3rd Year Christmas Tests

Question 1

Who was saint Patrick

Answer 1

Patrick. He was brought to Ireland from Wales as a slave when he was 16 years old. After six years he escaped to Britain, but later returned as a bishop to spread Christianity. Between 432 and 461, St Patrick worked mainly in the north, and founded many churches and missions. He the began to convert the paagen celts to Christians

Question 2

Tell me about the arrival of Christianity in Ireland

Answer 2

Early Christian Ireland is the period when Christianity first came to Ireland. By the third century AD the Roman Empire had spread as far as Britain and from the fourth century Britain was mainly Christian, so some Christians were probably also in Ireland by then. For historians, the first official source about Christianity in Ireland is dated AD 431, when a bishop named Palladius was sent to the ‘Irish who believe in Christ’.

Question 3

Tell me about life in a monastery

Answer 3

The monks lived very strict, simple lives and spent their days praying and working. They prayed six to eight times every day. Farm work included ploughing, milking, harvesting and grinding corn. The monks were often self-sufficient - they produced all the food they needed. Monasteries became centres of learning, and Irish monasteries were famous as the best in the world for the teaching of poetry, literature, arts and the

Question 4

Tell me about the Black Death

Answer 4

The worst disease to affect Europe in the Middle Ages was the bubonic plague. This peaked between 1347 and 1350 and is estimated to have killed at least one-third of Europe’s population in an event known as ‘the Black Death’. The plague was carried by fleas, which are thought to have first arrived via ships’ rats from the Black Sea area and to have spread along the trade network throughout Europe.
The symptoms included oozing swellings (buboes) all over the body, darkly discoloured skin and the filling of the lungs with phlegm. It was extremely contagious and could be contracted by sneezing, spitting or touching dead bodies. It spread quickly in towns and as it worsened, bodies were simply left in the street to be collected. This only spread it even faster. Once infected, people had a 70-80% chance of dying within a week.

Question 5

What was the impact of the Black Death

Answer 5

So many people died within such a short period that Europe was greatly changed by the Black Death:
• The feudal system, especially serfdom, went into decline, as many serfs left manors and moved to the towns to replace those who had died.
• The peasants who remained on the land were able to demand better treatment from their lords, a reduction in the taxes they paid and more land because there were fewer of them to do the work.
• The failure to find a cure for the Black Death meant that doctors began to question their practices.
This would lead to big changes in medicine during the Renaissance, as we will see in the next chapter.

Question 6

What was there reason for the age of exploration

Answer 6

New trade routes: The trade in silks and spices (needed to help preserve and flavour food) from the East was very profitable. After the Black Death, Europe’s population grew rapidly and became wealthier. Explorers and traders could grow very rich if they could find ways to get more goods to Europe more quickly.

The influence of the Renaissance:
People were eager to learn and were questioning their existing beliefs.
In particular, the rediscovery of the Geographia by the Roman writer Ptolemy, which contained Roman knowledge about geography, changed how people understood the world.

The stories of Marco Polo: Polo was a fourteenth-century Italian who had travelled to China and wrote about the great wealth and incredible things he had seen. His book made people want to see these wonders for themselves.

Question 7

What was a carvel

Answer 7

large and sturdy enough to make long voyages and able to sail in all winds.

Question 8

What was a portolan chart

Answer 8

Was a chart which mapped harbours and coastlines more precisely, recording information like currents, tides and depth.

Question 9

What is a log and line

Answer 9

measured a ship’s speed in knots.

Question 10

What is fascism?

Answer 10

Fascism is a form of government that is a one-party dictatorship based on nationalistic ideas of racial superiority.

Question 11

How did hitler come into power

Answer 11

Many blamed the Weimar government for Germany’s defeat, for the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles and the hard times afterwards.

The German economy was on its knees after World War I. Germany took out loans from the US during the 1920s to try to recover.

Hitler used propaganda to his advantage. He used short simple slogans so everyone could understand. He played on people’s emotions, particularly in relation to the Treaty of Versailles, unemployment and communism.

Question 12

Exactly what communism is

Answer 12

Communism is a political and economic system where the government controls all property wealth is shared equally and there are no social class. Private property is abolished and government owes our land.

Question 13

Who were the Bolsheviks

Answer 13

The Bolsheviks was a revolutionary group in Russia that by Vladimir Lennon who aimed to establish communism.

Question 14

Explain how Hitler is economic policies in his own fascist Germany

Answer 14

• Independent trade unions were abolished and strikes were made illegal.
• Public works schemes were created to build motorways (called Autobahnen) and the Olympic stadium. Many unemployed people found work on projects such as these.
• Rearmament, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, began to take place. This involved ships, submarines, planes, arms and ammunition being manufactured again for the German military.
• The motor industry also expanded. A new car called Volkswagen (‘the people’s car’) was designed and manufactured in 1937. It was priced at the same cost as a small motorcycle, so most people could afford one.
• Hitler cut taxes to encourage private industry. Many companies benefited from this, such as Krupps (steel), Siemens (electronics) and Mercedes-Benz (motors).

Question 15

Explain how used education in fascist Germany

Answer 15

Hitler concentrated on the young, aware that they would be the future of the Nazi Party. Nazi youth groups were set up, including the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. There, children were indoctrinated (brainwashed) with Nazi ideas.
• In schools, textbooks were rewritten to glorify Germany and Hitler. Mein Kampf became the official history textbook.
• Teachers had to be members of the Nazi Party.
• Loyalty to the Führer was taught at every level of education and a portrait of Hitler was displayed in every classroom.

Question 16

Explain how women were forced to live during Hitler’s fasciest Germany

Answer 16

Women were expected to stay at home and look after the family. Female doctors, teachers and civil servants were forced to give up their careers. Even near the end of the war, women were not asked to serve in the armed forces.
• A woman’s job was to keep the home nice for her husband and family - a woman’s life was to revolve around ‘the three Ks’: Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church). ‘The three Ks’ were promoted within propaganda and made clear what German women’s roles should be.
• Hitler wanted a high birth rate, so that the population would grow. Mothers who had more than eigh children were awarded a gold medal.

Question 17

Explain how Hitler used propaganda to make his fasciest Germany

Answer 17

Joseph Goebbels was made Minister for National Enlightenment and Propaganda. He was in complete control of the press, radio, cinemas, theatres and art. Books by Jews were banned, along with any books disagreeing with Nazism. Book burnings took place to rid the country of such books.
• Goebbels organised the production of cheap radios, called ‘the people’s radio’, so that Hitler’s speeches could reach every home. Loudspeakers were installed along streets.
• Posters were put up all around Germany presenting Hitler as a godlike figure, as we saw in Russia with Stalin. People had to celebrate Hitler’s birthday, and ‘Heil Hitler!’ or ‘Hail Hitler!’ was a common greeting. The Nazi salute was made compulsory.

Question 18

What was the gestapo

Answer 18

secret police

Question 19

Explain how Hitler used terror to make his fascism Germany

Answer 19

By 1934, Hitler began to believe that his SA were a threat to him, particularly their leader Ernst Röhm. Hitler had set up the SS as his personal bodyguards and they were led by Heinrich Himmler.
On 30 June 1934, in a two-day purge known as the Night of the Long Knives, the SS killed the leaders of the SA and others they suspected of being a threat.

• From as early as 1933, critics of the regime or people who were considered undesirable in Nazi Germany were sent to forced labour camps, similar to Stalin’s gulags. Among them were journalists and political prisoners (including communists), LGBTQ+ people, Roma people, people with disabilities, Catholic priests, Jehovah’s Witnesses and a great many Jews.

Also set up a secret police force

Question 20

Name and explain Hitler 3 main aims

Answer 20

1 rebuilding the army Navy: did Tracy of Viles restricted Jeremy‘s army to 1000 men. Disobeyed this by having more than 1000 men and reinforcing the constituents meaning that man of age had to join the army

2 reoccupying the Rhineland: in 1936 hit since since the rain land orders tree trees of France army to meet them France didn’t.

3. The Anschluss: The treaty of Versailles forbid Germany from uniting with Austria so it did just that and the agreement was signed absorbing Austria into the third reich

Question 21

What is Anschluss

Answer 21

It is the joining together of Germany and Austria

Question 22

Why did France and Britain stand by when hitler rebuilt the German army

Answer 22

France did not want to risk of war with Germany over the Rhineland, especially as the size of the German army was unknown.

• France believed that its system of fortification along its eastern border with Germany, called the MaginotLine, would be enough to prevent a German attack.

2• Many British people felt that the Treaty of Versailles had actually been too harsh on Germany and were sympathetic towards its people.

France, Britain and others were very concerned about Stalin and the weak fortnications
threat of communism.

Question 23

What was appeasement

Answer 23

It was the agreeing to hitter’s demands in the hope of avoiding war

Question 24

Why did the British not want to fight Germany

Answer 24

Awareness of all the lives lost in the horrors of World War I was very fresh in British minds. In the ‘Peace Ballot’ of 1934-1935, millions of British people voted for a pacifist (pro-peace) approach,

Question 25

What was the Sunderland

Answer 25

The majority German-speaking regions of Czechoslovakia

Question 26

Who met in Munich conference and why did the meet

Answer 26

In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier (of France) met for the Munich Conference to discuss the issue of Czechoslovakia and the Sudetenland.
They agreed to make Czechoslovakia surrender the area of the Sudetenland to Germany. Notably, Czechoslovakia was not part of the talks. Hitler promised the other leaders that he would not demand any more territory.

Question 27

What two things did hitler and Stalin agree to

Answer 27

• a ten-year period when they would not attack each other or help each other’s enemies
• a secret clause: an agreement to partition
Poland between them,

Question 28

How did World War Two start

Answer 28

On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II had begun.

Question 29

Three types of propaganda during stalins Russia

Answer 29

1. radio and newspaper control: news censored and criticism of the communist party was not allowed in any form of media
2. Show trials: these were public trials of senior party leaders which were held in Moscow. The leaders provided evidence of the wrongdoing and confessed to crimes many were executed.
3. Education: in schools children were taught that Stalin was a great leader a new textbook. A short history of the USSR was published which held stallion as a deity and exaggerated his role in the communist revolution.

Question 30

What was the Gulag?

Answer 30

Who likes were labour camps in the Soviet union they were set up under Lennon but were improved by stallion. People often work to death and the conditions were horrible.

Question 31

Define the term industrialisation

Answer 31

Stallion introduced the five year plans which are made at target for industry. They were three plans made all were successful and boosted USSR to the second largest industry in the world.

Question 32

Define the term collectivisation

Answer 32

In the late 1920s Russian argculture was not producing enough food to increase production. All the land has taken over by the states. Many of these peasants died from famine so they rebelled.

Question 33

What was life like in Gulag?

Answer 33

The prisoners in these camped worked all types of industries such as chopping trees mining farming factory work and much more over 1 million people died as they were worked hard and lived in very bad conditions

Question 34

What would lies of women in Soviet Russia?

Answer 34

Women’s lies chain a loss in the USSR in the workplace they put on much more equal footing to men. They worked in Manly predominantly men industries in the west such as engineering medicine and construction by 193 1/2 of all workers woman which had almost doubles since 1927 facilities set up to enable both husband and wives to work such as crèches and kindergartens.

Question 35

What was health care and education like in Soviet Russia?

Answer 35

Healthcare was provided for free to everyone in the country. Large amounts of hospitals were built and thousands of doctors were trained. The USSR wanted free compulsory healthcare to all young people in the country. There was a huge literacy campaign and by 1950 almost all people over 8 and below 50 read and write. Education was used as a tool for propaganda in schools children were thought that Stalin was a great leader. A new textbook a short history of the USSR was published which hailed Stalin as a deity and exaggerated his role in the communist revolution

Question 36

What was life like during World War II in Soviet Russia?

Answer 36

The Russian people suffered a great deal during the war, especially people living in German Concord lands. In Leningrad hello over 700,000 people froze or starved to death. The government introduced a rationing system as there were short of food and clothing workers involved in the war got higher amounts of rations than those who were not. He is estimated that around 17 million Russian citizens died in war.

Question 37

Tell me about stalins rise to power

Answer 37

Vladimir Lenin died in 1924 on January 21 leaving a power struggle from the communist party. Stalin used his role of general Secretary to gain power and acquaintances. He played the various party members off against each other and used Kamenev and Zinoview to expel Trotsky from party and the country. He turned on the government with his supporters by 1928 he ruled the USSR.

Question 38

Name and describe 3 key events of the war of independence

Answer 38

• 21 November 1920: Collins’s Squad killed 14 British intelligence agents. In a savage reprisal, the Auxiliaries entered Croke Park during a Dublin vs Tipperary football match and opened fire on the crowd,killing 14 people, including Tipperary player Michael Hogan. That evening the British authorities also killed three IRA men in Dublin Castle. This event became known as Bloody Sunday.

• 28 November 1920: Tom Barry and the West Cork Brigade ambushed and killed 18 Auxiliaries in Kilmichael, Co. Cork. In retaliation, Auxiliaries burned Cork city centre.

• 25 May 1921: the IRA burned Dublin’s Custom House. The fire lasted for five days and destroyed records going back for centuries. Eighty IRA men were killed or captured.

Question 39

Explain the term fenian

Answer 39

A member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, a 19th-century revolutionary nationalist organisation among the Irish

Question 40

Explain how the rebellion impacted Irish politics

Answer 40

This famous rebellion impacted Irish politics as Sinn Féin’s popularity grew as they were given credit for the rising in the newspapers at this time. The voting system changed and younger people were now allowed to vote and they thought that the Irish parliamentary party was outdated and fully supported Sinn Féin. Sinn Féin changed its aims and its new aim was to make Ireland a Republic once again. Eamon Devalera became leader for Sinn Féin in 1917 from Arthur Griffin. He was the only leader of the Easter rising 1916 that was still alive. In 1919 Sinn Féin formed its parliament and they named it Dáil Éireann

Question 41

Describe how the rights in women changed over the twentieth century

Answer 41

The 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State gave the vote to all women and men over the age of 21. In 1972, the Commission on the Status of Women recommended the removal of most of the legal barriers to equality. By 2000, women made up over 40% of the workforce but were far more likely to hold low-paid positions. A low percentage of employed women held well-paid executive positions. However, women did make up 55% of university students and in 2000 and were more likely to pursue professional careers in law, medicine, business or education than their mothers had been. In politics, there has been some progress towards equality. Mary Robinson was elected President in 1990, followed by another woman, Mary McAleese.

Question 42

Describe Padraig Pearse

Answer 42

Padraig Pearse was born on Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street), Dublin. He joined the Gaelic League in 1896 and later became the editor of the paper. He lectured in Irish at UCD. He set up a school for boys, St Enda’s in 1908 where it now hosts the Pearse Museum. In July 1914, Pearse was involved in the Howth gun-running and hid the stash at St Enda’s. He was on the Military Council that planned the Rising and signed the Proclamation. Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish Republic aloud on the steps of the GPO during the 1916 Easter Rising . He was executed on 3 May 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol.

Question 43

What was strike and lockout

Answer 43

On 31 August 1913, Larkin addressed a crowd of 10,000 people on O’Connell Street from the Imperial Hotel in disguise, as there was a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested by the DMP. The crowd protested and the police baton-charged the crowd. Two demonstrators were killed and hundreds were wounded, including police. Strikes and lockouts continued into September. Larkin organised sympathetic strikes to support the locked-out workers. By October, 20,000 workers were involved. The TUC raised £100,000 to help the struggling Irish workers and their families. The British government’s Asquith Enquiry called for an end to the Strike and Lockout in September 1913. However, the Lockout continued, as they could not reach a compromise. By January 1914, many began to return to work. On 18 January, Larkin told the workers to end their strike.

Question 44

Explain how the actions of Germany contributed the start of the war

Answer 44

Germany deserves the blame for starting the war. Although it was the Austrian-Hungarians who invaded Serbia, and the Germans declared war on Russia and France to support them, the Germans could have refused to do so.

Question 45

Name one battle or operation that Germany was involved in the first World War I

Answer 45

The German Spring Offensives was a gamble for Germany in trying to tip the balance on the Western Front once and for all. Operation ‘Michael’, the first of the offensives, began on the 21 March 1918. British and Allied troops were met with a huge concentration of German artillery, gas and smoke. The German Army achieved unmatched gains.

Question 46

Tell me about the foundation of the GAA

Answer 46

By 1880, English sports such as tennis, cricket, soccer and rugby had become very popular in Ireland. Each was well organised and had clear rules. At the same time, Irish sports such as hurling and Gaelic football were in decline and were even unknown in some areas. They were poorly organised and people around the country played by different rules. A man named Michael Cusack became particularly concerned about the state of Irish sports. He called a meeting in Hayes Hotel in Thurles, Co. Tipperary on 1 November 1884 to establish a Gaelic Association. With just seven men present, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) was founded, encompassing sports such as hurling, Gaelic football, handball, athletics and weightlifting. People such as Charles Stewart Parnell and Archbishop Thomas Croke became patrons of the GAA. This showed that the Home Rule Party, the IRB, the Land League and Catholic Church all supported the GAA.

Question 47

Tell me about the ulster plantation

Answer 47

Ulster was dominated by Gaelic Irish clans such as the powerful O’Neills of Tyrone and O’Donnells of Donegal. Queen Elizabeth I hoped to control Ulster by giving Hugh O’Neill the title ‘Earl of Tyrone’, and he had been loyal to her. However, when adventurers were planted in Ulster and sheriffs enforced Protestantism, English laws and customs, this angered Hugh O’Neill and ‘Red’ Hugh O’Donnell. They asked the Catholic King Philip II of Spain for help to defend Ulster from Protestantism. He sent no troops, but the Ulster chiefs rebelled in 1594 regardless. In the Nine Years War the Gaelic clans in Ulster fought against the spread of English control. Hugh O’Neill won several battles, including the Battle of the Yellow Ford, which inspired other parts of the country to rebel. King Philip of Spain changed his mind and sent up to 4,000 soldiers to support O’Neill. The ships landed at Kinsale in Cork in 1601 but were captured by the English. O’Neill and O’Donnell tried to help but were defeated in the Battle of Kinsale. In 1603 the Treaty of Mellifont was signed by the Ulster Gaelic clans and the English Crown to end the war. This did not stop the Crown trying to gain control of Ulster. O’Neill and other Ulster chiefs fled in 1607, an event known as the Flight of the Earls. They hoped to return with troops. However this did not happen.

Question 48

What are the main causes of World War I?

Answer 48

• disagreements over colonies in Africa and Asia
• military arms races, especially between Germany and Britain over their naval fleets
• competition between Austria and Russia for influence in the Balkans. These issues saw the creation of a system of alliances between states. On 28 June 1914 the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated. The Austrians blamed the Serbian government for his death and declared war on Serbia in August. Russia, an ally of Serbia, declared war on Austria.Germany, which had encouraged its Austrian ally declared war on Russia. France, an ally of Russia, went to war with Germany. When Germany’s army invaded Belgium to get to France, Britain (who had promised to protect Belgium) declared war on Germany.

Question 49

Tell me about Daniel O’Connell

Answer 49

Daniel O’Connell was born in 1775 in Co. Kerry. He was born into a wealthy Catholic family. Like most sons of well-off Catholic families, he was sent to France to get a university education. O’Connell returned home in 1793 with a lifelong hatred of political violence. He supported the aims of the United Irishmen in the 1798 Rebellion but rejected their use of violence. In 1811, he founded the Catholic Board to campaign for Catholic emancipation. This had a limited impact until he founded the Catholic Association in 1823 to campaign not just for emancipation, but also for the end of tithe payments and for the rights of tenant farmers. The membership fee of one penny a month - low enough to be affordable to all but the poorest - was collected at church gates and became known as the ‘Catholic Rent’. This money funded the campaign. In 1828, O’Connell stood in Clare for election to Westminster. He won the seat easily but refused to take the parliamentary oath and so was unable to take his seat. The British Prime Minister feared another rebellion in Ireland if emancipation was not granted. Westminster passed the Emancipation Act in 1829 and O’Connell took his seat. It was O’Connell’s greatest achievement and led to him being known as the Liberator’ In the 1830s, O’Connell campaigned inside and outside Westminster for the abolition of tithe payments. In 1838 he managed to have the cost lowered and to have the tithes paid to landlords instead of to the Church of Ireland. He was elected the first Catholic Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1841. In 1830, O’Connell set up the Repeal Association to campaign for the repeal (removal) of the Act of Union. He wanted the Irish parliament restored, with the British monarch remaining as king or queen of Ireland. He used his previous tactics: people paid a Repeal Rent to support the campaign. There was little support for repeal in Britain and at the end of the 1830s, O’Connell started organising monster meetings around Ireland. These were huge rallies, attended by over 100,000 people. The British government grew concerned that these meetings would lead to rebellion and banned one, at Clontarf in 1843. Many of O’Connell’s supporters wanted to defy the ban and go ahead with the meeting. Unwilling to run the risk of violence, O’Connell called off the meeting. This led to a split in the movement, with younger members setting up the Young Irelanders, who wanted an all-Ireland struggle for independence and democratic reform. Just as the Great Famine began in 1845, O’Connell’s health started to fail him. His last speech in the House of Commons in February 1847 was an impassioned plea for help for the Irish people dying of starvation. He was on a pilgrimage to Rome when he died in May 1847. O’Connell’s legacy has lived on after him as he has inspired many people

Question 50

Tell me about the cause of the 1916 rebellion

Answer 50

1. The power of the Protestant Ascendancy
   Since the Plantations of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the victory of the Protestant King, Ireland had been under the rule of the British Crown. There was an Irish parliament in Dublin with limited powers over Irish affairs. This was controlled by the Protestant Ascendancy class - the wealthy land-owning Church of Ireland minority - as only Church of Ireland members could vote and become MPs . They owned 80% of the land but made up only 15% of the population.
2. The position of Catholics
   Catholics made up 75% of the population of the island but only owned about 15% of the land. Catholics were discriminated against by the Penal Laws - laws designed to keep Catholics poor and powerless:
   • Catholics could not vote or sit in parliament.
   • Catholic priests were banned.
   • Catholics could not open or attend schools.
   • Catholic-owned land had to be divided equally between all sons upon a father’s death.
   • Catholics had to pay tithes (10% of their income) to Church of Ireland.
   While some of the worst laws were repealed in the 1770s, Catholics still had no say in how the country was run. By the 1790s, most Catholics were poor, under-educated tenant farmers who resented the high rents and tithes they had to pay.
3. The position of Presbyterians (dissenters)
   Presbyterians (known as dissenters at the time, because they disagreed with the official Protestant Church of Ireland) were also not allowed to vote or sit in parliament, though they were not subjected to the harshest of the Penal Laws. They made up about 10% of the population
4. The influence of the American and French Revolutions
   The events of the American and French Revolutions had a big impact on Ireland. They were widely reported in Irish newspapers and Irish troops brought back stories of what was happening abroad. Many Catholics and Presbyterians were excited by and attracted to the ideas of liberty and equality behind these revolutions.

Question 51

Tell me about the Ireland Parliamentary party

Answer 51

The Irish Parliamentary Party declined in popularity in the late 1800s but was reunified under John Redmond in 1900. Its constitutional nationalist aims were unchanged.
• to achieve Home Rule or self-government by having a parliament in Dublin to deal with internal affairs. Westminster could look after external affairs.
• the King/Queen of England to be the King/Queen of Ireland.

Question 52

Tell me about Sinn Féin 1910

Answer 52

Sinn Fein, meaning is a nationalist political party founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, a Catholic Dublin-born journalist. He wanted Ireland to win independence and establish its own parliament. Arthur Griffith and Sinn Féin wanted:
• a dual monarchy, where the King/Queen of England would also be the King/Queen of Ireland
• to develop Irish industry by having tariffs put on goods transported across international borders
• to achieve these by using parliamentary abstention, meaning that Irish MPs would withdraw from the Westminster parliament they entered in the 1801 Act of Union to set up their own parliament in Dublin
• the Dublin parliament would deal with Ireland’s internal affairs.

Question 53

Tell me about the IRB in 1910

Answer 53

The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) had been founded in 1858 and was a secret radical nationalist organisation whose members believed in the use of physical force. It infiltrated other nationalist organisations such as the GAA and Gaelic League. In 1910 the IRB was a small organisation and was only starting to grow again in support since the 1880s. The IRB wanted:
• complete independence from Britain
• to make Ireland a republic
• to use physical force to achieve this.

Question 54

Tell me about the unionist party in 1910

Answer 54

Unionists wanted to retain the Act of Union and keep their strong link with Britain. Edward Carson was the leader of the Unionist Party between 1910 and 1921. He was a Dublin-born Protestant lawyer. Carson and the Unionist Party wanted:
• the parliament in Westminster to continue to make laws for Ireland
• the British government and the Crown to still have representatives in Ireland.

Question 55

How did medieval life lower life expectancy

Answer 55

War was common. Ordinary people suffered in war when armies marched through their lands. Food supply was perilous; bad weather and poor harvests often caused famine. Poor medical knowledge contributed to lower life expectancy. Many diseases that are now easily cured or prevented were common, such as measles, typhoid and dysentery. With no antibiotics and poor hygiene, infection was common and usually fatal. Death during childbirth was common and many children didn’t reach adulthood. One of the biggest killers was the bubonic plague. One outbreak called the Black Death killed over a third of the population of Europe.

Question 56

Tell me about the terms of the Anglo Irish treaty

Answer 56

On 6 December 1921 the ‘Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland’ (the Anglo-Irish Treaty) was signed. The main terms were:
• Ireland would not be a republic but a dominion - a self-governing country within the British Empire.
It would have its own parliament, with control over such things as education, taxation and foreign policy for example, but the British king would remain the head of state.
• Ireland would be called the Irish Free State.
• All TDs would have to take an oath of allegiance to the British Crown.
• Northern Ireland would continue to stay in Britain and have its own parliament, as decided in the Government of Ireland Act 1920.

Question 57

Tell me about Irish soldiers during WW1

Answer 57

About 250,000 Irishmen fought on Britain’s side in World War I, and between 30,000 and 50,000 died. Nationalists and unionists fought on the same side, but for different reasons. Many Irishmen fought in World War I not only because of their political beliefs, but because times were hard at home and it was a good opportunity to earn money to send home to their families.

Question 58

Achievements of the Romans

Answer 58

One achievement of the Roman Empire was the success of its expansion. The roads, buildings, political structure, language and culture they left behind continued to influence people long after the Roman Empire collapsed.

The Julian Calendar was created by Julius Caesar. It simplified the calendar the Romans had used up to then, which kept falling out of sync and needed to be adjusted regularly. Caesar made a 365-day year, with an extra day every four years. This calendar was used across Europe which we still use today.

The Romans built numerous, great buildings and structures, many of which survive today. One example is the Colosseum in Rome. It was built to host public entertainment like gladiator fights, executions and re-enactments of famous battles.

Question 59

Name and explain 4 consequences of the famine

Answer 59

Rise in anti-British feeling: Many palmed the British government for what happened and for not receiving help in time. They wanted there own parliament in Dublin and wanted independence this encouraged the 1916 Easter rising

Fall in Irish language: Before the famine people on the west and south West Coast of Ireland spoke Irish. This changed after the famine as many had emigrated and parents thought their children English so when they grew up they would be able to get a good job and leave Ireland

Decline in the Irish population: A census recorded in 1441 showed 8 million people living in Ireland. This dropped by 2 million between 1445-1450. 1 million people died of disease and the other 1 million emigrated to America or to England

Change in farming: The blight affected Ireland the most die to our very higher reliance on potato’s. Farmers swore to never let this happen again so lords started using cows and animals on their farms and switched from tillage to pastoral farming. Farmers stopped doing subdivision and now just passed the farm on to their oldest son. This meant the girls and the younger boys were left to emigrate in order to find work

Question 60

Tell me about the good Friday agreement

Answer 60

Just before Easter 1998, the parties and governments reached agreement on the Good Friday Agreement. This was an attempt at a comprehensive deal to secure a sustainable peace for Northern Ireland. Its main terms included:
• power sharing between all the main political parties
• cross-border bodies to link the north and south
• that the Republic would give up its constitutional claim on Northern Ireland
• the release of IRA and loyalist prisoners from jail
• decommissioning (giving up) of weapons by terrorist groups
• the reform of the RUC and gradual withdrawal of most British soldiers.
In a referendum on both sides of the border, the agreement was accepted by 71% of people in Northern Ireland and 94% in the Republic. Putting the agreement into practice was difficult and neither side quite kept its part of the deal. Despite this, there was never a return to violence by the main terrorist groups.

Question 61

Tell me about the planning of the Easter rising

Answer 61

The Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) had infiltrated many organisations in Ireland, including the GAA, Sinn Féin and the Irish Volunteer Force (IVF). Soon after the outbreak of World War I, the
IRB leaders began to plan a rising. Home Rule had been put on hold and the IRB knew that Britain was distracted elsewhere and this would be the perfect time to strike. The IRB formed a secret Military Council to organise the Rising. Its members included people like Thomas Clarke, Pádraig Pearse and Éamonn Ceannt. The council was secret due to the danger of infiltration by spies for the British government. The Military Council needed weapons. Joseph Plunkett and the Irishman and former British diplomat Sir Roger Casement used the money to buy arms and ammunition from Germany, Britain’s enemy in World War I. It was decided that the Rising would begin on Easter Sunday, 23 April 1916 - not only because Easter was a holiday period, but also because Pearse believed in blood sacrifice.

Question 62

Tell me about the 1916 Easter rising

Answer 62

The Military Council went ahead with the Rising on Easter Monday, 24 April 1916. Pearse felt that the British would not expect this after the loss of the Aud. As it was a bank holiday Monday, many British soldiers based in Dublin had the day off. Only Dublin Volunteers could be gathered on such short notice, so the Rising was now mainly confined to the capital. By now the rebels knew it would be a military failure, but hoped that their blood sacrifice would inspire people. On Easter Monday morning, about 1,500 Volunteers and members of the Irish Citizen Army marched from Liberty Hall to various city centre buildings. The locations they occupied included the General Post Office, the Four Courts, the South Dublin Union, St Stephen’s Green and the Royal College of Surgeons. Pearse and Connolly occupied the GPO and made it the headquarters of the Rising. Outside the GPO, Pearse read the Proclamation of the Irish aloud - announcing that they were setting up a provisional government replacing Britain’s control in Ireland. At the time, many people walking by did not grasp the importance of this event; some even thought that it was a play.

Question 63

Causes of the American revolution

Answer 63

1. Restrictions on American trade the colonies had become tense by the 1750s. Britain wanted a cheap supply of raw materials like cotton for its expanding industries and saw America as a good source for these. However, Britain did not want American competition for its industries. The British Parliament had passed a series of Navigation Acts, which forced the colonies to sell some of their products (cotton, sugar, tobacco) to Britain alone. This meant that the British could decide the price, as the Americans had nobody else to sell to. These rules caused a lot of smuggling, which led to clashes with the British navy.
2. The Seven Years’ War
   France had also settled colonies in North America. During the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763), the British had defeated France and seized a lot of its territory. Huge numbers of British soldiers fought in America, and the British government wanted the colonies to contribute to the cost of the army, as it was there for their protection. The war also meant that many Americans had gained military experience through fighting in the British army.
3. No Taxation without Representation!
   The British introduced the Stamp Act (1765), requiring all legal documents, wills, newspapers, certificates and playing cards to have a government stamp - which had to be paid for - and the Quartering Act (1765), which imposed taxes to cover the cost of soldiers in the colonies.
   The colonists were furious. They did not want to pay more taxes and they especially resented taxes being forced upon them by a parliament in London in which they had no representatives. Opposition groups used the slogan ‘No Taxation without Representation’. There were widespread protests and violence against the Stamp Act in particular. The act was withdrawn in 1766.

Question 64

What was the results of the American revolution

Answer 64

1. The foundation and growth of the United States of America
   The most significant result of the war was the independence of the 13 colonies. After the Treaty of Paris in 1783, conflicts arose among the colonies. In order to prevent these problems from occurring again, a Constitutional Convention was called in 1787. This was chaired by George Washington and contained representatives from all the new states. It wrote a constitution for their new country, the United States of America. A constitution is the set of fundamental rules for running a country that outlines the powers of government and the rights of citizens.
2. The impact on France and Ireland
   News of events in America spread quickly. Newspapers, letters and returning soldiers brought the colonists’ ideas to other peoples. In France, bankrupted by the war, the rule of Louis XVI was beginning to collapse. People looked to the American republic for inspiration. This paved the way for the French Revolution in 1789. Ireland had been under British rule since the 1100s. There, people looked at America’s example and of an independent Ireland. This led to the 1798 Rebellion.
3. The influence of ideas
   The Declaration of Independence states that ‘all men are created equal’, but this supposed equality and freedom was limited to white men following the creation of the USA.
   • Women were treated as second-class citizens, with few rights separate from those of their husbands or fathers.
   • Millions of black slaves were kept by owners across the southern USA.
   • Indigenous Americans were killed in their hundreds of thousands, were driven from their lands and saw their cultures almost wiped out.

Question 65

Name 1 reformer that you have studied

Answer 65

Martin Luther

Question 66

Explain 3 relief efforts of the famine

Answer 66

• In November 1845 Prime Minister Sir Robert was that nobody knew how to cook it. When the British Peel sent aid in the form of maize (cheap corn from the USA) - enough to feed one million people for one month. It was offered at cost price, but many still could not afford it, or sold they all they had to buy the maize.

• Public works schemes were set up for people affected people could not to earn money by building roads, walls or bridges. By 1846, 400,000 people were involved in these schemes. This was hard, physical work for people who were weak with hunger. They earned 1 shilling per day, but this wasn’t enough as prices had risen due to shortages.

• From the early 1840s, workhouses were established for those who had nowhere else to go. A workhouse was a large building where people worked in return for basic accommodation and food. The whole family had to enter together. This was so that landlords could clear their land of tenants who could not pay rent. Life in the workhouse - was meant to be harsh, so as not to encourage people to stay and to keep down the numbers entering. Despite this, the workhouses were full to overflowing. Inside, families were split up; some never met again. By 1847, there were 200,000 people in the workhouses - double what they should hold. Disease spread easily.

Question 67

Tell me about the course of the famine

Answer 67

• 1845: Farmers noticed the potato stalks turning black and a strange smell from the fields. They found that the potatoes were rotten. Luckily, they had some potatoes in storage from an earlier harvest, so mass starvation was not a problem in 1845.

• 1846: Two-thirds of the crop was lost to blight and people had used up what stores they had. The poorest began to starve. Disease spread as immune systems were weakened. People died of tuberculosis, measles and scarlet fever.

• 1847: There was virtually no potato blight but people had few seeds to plant, so the crop was very small. The poor continued to die of hunger and disease.

• 1848-1850: Starvation and disease worsened. Some 40,000 more people died in 1850 than died in 1846. Typhus and cholera killed many due to poor living conditions and dirty water. People moving to towns to find work brought disease with them and it spread rapidly.

Question 68

Tell me about one social change in Ireland in the 1960

Answer 68

Until the 1960s, Ireland had no domestic television service. This was seen as another example of Ireland lagging behind the rest of the world. In 1960 the government passed the Broadcasting Authority Act, which set up an independent authority to run radio and television in Ireland. Telefís Éireann (later RTÉ) launched on 31 December 1961. By the 1970s, more than 50% of the homes in the country had a TV and most received only the one RTÉ channel.

Question 69

What was the Irish civil war

Answer 69

On 28 June 1922, Collins began to attack the Four Courts with artillery borrowed from Britain. The Civil War had officially begun. Within two days, the Irregulars in the Four Courts had surrendered and within the week had yielded the other buildings in Dublin city. Sixty-four people died in Dublin, The Irregulars retreated to Munster, where they had a lot of support. They gained control of many old RIC barracks and used guerrilla warfare tactics against the Free State Army. A recruitment drive meant that the Free State Army grew to 60,000, greatly outnumbering the Irregulars. Cork fell to the Free State Army on 12 August.