revolution (Tsar Nicholas’ bloodless abdication. From this point on, a Provisional Government and
the Petrograd soviet co-existed uneasily as each competed for legitimacy amongst the people in an
arrangement known as ‘Dual Power’). Other measures proposed by Lenin included non-co-operation with the
"bourgeois" Provisional Government; the abolition of the police, army and state bureaucracy; rejection of
parliamentary democracy in favour of workers’ control of the state through the system of soviets; and that land
should be given to the peasants. These views were neatly summed up in the slogan: "Peace, Land, Bread."
Conditions during WWI that influenced the Bolsheviks’ policy and their desire challenge the power of the Tsarist
government (including pulling out of the war; granting power to the workers and soldiers through the establishment
of soviets):
 One of Nicholas's reasons for going to war in 1914 was his desire to restore the prestige that Russia had lost
during the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese war, and undermine revolutionary activity by focusing his people’s minds
and energies on a common enemy – Germany. Initially this worked, but the patriotic unity did not last long.
Russia's first major battle of the war was a disaster. In the 1914 Battle of Tannenberg, over 120 000 Russian
troops were killed, wounded, or captured, while Germany suffered only 20 000 casualties.
 In the autumn of 1915 Nicholas had taken direct command of the army, meaning that he could not escape
personal responsibility for the ongoing disasters. Worse still, his ambitious though incapable (German) wife
Alexandra was left in charge of the government. Reports of corruption and incompetence in the Imperial
government began to emerge, and the growing influence of Grigori Rasputin in the Imperial family was widely
resented.
 In 1915, things took a critical turn for the worse when Germany shifted its focus of attack to the Eastern front.
The superior German army – better led, better trained, better supplied – was devastatingly effective against the
ill-equipped Russian forces. By the end of October 1916, Russia had lost between 1.6 and 1.8 million soldiers,
with an additional two million prisoners of war and one million missing – a total of nearly five million men.
Furthermore, soldiers went hungry and lacked shoes, munitions, and even weapons. Rampant discontent
lowered morale, only to be further undermined by a series of military defeats. Mutinies began to occur, and in
1916 reports of fraternising with the enemy started to circulate. The officer class also saw dramatic turnover,
especially in the lower ranks, which quickly filled with rising soldiers usually of peasant or worker backgrounds;
these men would play a large role in the politicisation of the troops in 1917. The crisis in morale “was rooted
fundamentally in the feeling of utter despair that the slaughter would ever end and that anything resembling
victory could be achieved.”
 By the end of 1915, there were already clear signs that the economy was breaking down under the heightened
strain of wartime demand. The main problems were food shortages and rising prices. Inflation rapidly forced
down real incomes, and shortages made it difficult to buy even what one could afford. Shortages were
especially a problem in the capital, Petrograd, where distance from supplies and poor transportation networks
made matters particularly bad. The vast demand for factory production of war supplies, and workers, caused
many more labour riots and strikes. Conscription, already unpopular, stripped skilled workers from the cities,
who had to be replaced with unskilled peasants. When famine began to hit due to the poor railway system,
workers abandoned the cities in droves to look for food. Tsar Nicholas was blamed for all these crises, and
what little support he had left began to crumble, culminating in his abdication in March 1917.
The Bolsheviks’ drive for power
 In early July 1917, as the war progressed, widespread discontent in Petrograd led to militant demonstrations
calling for the overthrow of the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik leadership initially opposed this as
premature (they were still a minority party), but ended up leading the demonstrations, hoping to prevent any
bloodshed. They felt compelled to do this to win the trust of the workers, and also in recognition of the fact that
many of the Bolshevik rank and file were already organising and supporting the demonstrations. In the
crackdown that followed, Lenin escaped into hiding (in Finland); other leading Bolsheviks did so too, or were
arrested.
 Events not instigated by the Bolsheviks played decisively into their hands and allowed them to pursue their
objectives. General Kornilov, appointed military commander by the Provisional Government, decided to take
control of Petrograd himself and neutralise the growing Bolshevik threat. When Prime Minister Kerensky
realised what was happening, he panicked and accepted the Bolsheviks' offer of Red Guards to defend the
capital. Kornilov's unsuccessful takeover ended without bloodshed and the Bolsheviks were seen as
"defenders of the city". Their support increased immensely; at the same time support for Kerensky and the
Provisional Government eroded. The Bolsheviks became the majority party in the Petrograd Soviet in early
September 1917 with Leon Trotsky becoming the Soviet's Chairman.
 Radical anti-war Social Democrats merged with the Bolsheviks in August, and the Bolshevik Central
Committee spent September and October of 1917 debating whether they should use parliamentary methods or
whether they should seize power by force. Eventually Lenin’s repeated calls from abroad to overthrow the
Provisional Government were heeded, and a Military Revolutionary Council (led by Trotsky) was set up to do
the planning. Lenin returned late in October shortly before the revolution was successfully and relatively
bloodlessly achieved.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 8 of 13
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Consequences of these attempts to change the political and/or social situation in the country could
include:
In the wake of the ‘revolution’, the Bolsheviks announced the establishment of a new Provisional Government
but, in elections that an over-confident Lenin allowed, the Bolsheviks gained only 24% of the popular vote (the
opposition Socialist Revolutionaries gained over 40%). Shocked but undeterred, Lenin established a parallel
Constituent Assembly, packed it with his followers, and declared it to be the Provisional Government. The
congress duly passed all the measures submitted to it by the government spokesmen, including the
"Declaration of Rights." Russia became a "Federation of Soviet Republics," to be known as the "Russian Soviet
Socialist Republic," a name that was retained until 1924, when it was renamed "Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics." The congress acknowledged the Sovnarkom (Council of People's Commissars) as the country's
legitimate government, removing from its name the adjective "provisional." It also approved the principle of
universal labour obligation. In other centres, the Bolshevik party also successfully took over.
In March 1918 the Bolsheviks negotiated a separate peace with Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk). This
provoked opposition from the Bolsheviks’ erstwhile allies in the government, but Lenin had little interest in
placating them. It was also quite easy for Lenin to deliver on his other promise – land to the peasants. They
had been seizing and dividing up large estates for almost a year before Lenin legally recognised this
accomplished fact. What the peasants did not realise was that just as Lenin planned to dispose of Brest-Litovsk
at the first opportunity, so too did he plan to nationalise the peasants' land as soon as he could get away with it.
Delivering on the promise of “Bread” was more difficult with the economy suffering. Lenin merely intensified the
brutality of enforcement of the previous Provisional Government’s price controls on food; rather than starve in
the cities, large percentages of the urban population returned to their family farms in the country. (In the end,
even this desperate move would not save many of them from starvation.)
A secret police force, the Cheka, was quickly established. It was brutal and all-powerful. As the high-ranking
Chekist Latsis explained: “The Extraordinary Commission [Cheka] is neither an investigating body nor a
tribunal. It is an organ of struggle, acting on the home front of a civil war ... We are not carrying out war against
individuals. We are exterminating the bourgeoisie as a class.” The Tsar's secret police, the Okhrana, had
numbered 15 000, which made it by far the largest body of its kind in the old world. By contrast, the Cheka,
within three years of its establishment, had a strength of 250 000 full-time agents. Censorship was imposed,
other political parties were banned and businesses and banks chaotically nationalised. Conscription and
compulsory labour were introduced.
All of these actions provoked a reaction, and opposition to the Bolsheviks formed a loose and fractious
coalition known as the ‘Whites’. Allied troops were also landed in Russian ports so that, as Churchill said,
Bolshevism would be "strangled in its cradle” and war materiel given by France and Britain would not fall into
German hands. Despite major setbacks for Trotsky’s newly formed Red Army, it was able to hold out due to
strict discipline, terror, and unity of purpose. Trotsky had personally taken control of Petrograd’s defenses when
a surprise attack by British-backed “Whites” threatened to take the city. The major fighting was over by the end
of 1920, and the Bolsheviks had consolidated their power. The Russian economy, however, was shattered and
drought and famine in 1920–21 saw horrific scenes of starvation. Between the civil war and its aftermath, some
15 million Russians died.
War Communism (central control of industry and food production) saved the Soviet government during the Civil
War, but much of the Russian economy ground to a standstill. Private industry and trade were outlawed, and
the newly established (and barely stable) state was unable to run the economy on a sufficient scale. It is
estimated that the total output of mines and factories in 1921 had fallen to 20 % of the pre-World War I level,
and many crucial items experienced an even more drastic decline. For example, cotton production fell to 5 %,
and iron to 2 % of pre-war levels. The peasants responded to requisitions by refusing to till the land. By 1921,
cultivated land had shrunk to 62 % of the pre-war area, and the harvest yield was only about 37 % of normal.
The number of horses declined from 35 million in 1916 to 24 million in 1920, and cattle from 58 to 37 million.
The ruble collapsed and was replaced by a system of bartering. The turning point was the Kronstadt rebellion
at the naval base on February, 1921. The rebellion had a startling effect on Lenin (it was eventually crushed by
the Red Army) because the Kronstadt sailors had been among the strongest supporters of the Bolsheviks.
After the rebellion, Lenin ended the policy of War Communism and replaced it with the New Economic Policy.
Under the New Economic Policy – resented bitterly by ardent Marxists in the party – Lenin tacitly
acknowledged that it was impractical to impose full socialist economic theory. To explain the NEP, Lenin had
said "We are not civilised enough for socialism", referring to the fact that Russia was still a primarily agrarian
nation, with a very small urban population and a weak industrial base, and thus it did not meet the economic
criteria necessary for full socialism. Limited free trade was permitted, after the requisite taxes had been paid.
Major industries such as coal and steel remained nationalised. Lenin also introduced the Fundamental Law of
the Exploitation of Land by the Workers, which ensured that the peasants had a choice of land tenure. As
anticipated, these two measures saw agricultural production increase rapidly. A resultant imbalance between
rural and industrial production saw inflation rise. Peasants responded by hoarding grain, or selling to middlemen who profited from speculative trading, but overall the economy began to improve. Joseph Stalin ended the
NEP in 1928, as he introduced the first Five-Year Plan, which focused on industrialisation and collectivisation
of agricultural holdings.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 9 of 13
Selected historical force or movement: Nationalism / Catholicism / anti-communist
Selected topic or setting: Vietnam in the lead up to, and / or during, the Diem regime.
Specific individual or group challenging the government / rival power: Ngo Dinh Diem / Diem’s government
Ways in which an historical force or movement influenced a specific group of people and / or individual to
attempt to change the political and / or social situation in their country could include:
Challenging French authority
 Diem was nationalistic, conservative, devoutly Catholic, anti-Communist (and anti-Buddhist), and preferred the
philosophies of personal rule and Confucianism (with its respect for hierarchy and rule of the able). He came
from the village of Phu Cam in central Vietnam where Portuguese missionaries had converted his family to
Catholicism in the 17th century. Devoutly Catholic, Diem’s father took his entire family to mass every morning.
 Being a conservative, Diem was not a believer in revolutions. However, he came to believe passionately that
Vietnam should be free of colonial rule. (Later, even though he depended heavily on the Americans for military
and financial support, he resented their political interference and proved to be an ‘unwilling puppet’.)
 In 1933 Diem was appointed Bao Dai’s Interior Minister by the French. After calling for the introduction of a
Vietnamese legislature, Diem resigned after three months in office when this was rejected. He was stripped of
his decorations and titles and threatened with arrest. For the next decade, Diem lived as a private citizen with
his family, although he was kept under surveillance. He had no formal job for 21 years.
 During WWII Diem founded a secret political party, the Association for the Restoration of Great Vietnam. When
its existence was discovered in the summer of 1944, the French declared Diem to be a subversive and ordered
his arrest. He fled to Saigon disguised as a Japanese officer.
Challenging a rival for power
 Upon Diem’s first encounter with communists spreading propaganda he involved himself in anti-communist
activities for the first time, printing his own pamphlets. In 1929 he helped to round up communist agitators in his
administrative area. He was rewarded with the promotion to the governorship of Phan Thiet Province, and in
1930 and 1931 suppressed in collaboration with French forces the first peasant revolts organised by the
communists.
 Diem continued to attempt to gather support for himself on an anti-Viet Minh platform. Despite having little
success, Ho was sufficiently irritated to order his arrest. Diem then jointly founded the Vietnam National
Alliance, which called for France to grant Vietnam dominion status similar to the Commonwealth of Nations.
The alliance was sufficient to generate support to fund newspapers in Hanoi and Saigon respectively. In the
meantime, the French had created the State of Vietnam and Diem refused Bao Dại’s offer to become the Prime
Minister. He then published a new manifesto in newspapers proclaiming a ‘third force’ different to communism
and French colonialism, but raised little interest.
 During the August Revolution in 1945 Diem was arrested by the Viet Minh and exiled to a highland village near
the border. Six months later Diem was taken to meet Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, but refused to join the Viet Minh,
assailing Ho for the death of his brother Khoi, who had been buried alive by Viet Minh cadres. The Viet Minh’s
dominance in the North and successes in the South convinced Diem that they would have to be ruthlessly
resisted.
Consequences of these attempts to change the political and / or social situation in the country could
include:
NOTE: Depending on what candidates choose to write on, there may be some overlap of content.
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With the start of WWII in the Pacific, Diem attempted to persuade the invading Japanese forces to declare
independence for Vietnam in 1942, but was ignored. He founded a secret political party, the Association for the
Restoration of Great Vietnam. When its existence was discovered in the summer of 1944, the French declared
Diem to be a subversive and ordered his arrest. He fled to Saigon disguised as a Japanese officer.
Before going to Europe in 1950, Diem went to Japan where he tried to enlist support to seize power in
Vietnam. Neither this nor an attempt to woo help from General Douglas MacArthur, the American supreme
commander in occupied Japan, yielded meetings. He continued to lobby in Europe and America for support for
his ‘third force’, arguing that Vietnam could only be saved for the "free world" if the US sponsored a
government of nationalists who were opposed to both the Viet Minh and the French. As French power in
Vietnam declined, Diem's support in America made his stock rise.
Diem in power
 With the fall of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, and with the backing of the Eisenhower administration, Bao Dại named
Diem as Prime Minister. The French were utterly opposed to Diem’s appointment, citing what they said was his
incompetence, and they continued to undermine him whenever possible.
 Diem's South Vietnamese delegation at the Geneva Conference chose not to sign the accords, refusing to
have half the country under communist rule, but the agreement went into effect regardless.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 10 of 13
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The flow of some one million mostly-Catholic refugees from the north during the period of voluntary population
exchange – encouraged by a CIA-led propaganda campaign – bolstered Diem’s political position. Diem used
slogans such as "Christ has gone south" and "the Virgin Mary had departed from the North", alleging antiCatholic persecution under Ho Chi Minh. Over 60% of northern Catholics moved to Diem's South Vietnam,
providing him with a source of loyal support.
Diem also had to contend with two religious sects, the Cao Dai and Hoa Hao, who wielded private armies in the
Mekong Delta, with the Cao Dai estimated to have 25 000 men. The Viet Minh was also estimated to have
control over a third of the country. The situation was worse in the capital, where the Binh Xuyen organised
crime syndicate boasted an army of 40 000 and controlled a vice empire of brothels, casinos, extortion rackets,
and opium factories unparalleled in Asia. In order to impose his own rule, Diem used the Army to ruthlessly
crush his opponents.
The Americans soon discovered that Diem was an unwilling 'puppet' ruler. He constantly rejected their advice
and made decisions that upset the South Vietnamese people. Several attempts were made to overthrow Diem,
but although the Americans were unhappy with his performance as President, they felt they had no choice but
to support him.
Diem rigged the 1955 elections in the south, destroying Emperor Bao Dai’s political power. Diem recorded
98.2% of the vote, including 605 025 votes in Saigon, where only 450 000 voters were registered. Three days
later, Diem proclaimed the formation of the Republic of Vietnam, naming himself President. He then cancelled
the 1956 elections scheduled to determine the future of Vietnam as a whole, claiming that the Communists
would not allow free and fair elections. Diem also rigged the 1959 elections for a national legislature that had
been urged upon him by the Americans.
Diem's rule was authoritarian, puritanical and nepotistic (and corrupt). His most trusted official was his brother,
Ngo Dinh Nhu, leader of the primary pro-Diem Can Lao political party. Ngo Dinh Can, his younger brother, was
put in charge of the former Imperial City of Hue. Although neither Can nor Nhu held any official role in the
government, they ruled their regions of South Vietnam, commanding private armies and secret police. Another
brother, Ngo Dinh Luyen, was appointed Ambassador to the United Kingdom. His elder brother, Ngo Dinh
Thục, was the archbishop of Hue. Brothels and opium dens were closed, divorce and abortion made illegal,
and adultery laws were strengthened. Corruption, however, was rife.
Torture and killings of "communist suspects" were committed on a daily basis. The death toll was put at around
50 000 with 75 000 imprisonments, and Diem's effort extended beyond communists to anti-communist
dissidents and anti-corruption whistleblowers.
In response to growing opposition and the establishment in 1960 of the broad-based but communist-led
National Liberation Front, Diem introduced the Strategic Hamlet Program, which called for the consolidation of
14 000 villages of South Vietnam into 11,000 secure hamlets, each with its own houses, schools, wells, and
watchtowers. The hamlets were intended to isolate the NLF from the villages, their source of recruiting soldiers,
supplies and information.
Diem reversed land reforms introduced by the Viet Minh during the 1946–54 war with the French, as upperclass landowners were part of his ideological support base. However, he also declared that landlords could
collect no more than 25% land value as rental, but this was not enforced and in some cases the rent levels
were higher than those under French colonisation. Under US pressure, in 1956 he limited individual land
holdings and redistributed some land to the peasants. Many landlords evaded the redistribution by transferring
the property to the name of family members. The Catholic Church’s lands were exempted. As a result, only
13% of the South Vietnam's land was redistributed. At the end of Diem's rule, 10% of the population owned
55% of the land.
Believing that the central highlands were of strategic importance to the Viet Cong or in a potential invasion by
North Vietnam, Diem decided to construct a ‘Maginot Line’ of settlements and 210 000 Vietnamese, mainly
Catholics, were moved to Montagnard land to live in fortified settlements.
As a member of the Catholic Vietnamese minority, Diem pursued pro-Catholic policies that antagonised
Buddhists who made up 70–90% of Vietnamese society. Specifically, the government was regarded as being
biased towards Catholics in public service and military promotions, as well as the allocation of land, aid,
business favours and tax concessions. The brutal quelling of a Buddhist protest against these policies
(specifically the unwillingness of the Diem government to allow prayer flags to be flown), leading to the selfimmolation of a Buddhist monk. As protest increased the government’s response escalated. Pagodas were
vandalised, monks beaten, and simultaneous raids were carried out across the country, with the Tu Dam
Pagoda in Hue being looted and the statue of Gautama Buddha demolished. When the populace came to the
defense of the monks, the resulting clashes saw 30 civilians killed and 200 wounded. In all 1400 monks were
arrested, and some thirty were injured across the country. This demonstrated Diem’s insensitivity to the
majority religion and how out of touch he was with the people.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 11 of 13
Selected historical force or movement: Nazism
Selected topic or setting: Germany in the Weimar / Nazi period.
Specific individual or group challenging the government / rival power: Hitler / Nazi party
Ways in which an historical force or movement influenced a specific group of people and / or individual to
attempt to change the political and / or social situation in their country could include:
Nazism was a mix of new and much older traditions, which were intolerant of democracy
 Mythical glorious Aryan / Teutonic past (volkisch), which emphasised notions of peasant purity (“Blut und
Boden" – ‘blood and soil’) and ‘traditional’ gender roles. Tradition of submission to authoritarian rule (Bismarck
and / or the Kaiser).
 A tradition of ‘anti-reason’ developed in nineteenth and early twentieth century until it permeated German
philosophy, literature (both academic and popular) and art, and had reached a peak by the 1930s: “a solid
bedrock of anti-individualist racial collectivism on which political circumstance allowed National Socialism to be
built.”
 Upsurge of ‘anti-rational’ occult societies and activity from the late 19th Century that was a ‘fusion of German
volkish neo-pagan romanticism and the doctrine of … [Aryan racial superiority].”
Fundamentals of Nazi ideology rejected the universal nature of democracy
 Racial inequality (Untermensch / ‘sub-human’ Jews, gypsies, eastern Europeans etc) and thus necessity of
‘racial purity’ for the herrenvolk (‘master race’)
– Adaptation of Social Darwinism
– Nietzsche’s “superman”, the creator of a new heroic morality, represented the highest passion and
creativity of mankind that would transcend the conventional standards of good and evil. His creative “will to
power” would set him off from “the herd” of inferior humanity. In Hitler’s mind, the SS exemplified this spirit.
– Academic ability less important than physical prowess, especially military prowess for boys and
motherhood prowess for girls
– Opposition to ‘immoral’ / modernist art, literature, music etc
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Exalting of the State over individual or sector interests
– Gleischaltung: all aspects of German life were to be co-ordinated eg Nazi teachers’, youth, mothers’,
doctors’, labour organisations
– Nationalism and glorification of military conquest
Führerprinzip: adherence to the leader: “Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer (one people, one empire, one leader)”
– rejection of democracy (it was inherently weak and fostered disunity) and, especially, Bolshevism /
communism
Lebensraum: nationalist expansion and unification of all German-speaking peoples.
Opposition to the Treaty of Versailles and multi-lateralism (League of Nations)
(Early emphasis on socialist goals was de-emphasised as the Nazis rose towards power.)
Impetus was given to Nazism by a number of formative events, leading to their challenge to the Weimar
governments
 Experiences of WWI, the shame of Germany’s surrender (‘stab in the back’ myth – Allied troops had not
entered Germany before it surrendered), and the ‘betrayal’ by the Weimar government that signed the Treaty of
Versailles.
 Post-WWI disruption, economic collapse (1923 hyperinflation / 1929 Depression), and ‘moral collapse’ as
modernist art and culture, as well as ‘immoral’ cabarets etc proliferated.
 Failure of the Weimar government to deal decisively with assassinations, attempted coups or putsches, and the
consequent rise in influence of the Freikorp. The use of violence appeared to be effective.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 12 of 13
Consequences of these attempts to change the political and / or social situation in the country could
include:
Prior to coming to power (Students may, or may not include points such as these in their essay)
 Vocal opposition to the Treaty of Versailles, in speeches and written material (this continued until the Nazis,
when in power, revised by one means or another the terms of the Treaty).
 Formation of the Stormtroopers (SA) to intimidate and disrupt opponents’ meetings, and publishing of the
Volkischer Beobachter newspaper to express Nazi views. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was also formed as a
personal bodyguard for Hitler.
 Munich putsch, 1923
 In prison Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, a rambling exposition of his ideas, including a decision to pursue political
means of gaining power. Hitler devoted himself thereafter to reorganising the Party in line with the
Führerprinzip (‘Fuhrer principle’). Mass meetings, adoption of badges, flags, symbols (eg the swastika) and
uniforms all helped imbed the Nazi identity.
 Hitler and the Nazi Party contested elections, resulting in Hitler accepting the Chancellorship in January 1933,
with Wilhelm Frick as Minister of the Interior.
 Took advantage of the Reichstag fire (27 Feb 1933) to persuade President Hindenburg to pass the “Decree for
the Protection of the People and the State”, which allowed the Nazis to persecute their political opponents and
restrict free speech, individual states’ powers, the right to hold meetings and freedom of the press. 50 000 SA
men were recruited as ‘police auxiliaries’ to enforce the new law. All this was backed up by Goebbels’
incessant propaganda.
 After the election in 1933, with a slender coalition majority, the Nazis outlawed the Communist party (KPD)
then, with a Nazi majority in the reduced parliament, passed the “Enabling Act” (Law of removing the Distress
from the People and Reich) in which, through intimidation and propaganda, the Reichstag voted itself out of
existence. Hitler ‘legally’ had his dictatorship.
After coming to power (Students are more likely to include points such as these in their essay)
 Other political parties were either banned (the SPD) or disbanded themselves; all were outlawed in July 1933.
State governments (except Prussia) were also abolished, being replaced by Nazi governors.
 Concentration camps (eg Dachau outside Munich) were established to intern opponents.
 Hitler acted against Ernst Rohm and the SA in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ (June 1934), which brought this
organisation firmly under Party control with the killing of over 100 SA men and other opponents.
 Upon Hindenburg’s death in August 1934 Hitler assumed his powers too. The Army, the only remaining threat
to the Nazi power base, swore an oath of loyalty to the Führer.
 Economic policy of autarky introduced in order to reduce dependence on foreign imports
 Policy of Gleischaltung implemented: all aspects of German life were to be co-ordinated eg Nazi-controlled
organisations for teachers’, youth, mothers’, doctors’, labour, entertainment, news media
– Education focused on military prowess for boys and motherhood for girls (with racial purity emphasised for
both). The Hitler Youth was established to further this aim, and it was given by law the same status as
home and school in 1936. It was made compulsory in 1939.
– National Reich Protestant Church established in 1933, but it never fully supplanted the traditional
Protestant church (nor Catholic, although a 1933 Concordat with the Vatican smoothed relations)
– Public works schemes and conscription / rearmament (which was against the Treaty of Versailles) reduced
unemployment, while a German Labour Front supplanted trade unions. A Beauty of Work scheme also
improved working conditions and the Strength for Joy scheme provided leisure opportunities.
– Mass marches and celebrations were held to consolidate the Nazis’ place in society.
 Persecution of the Jews was stepped up.
– In April 1933 a boycott of all Jewish shops was ordered, and shortly after Jews were banned from
government jobs. In 1935 Jews were banned from serving in the Army. Shortly after the ‘Nuremberg Laws’
were passed which prohibited marriages between Jews and non-Jews (Law for the Protection of German
Blood). In September the Reich Citizenship Law removed all citizenship rights from Jews, making them
‘aliens’ in Germany. Other laws followed which forced Jews out of other aspects of civil life, such as
practising law, business and medicine. Attacks against Jews increased. In August 1938 all Jews had to add
new names to their identity documents (‘Israel’ for men; ‘Sarah’ for women), plus have a large red ‘J’ was
stamped in them. Jewish children were banned from German schools.
– In November 1938 all-out attacks on Jews, Jewish businesses and synagogues occurred (Kristallnacht) in
response to the assassination in France of a German embassy official by a Polish Jew. About 100 Jews
were killed and 20 000 sent to concentration camps. Although the German public were shocked, the Nazis
continued their persecution, blaming the Jews themselves for the violence and fining them as a community
for the damages.
NCEA Level 2 History (90469) 2011 — page 13 of 13
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Foreign policy: The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were systematically revised. Reparations practically
ceased in 1933; the Rhineland was remilitarised in 1935; Anschluss with Austria was carried out successfully in
1938; after the Munich Conference that year, Germany annexed the Sudetenland and in March 1939 occupied
much of the rest of Czechoslovakia. The signing of the Soviet-German Non-aggression pact in August 1939
paved the way for the invasion of Poland in September 1939.
(WWII)
 In line with the policy of Lebensraum and the Nazi racial ideology, Germany invaded Poland, sparking what
would become WWII.
 Initially, Jews in Poland were gathered into ghettos (eg Warsaw) as the Nazis tried to figure out what to do with
them. Forced labour became common. After the invasion of Russia in June 1941, Jews were systematically
rounded up and shot by Einsatzgruppen (Special Task Forces).
 In the summer of 1941 Die Endlosung (Final Solution) was formulated in response to the ‘Jewish problem’. The
first death camp was built at Belzec on the eastern Polish border and began operation in March 1942. Over all,
more than 30 death camps were established (and numerous concentration and labour camps) with over
4.5 million people being exterminated 1942–45.