April Blog: Key anniversaries and history in the news
Saturday 5 April 2025
Key Anniversaries for this month
There are several key anniversaries this month which, as ever, provide excellent opportunities to review significant events with students, create displays and discuss implications.
50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon
A notable anniversary on April 30, 2025, is the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which ended the Vietnam War and precipitated the exodus of millions of people from South Vietnam. It is estimated that there were approximately 125,000
This topic is relevant for students studying Paper 2, Cold War, Paper 2 Wars and Paper 3 Asia on Vietnam.
The National Museum of American Diplomacy gives a comprehensive overview of the events on that fateful day:
The Fall of Saigon (1975): The Bravery of American Diplomats and Refugees (The National Museum of American Diplomacy)
On April 30, 1975, the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to the North Vietnamese Army, effectively ending the Vietnam War. In the days before, U.S. forces evacuated thousands of Americans and South Vietnamese. American diplomats were on the frontlines, organizing what would be the most ambitious helicopter evacuation in history.
This article from the Guardian newspaper (for the 40th Anniversary) also gives a good overview of the events and their implications.
80th Anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp
‘When the British and other Allied soldiers walked into the concentration camp, they were met with a sight so disturbing it would be etched into the consciousness of a generation. In April 1945, Bergen-Belsen was a site of horrific depravity and mass suffering inflicted upon innocent men, women, and children – the majority of whom were Jewish.’
https://holocausteducation.org.uk/
15th April is the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration camp, which was a significant moment in the Second World War.
See below for a video about the liberation of the camp from the Holocaust Memorial Trust, as well as educational resources on Belsen from the Centre for Holocaust Education.
In addition, if you have access to BBC iplayer, this30 minute video uses eyewitness accounts and original footage to describe in detail the horrific experiences of the soldiers liberating the camp.
* Introduction: Historical overview and pedagogical guidance – Centre for Holocaust Education (holocausteducation.org.uk)
This page provides an overview of the classroom resources developed to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. You will also find a short history of the camp and pedagogical guidance
Other anniversaries that would provide good discussions with students for this month and which are relevant to topics in their history IBDP:
250th anniversary: 1775 - First abolitionist society in USA set up (Philadelphia)
80th Anniversary: 1945 - Death of President Roosevelt
80th Anniversary: 1945 - Italian partisans kill Benito Mussolini
80th Anniversary: 1945 - US troops liberate Buchenwald Concentration Camp
History in the News
Given the current global turmoil over tariffs, students studying US history and/or the interwar years, may want to review the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act signed by President Hoover in 1930. This Act, in raising US tariffs has been seen by historians a key factor in furthering the global economic crisis of the 1930s. It is being discussed widely in the news at the moment as a comparison to the current situation - so a good link between the past and today.
Trump says high tariffs may have prevented the Great Depression. History says different (AP News)
In the early days of the Great Depression, Rep. Willis Hawley, a Republican from Oregon, and Utah Republican Sen.
Analysis: The US tried high tariffs and ‘America first’ policies in the 1930s (UCL News)
Writing in The Conversation, Dr Thomas Gift and Dr Michael Plouffe (UCL Political Science) reflect on the similarities between President Trump's plan for trade tariffs and the US Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act enacted in 1930.
Curriculum Review Update
A reminder that the 3rd Curriculum Review can be found on MyIB.
In addition, the IB has just released a new update on the new History Curriculum here.
To help you manage the transition to the new curriculum, we aim to have our site ready with new materials and guidance in time for the first teaching in August 2026
Site Update
We are currently working on Paper 2, Topic 9, Emergence and development of Democratic states.
South Africa has already been completed for this topic, and Spain will follow soon as a second case study.
Upcoming exams
And as we approach the May examinations, don't forget that we have revision tips on the site for students, as well as revision summary pages and multiple-choice quizzes and flash cards.
New Resources
For those of you teaching Italian Unification for Paper 3, Europe, you may wish to point students to the new Netflix sumptuous period drama, ‘The Leopard’ which, set in Sicily, is set at the time of Garibaldi's invasion - with all the implications that this has for the people living on the island. It is very good!