GCSE History Syllabus

History syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for History in GCSE, not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Modern World History

   4 topics

   • World War I
   • World War II
   • Cold War
   • Post-War World
2. 2

   British History

   3 topics

   • Industrial Revolution
   • Victorian Era
   • 20th Century Britain
3. 3

   Ancient History

   3 topics

   • Ancient Greece
   • Ancient Rome
   • Ancient Egypt

History flashcards for GCSE

25 of 50 cards from the History deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. When did World War I begin and end?

   It began on 28 July 1914 and ended on 11 November 1918 (Armistice Day).

2. What event triggered the outbreak of World War I?

   The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914 by Gavrilo Princip.

3. What were the two main alliance blocs at the start of World War I?

   The Triple Entente (Britain, France, Russia) and the Triple Alliance / Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy — Italy later switched sides).

4. What was the Schlieffen Plan?

   Germany's strategy to avoid a two-front war by quickly defeating France in the west (via Belgium) before turning to fight Russia in the east.

5. What is meant by 'trench warfare' and 'no man's land' in WWI?

   Trench warfare was the stalemate of opposing armies fighting from fortified ditches; no man's land was the deadly open ground between the opposing trenches.

6. When did World War II begin in Europe, and what event started it?

   It began on 1 September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland; Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939.

7. What was the Blitzkrieg tactic used by Germany in WWII?

   'Lightning war' — fast, coordinated attacks using tanks, aircraft and infantry to overwhelm the enemy quickly.

8. What was the significance of D-Day (6 June 1944)?

   The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France (Normandy landings), opening a Western Front that led to the liberation of Western Europe.

9. How and when did World War II end?

   Victory in Europe (VE Day) on 8 May 1945 after Germany surrendered; the war ended fully with Japan's surrender (VJ Day) on 15 August 1945 after atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

10. What was the Holocaust?

    The systematic, state-sponsored genocide by Nazi Germany of around six million Jews, along with Roma, disabled people and other groups, during WWII.

11. What was the Cold War?

    A period of political and military tension (roughly 1947–1991) between the capitalist West led by the USA and the communist East led by the USSR, without direct large-scale fighting between them.

12. What were the two rival military alliances of the Cold War?

    NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Western/US-led, formed 1949) and the Warsaw Pact (Soviet-led, formed 1955).

13. What was the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962)?

    A 13-day standoff when the USSR placed nuclear missiles in Cuba; the USA blockaded the island, and the crisis was resolved when the USSR removed the missiles, bringing the world close to nuclear war.

14. What did the Berlin Wall symbolise, and when did it fall?

    Built in 1961, it divided communist East Berlin from capitalist West Berlin and symbolised the 'Iron Curtain'; it fell on 9 November 1989, marking the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

15. What was the policy of 'containment' during the Cold War?

    The US strategy of stopping the spread of communism to other countries, e.g. through the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan.

16. What was the Marshall Plan?

    A US programme (1948) giving billions of dollars of economic aid to help rebuild Western Europe after WWII and resist communism.

17. What was the 'Iron Curtain'?

    A term (popularised by Winston Churchill in 1946) for the ideological and physical division separating communist Eastern Europe from the capitalist West.

18. What was decolonisation in the post-war world?

    The process after 1945 by which European empires broke up as colonies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean gained independence, e.g. India in 1947.

19. What is the United Nations and when was it founded?

    An international organisation founded in 1945 to maintain world peace, promote cooperation and prevent future world wars, replacing the failed League of Nations.

20. What was the 'superpower' rivalry that shaped the post-war world?

    The dominance of the USA and USSR as the two most powerful states after 1945, competing globally for political, economic and military influence.

21. When and where did the Industrial Revolution begin?

    It began in Britain in the mid-to-late 18th century (around 1760) and spread through the 19th century.

22. What was the significance of James Watt's improved steam engine?

    It provided an efficient, reliable power source that drove factories, mines, railways and steamships, making it central to industrialisation.

23. What is 'urbanisation' and why did it increase during the Industrial Revolution?

    Urbanisation is the growth of towns and cities; it increased as people moved from the countryside to find work in the new factories.

24. What was the 'factory system'?

    A method of manufacturing where workers and powered machinery were brought together in one building to mass-produce goods, replacing home-based cottage industry.

25. Name two major industries transformed by the Industrial Revolution.

    The textile industry (e.g. spinning jenny, power loom) and the iron/coal industries, along with transport via canals and railways.

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