level A-level level A-level level A-level level A-level

UESEC 23,534 7,491 88,703 28,756 129,421 59,606 148,833 62,399

JMB 29,825 12,278 94,991 19,558 143,213 40,660 185,149 44,681

AEB 30,431 2,207 145,798 30,032 248,993 52,151

D ata derived from inform ation from individual exam ination boards.

A: T he C h a ra c te r o f the Q uestions

The types o f question on various historical subjects varied between the different decades, between the two levels o f examinations and between the boards. Already from the forties a vast range o f questions covered the majority o f historical themes enclosed in the syllabuses. What made the questions o f different generations o f examinations distinct was the point o f view they adopted. During the late forties the educationalists who set the questions seem to have had the same views o f what history should be as their predecessors o f the nineteenth century, who considered that ‘history formed a body o f socio-political morality which the responsible citizen could ill afford to misunderstand’. T h e same spirit ran through the questions in the examinations a hundred years later. Moral judgement on the life and work o f a king as well as the outcome o f a historical period was frequently asked for. Questions such as :

How far would Richard m have appeared a villain in his own times?108

What light does the history o f Europe between 1713 and 1740 throw upon the wisdom and justice o f the Peace o f Utrecht?109

106 107

This is the case in UCJEB and others.

P. Slee, Learning and Liberal Education, (London, 1986), p.21.

UCLES, Higher School Certificate, July 1945, ‘English History Outlines 827-1485’. UCLES, Higher School Certificate, July 1945, ‘European History Outlines 1494- 1914’.

Furthermore, special emphasis was laid on the role o f the individual, a leader or an important hero, in the historical outcome. The ethics o f great men, as shown in their careers, or the lack o f them, were the prime focus o f many questions. History examinations tested the candidates’ ability to pass judgement on the deserving and the undeserving:

Does any French minister during the reign o f Louis XV deserve to be called a great statesman?*^®

Give an account o f Joseph Chamberlain in two o f the following capacities: (a) as citizen o f Birmingham, (b) as a Radical M.P., (c) as an Empire statesman.''^

Not all questions begged a moral judgement. As a matter o f fact the majority o f questions were causal, asking for the causes o f wars, factors which influenced the triumph o f certain nations over others, or simply asking for the factual enumeration o f the achievements o f great Kings and Emperors. This was more so in the O-level examination where historical knowledge was a priority. Yet at that level too, some historical judgement was required. Typical questions for that level were:

Summarise the good and bad results o f the Industrial Revolution.^

What is a totalitarian state? What is there to be said for and against it?^^^

At A-level judgement was more important than mere knowledge. Often questions were quotations fi’om great men, both historical heroes or historians giving an appreciation o f a historical period, asking the candidates to write an essay to discuss the validity o f their opinions:

'The power o f the city o f Paris is evidently one great spring o f their politics’ (Edmund Burke). Discuss this view.^*"^

‘Philosophers were more important than priests in the eighteenth century’. Discuss this statement.^

ODLE, Higher School Certificate, July 1945.

" 'ib id .

UESEC, General School Examination, English and European History, July, 1945. "^Ibid.

an Oxford Board examination paper, a note preceding a group o f questions for this level, warned the candidates that ‘merely long historical accounts o f a subject matter would be given very little credit’. ' T y p i c a l questions o f this group were:

How far should a statesman follow public opinion?

Is the institution o f personal property necessary for real political freedom?"^

What have been the effects o f democracy on the art o f w ar?"^

The Oxbridge boards tended more than the others to ask questions which needed to be analysed philosophically rather than just requiring historical accounts. The equivalent JMB examination, for example, asked questions requiring knowledge and judgement but based on specific historical circumstances. Two examples from ancient history and nineteenth century Europe are typical:

Discuss the effects o f the existence o f slavery on Greek and Roman civilization. Were the effects different in the two cases?"^

and

What circumstances and events should be borne in mind by the student who reads the Communist Manifesto o f 1848?

As the new fashions in history started infiltrating the syllabuses o f the sixties the style o f the examination questions changed too. Already from the mid-sixties even the scholarship questions became closer to the specific historical periods and judgement was required on specific historical circumstances rather than general philosophical statements based on some historical truth. Judgement was required on the effectiveness o f a leader’s work and not character alone. Different nations started appearing in the historical map and the effects o f social phenomena were examined in different contexts. Furthermore

UESEB, Higher School Certificate, ‘European History 1715-1815’, July, 1945. ODLE, Higher School Certificate, History IH, July, 1945.

Ibid.

UCLEB, Higher School Certificate, Scholarship Paper, July, 1955. JMB, Higher School Certificate, Scholarship Paper, July, 1950. Ibid.

modernity and the presence o f twentieth century history in the syllabuses became evident even in the questions o f the traditional boards. In Cambridge in 1965 questions like the following were found under the section ‘The Making o f M odem England, 1885-1914’:

W hat changes were taking place in population and the size o f family in these years, and why?^^^

W hy were women seeking emancipation, and what had they achieved by 1914?'“

W hat do the works o f any one author, painter, architect or designer tell us about this period?

However, even in the seventies history remained the discipline where pupils were trained in ‘socio-political morality’ only at that time it was concemed more with the character o f historical circumstances and ideas o f citizenship arising from them, rather than judging leaders and historical events as good or bad. In European history at A-level (1763-1954), examination questions like the following were typical o f this new way o f serving the old goal o f history:

Consider the contribution to the development o f European culture between 1870 and 1914 o f citizens o f either the Third French Republic or the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Examine the character o f Austro-Hungarian policies towards the Balkans from 1875 to 1914.'“

B: W hich E u ro p ean H istory was Exam ined

The non-British history covered by the examinations was here divided into three chronological periods. Category A covered ancient history, that is ancient Greek and Roman history. In this category there are three sections to include - in ancient Greek history under section (a) were set questions conceming the origins o f these civilizations, under section (b) the peak years and under (c) the years o f decadence. In Roman history.

UCLES, A-Level, July, 1965. ' “ Ibid.

Ibid.

UESEC, A-Level, July, 1975. ' “ Ibid.

(b) the years o f the Roman empire and under (c) the years o f decline. This division was made to examine to what degree the examiners concentrated on the climactic periods o f these civilizations or whether the origins as well as the continuities o f Greek and Roman civilizations were put into context.

Category B included a great chronological chunk o f European history, from 800 AD to 1815. It was subdivided into two more sections: (i) 800 - 1492, and (ii) 1492-1815. Section (i) was further divided into four subsections: (a) questions covering exclusively the history o f France, Germany and England, (b) questions on Italy and Spain, (c) other countries in Europe, and finally (d) questions on social or cultural issues affecting any o f the above countries.

Section (ii) was also further divided into four categories: (e) questions on France, Germany and England, (f) questions on Italy, Spain, the Low countries and Russia, (f) questions on any other smaller country in Europe and (h) questions on a variety o f subjects conceming more than one o f these countries. This division aimed to examine how often the examiners asked about the European countries which were politically more successful as well as to what degree they were concemed with other less successful countries which were nevertheless quintessential European.

Category C concemed modem history and thus not only European but also world history. It included the years 1815-1975, and was subdivided into five sections. Section (a) included questions exclusively conceming power politics, mainly focused on Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and USA. Section (b) included questions on other minor European countries. Section (c) included questions conceming European civilization as a whole, that is cultural or ideological movements, social or artistic manifestations o f ‘modem life’. Section (d) included questions conceming intemational relations and institutions around the world, not necessarily involving Europe and finally section (e) included questions where major European powers were interacting with other countries in the world. This division was intended to examine the extent to which a new spirit was entering the examination o f modem history, with interest extending to all European countries or when examining world history whether emphasis was placed on the interests o f some stronger countries or whether different parts o f the world were examined for their own sake.

The numbers which emerged out o f this categorisation are to be read as another text which reflects multiple images o f European countries at different historical moments but

in the end they demonstrate the ideas British educationalists had about their position in Europe. Ancient history questions did not vary dramatically between the boards or the years examined here. Ancient Greek history mainly concentrated on the classical years o f the second part o f the fifth century BC. There was some interest in the years o f the origins o f Greek states after the sixties, but very little interest was shown in the Hellenistic age and the years o f d e c a d e n c e .R o m a n history questions followed more or less the same pattern. Questions on the years o f the conquests and the years o f democracy far outnumbered those on the years o f the empire and the fall o f the empire. This reinforces the previous conclusions about the syllabuses concentrating principally on the peaks o f civilizations to be seen as simple units, without connections to subsequent historical eras. On the contrary the questions, like the syllabuses, concentrated on the brilliant phases o f the winners o f history.

This is the conclusion which comes out o f the study o f the next period, the study o f European history from 800 to 1492. The number o f questions concerning exclusively France, Germany and England was significantly greater than the amount o f questions concerning other c o u n tr ie s .T h is was so even for the periods that these countries were not the strongest in Europe. There were no questions examining the might and power o f the Byzantine Empire and its influence on Europe, except a standard question enquiring: What do you know about the fall o f Constantinopole? Although this pattern remained the same until the sixties what did change was the number o f questions which concerned more than one o f these countries, comparative questions which required broad historical knowledge and judgement.

The same pattern was true for the period covering the years 1492 to 1815. The first subsection which referred to questions on France, Germany and England, contained more than a quarter o f the questions. A tenth o f the questions were in the second subsection on the history o f Italy, Spain, the Lower Countries and Russia while questions about minor European countries and comparative questions were under-represented During the mid-sixties and seventies, there was a rise o f questions on a variety o f countries, which means that comparisons o f historical circumstances o f different countries, strong and weak were encouraged.

See table 5.3 and 5.4, Cambridge A-levels, 1955-1975, p .l54. Ibid.

See table 5.5 and 5.7, UESEC and JMB A-levels, 1945-1975, pp.155-156. See table 5.6 and 5.8, UESEC and JMB A-levels, 1945-1975, pp.155-156.

The third category, on modem history, presented the most varied distribution between the boards and the most equal distribution between the subjects. Again the emphasis was heavily on the stronger countries interacting with weaker ones but what changed especially during the seventies was that other subjects shared a substantial percentage o f the total number o f the questions. Interest in minor European countries as well as general historical subjects on ideologies, culture and social movements was from then on expected in the examination papers.'^^Yet great interest on the great powers still remained high.

The above thematic distribution o f examination questions demonstrates that the official perception o f European history was highly concentrated on the history o f European powers who were important at the time the questions were set. France, Germany and Britain appear as the main historical protagonists with every other country seen as less important than them. Even international history concentrated on the role o f the main European powers in remote places in the world. The questions on culture and civilization rose in popularity during the sixties and seventies but did not manage to stay in the centre o f historical enquiry, as is obvious in table 5.9. It is also interesting to observe the rise in 1945 and the inevitable fall o f questions on international organizations in the twentieth century since 1945.’^^

On the whole questions remained stable in content and outlook more than syllabuses. There was an inherent conservatism in the way questions were constructed which kept them back even from the syllabuses they were supposed to correspond to. Examiners for the larger boards, until the seventies, remained more concentrated with traditional academic standards, asking factual and causal questions, than with questions requiring a more relaxed appreciation o f a historical era or event. They asked about great personalities, the strongest nations and most important alliances, rather than the position o f ‘m inor’ countries in a given historical era. Thus the interest in European history could only be in the nations who were strongest in twentieth century European history, with this importance projected onto the past.

Examination questions could serve as a compass for teachers to find their direction in the mass o f teaching material they could use. The questions on the strong European powers o f the twentieth century indicated to the teachers that this was the only history

See table 5.9 JMB, A-levels p. 157.

132

worth examining, at least in order for their pupils to be successfiil in the exams, and thus become students or employees in the professional sector. The official version o f history took the contemporary order as a guide to the past which historians should study. British educationalists throughout this period were willing to consider seriously the cultural heritage o f the north-western part o f Europe and present it as the cultural heritage o f the whole o f Europe, occasionally o f the whole world too. It is only natural then that the textbooks were found to have followed these basic lines not only on their view that the stronger European countries o f the second half o f the twentieth century were more equal than the other European countries but also on which elements o f their heritage were more valid.