Year+10+2008

Currently undertake VCE Twentieth Century History Unit 2: Current teachers: Di, Alison and Phoebe.

VCAA specifies:

Unit 2: Twentieth century history 1945–2000

In 1945 the forces of Japanese imperialism and German fascism were defeated. The United States of America and the USSR emerged from the destruction of World War II as the new world superpowers. The relationship between these allies soon dissolved into acrimony and suspicion and for the next forty years a Cold War was waged between these opposing ideologies. In 1945 the atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The debate over the benefits and dangers of nuclear technology was to re-occur throughout the second half of the twentieth century. In 1945 the international community was loath to experience another devastating world war. This year was to see the first meetings of the newly formed United Nations (UN), which aimed, among other things, to take an internationalist approach to avoiding warfare, resolving political tensions and addressing threats to human life and safety. The member nations of the UN grew as the former colonies in Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific and Asia gained independence through both military and diplomatic means, and new countries such as Israel, Pakistan and Bangladesh were created. Despite advances in medicine, technology and a commitment to the diplomatic process, and internationalist efforts to improve the quality of life for humankind, wars and civil unrest continued to take a huge toll on human life across the globe, as did illness, hunger and disease. Exploitation of the environment to unsustainable levels was identified as an additional threat to the long-term health of the planet. Movements for social, political, and economic change saw the traditional power structures in both Western, communist and developing countries challenged. The individual voice of dissent could now reach across the globe through advances in communication such as television, satellite, and multimedia technology. Increasingly, art, sport, entertainment and consumerism, as well as social action, have become a global experience. This unit considers some of the major themes and principal events of post-World War II history, and the ways in which individuals and communities responded to the political, economic, social and technological developments in domestic, regional and international settings. This unit should be based on one or more contexts from within the specified time period 1945 to 2000; for example, the Cold War, Middle East conflicts, peace and disarmament movements, Asian, African or Middle East nationalism, globalisation. For more information see: the VCAA [|History] Handbook page 42

Query: Is this the best History option for our students? Which topics from within 1945-2000 should be compulsory and which are optional? How do we make the course come alive given that all students (except internationals) have to do it? Ali's comments re Yr 10 Di's comments Yr 10 History