Anniversaries

Dresden Bombing

This month sees the 80th Anniversary of the Allied bombing of Dresden which took place between 13th - 15th February, 1945. Victor Gregg, a British prisoner of war in Dresden in 1945 who lived through the Allied bombings of the city, gives a graphic snapshot of the impact of the firestorm that this bombing created:

“As the incendiaries fell, the phosphorus clung to the bodies of those below, turning them into human torches. The screaming of those who were being burned alive was added to the cries of those not yet hit. There was no need for flares to lead the second wave of bombers to their target, as the whole city had become a gigantic torch. It must have been visible to the pilots from a hundred miles away.”

This anniversary provides an opportunity to revisit this 'apocalyptic' event with students - especially those doing Depth Study E on The Second World War.

The reasons for the bombing, its impact as well as the controversy which surrounds it are covered in the articles below.

The Yalta Conference

This month also sees the 80th anniversary of the Yalta Conference. This is relevant to all students doing Option B and so provides an opportunity to have a fresh look at this event which, as historian Diana Preston in her book on Yalta writes, has become the 'byword for failure and broken promises'. 

This BBC article gives a good overview of the context, events and impact of the conference:

In 2005, President George W. Bush called Yalta ‘one of the greatest wrongs of history … Once again, when powerful governments negotiated, the freedom of small nations was somehow expendable.’  He is of course referring to the fate of Poland and the countries of Eastern Europe.

But, given the international context in February 1945, could the Yalta conference actually have been handled differently?

This could be an interesting question to stretch your students as it involves an analysis of the situation in Europe at the time and the relationship between the three men. The articles below all consider the restraints on the decision making that led to the Yalta agreements.

80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz

We covered this in January's blog. But we wanted to draw your attention to a couple of other resources.

The Last Musician of Auschwitz is a BBC documentary on how inmates of Auschwitz performed and composed music as a lifeline and a way to resist. As this review from the Guardian newspaper states, it is an 'exceptionally moving and intelligent documentary'.

Another BBC documentary made for the anniversary, What happened at Auschwitz, is also worth showing to students as it highlights the urgency of making sure the holocaust is never forgotten - especially in the current political climate. Only 30 minutes long, it is centred around interviews with survivors of Auschwitz and directly addresses the problem of misinformation on social media today. This would be good to show to all students regardless of whether they are taking history, or covering this topic for their IGCSE course.

Site update

We have now uploaded a practice paper 2 with markscheme for both Option A and Option B on the prescribed topics for the June exams.

We hope this term is going well; please get in touch if you have any queries or suggestions about what you would like us to cover on the site!