Context

Question 1

early 1900s context

Answer 1

lead up to WW1 — conflict in Europe, growing tensions, conflict erupted in 1914, thought to be the war to end all wars

new king — usually creates uncertainty and anxiety, a time of great change

Darwin’s Origins of the Species

industrial revolution — fear of technology, dependence on technology, widening class divides, etc

Question 2

1930s historical events

Answer 2

1933 — rise of Hitler, became chancellor of Germany

Mussolini

Spanish Civil War

Hindenburg Disaster

Gandhi

the Great Depression — after the collapse of Wall Street in 1929, led to widespread poverty and unemployment, affected the lower classes significantly more than the upper classes

Dust Bowl — farming became almost impossible

Roosevelt

Amelia Earheart

Stalin — became leader of the Soviet Union in 1924

Question 3

effects of WW2

Answer 3

POLITICAL — turmoil, unstable power balance, communism v capitalism, splitting and dividing up of Germany among the victors (Berlin Wall), increased state control, dismantling of the British Empire, selling of the image of the ideal ‘housewife’

ECONOMY — rationing continued for 7 years after the war, Britain’s loss of money, massive amounts of money required to rebuild British cities after bombings

LITERATURE — birth of postmodernism, 1950s masculinity

Question 4

the 1950s: historical context

Answer 4

the Red Scare — fear of the spread of communism, the domino effect (one country would fall to communism, leading neighbouring countries to do the same)

McCarthyism — adhering to the norm, heavy emphasis placed on conformity and obedience, fear of subversion, aimed to root out communists because some communists in America spied for the Soviets (e.g. the Rosenbergs)

McCarthyism — harassed those who did not adhere to the norm, such as people suspected of having left of centre views, such people were denied any influence in American society, fired and blacklisted, the House of Un-American Activities

Question 5

the 1960s + 70s: historical context

Answer 5

second wave feminism — a reaction against the renewed domesticity of women after WW2…

• Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex, 1949)
• Betty Friedan (The Feminine Mystique, 1963)

oral contraceptive pill was made available in 1961 — made it easier for women to have careers without having to leave due to unexpectedly becoming pregnant, gave them more control, autonomy and power over their own futures

Equal Pay Act (1963)

Roe v Wade (1973) — women could no longer be prosecuted for procuring an abortion

Question 6

the 1980s: historical context

Answer 6

Reagan and Thatcher

attempt to assassinate Reagan

fall of the Berlin Wall (1989)

first IVF baby

Tiananmen Square Massacre, China (1989)

Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986)

Question 7

the 1990s: historical context

Answer 7

dolly the sheep — cloning, advanced technology and genetic modification

Hubble telescope launched — advanced technology

Gulf War (1990-91)

Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa (1990)

impeachment of Clinton (1998)

Y2K bug (1999) — fear of technology, herd mentality

collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

Bosnian genocide (1992) and Rwandan genocide (1994)

eurotunnel connecting the UK and France (1994) — advanced technology

viagra (1998) — enhancing the human condition

Question 8

the 2000s: historical context

Answer 8

fear of technology

terrorism

Question 9

key events of the 20th century: WW1 and the Russian Revolution

Answer 9

1914 - 1918 — WW1 and its aftermath caused major changes in the power balance of the world, destroying or transforming some of the most powerful empires, led to the map of Europe being redrawn

referred to as “the Great War” and “the war to end all wars”

1917 — the Russian Revolution

Question 10

World War 1 (1914 - 1918)

Answer 10

known as “the war to end all wars”

its aftermath caused major changes in the power balance of the world, destroying and transforming some of the most powerful empires

ignited by the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s heir to the throne, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, by a member of the Bosnian Serbs’ liberation movement

the Germans introduced the machine gun, U-Boats and deadly gases, while the British first used the tank and both sides had a chance to test out their new aircrafts

Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles, forcing them to make payments to repair damages caused during the War

much of the map of Europe was redrawn by the victors based upon the theory that future wars could be prevented if all ethnic groups had their own “homeland”

new states like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia were created out of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire to accommodate the nationalist aspirations of these groups

the League of Nations was formed to mediate disputes and prevent future wars, although its effectiveness was severely limited

Question 11

Russian Revolution (1917)

Answer 11

led to the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and the brutal execution of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II and his family

sparked a wave of communist revolutions across Europe, prompting many to believe that a socialist world revolution could be realized in the near future

Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, and within a few years, Joseph Stalin displaced Leon Trotsky as the de facto leader of the Soviet Union

the idea of worldwide revolution was no longer in the forefront, as Stalin concentrated on “socialism in one country” and embarked on a bold plan of collectivization and industrialization

the majority of socialists and even many communists became disillusioned with Stalin’s autocratic rule, his purges and the assassination of his “enemies”, as well as the news of famines he imposed on his own people

communism was strengthened as a force in Western democracies when the global economy crashed in 1929 in what became known as the Great Depression

many people saw this as the first stage of the end of the capitalist system and were attracted to Communism as a solution to the economic crisis, especially as the Soviet Union’s economic development in the 1930s was strong, unaffected by the capitalist world’s crisis

Question 12

The Great Depression (1930s)

Answer 12

after World War I, the global economy remained strong through the 1920s, the war had provided a stimulus for industry and for economic activity in general

there were many warning signs foretelling the collapse of the global economic system in 1929 that were generally not understood by the political leadership of the time

the responses to the crisis often made the situation worse, as millions of people watched their savings become next to worthless and the idea of a steady job with a reasonable income fading away

many sought answers in alternative ideologies such as communism and fascism, they believed that the capitalist economic system was collapsing, and that new ideas were required to meet the crisis

democratic governments assumed the responsibility to provide needed services in society, and to alleviate poverty, thus, the welfare state was born

Question 13

the rise of dictatorships (1930s): Italy, Eastern Europe and Spain

Answer 13

fascism, totalitarianism, and dictatorships spread across Europe

fascism first appeared in Italy when Mussolini rose to power in 1922, the ideology was supported by a large proportion of the upper classes as a strong challenge to the threat of communism

almost all of the new democracies in the nations of Eastern Europe collapsed and were replaced by authoritarian regimes

Spain also became a dictatorship under the leadership of General Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War

totalitarian states were often responsible for some of the worst acts in history, such as the Holocaust Adolf Hitler perpetrated on European Jews, or the Great Purge Stalin perpetrated in the Soviet Union in the 1930s

Question 14

the rise of dictatorships (1930s): Germany

Answer 14

when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933, a new variant of fascism called Nazism took over Germany and ended the German experiment with democracy

the Nazi Party in Germany was dedicated to the restoration of German honour and prestige, the unification of German-speaking peoples, and the annexation of Central and Eastern Europe as vassal states, with the Slavic population to act as slave labour to serve German economic interests

there was also a strong appeal to a mythical racial purity (the idea that Germans were the “master race”), and a vicious anti-Semitism which promoted the idea of Jews as subhuman

many people in Western Europe and the United States greeted the rise of Hitler with relief or indifference, they could see nothing wrong with a strong Germany ready to take on the communist menace to the east

anti-Semitism during the Great Depression was widespread as many were content to blame the Jews for causing the economic downturn

Question 15

World War 2 (1939 - 1945)

Answer 15

soon after the events in Czechoslovakia, Britain and France issued assurances of protection to Poland, which seemed to be next on Hitler’s list

World War II officially began on September 1, 1939, when Hitler unleashed his Blitzkrieg against Poland, and Britain and France immediately declared war upon Germany

16 days later, Poland was attacked from the East by the Soviet Union, acting in a secret alliance with Nazi Germany

after only a few weeks, the Polish forces were overwhelmed, and its government fled to exile in London

the Germans had unleashed a new type of warfare, characterized by highly mobile forces and the use of massed aircraft

the Soviet Union and Germany had a nonaggression pact, this treaty gave Stalin free rein to take the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, as well as Eastern Poland

Question 16

the assault on the Soviet Union (1941)

Answer 16

despite having signed the non-aggression pact with Stalin, Hitler despised communism and wished to destroy it

Hitler attacked Stalin with the largest army the world had ever seen

over three million men and their weapons were put into service against the Soviet Union and the Soviet army was largely unprepared, suffering massive setbacks

Question 17

Pearl Harbour (1941)

Answer 17

the Japanese had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii in 1941

this disastrous attack forced the Americans into the war, turning it into a true world war

Question 18

Yalta Conference (1945)

Answer 18

in 1945, the three Allied leaders, Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, met at newly liberated Yalta in the Crimea in the Soviet Union in the Yalta Conference

they agreed upon a plan to divide post-war Europe: most of the East went to Stalin, who agreed to allow free elections in Eastern Europe, which he never did, and the West went to Britain, France, and the US

post-war Germany would be split between the four, as would Berlin, this division of spheres of influence would set up international diplomacy for Cold War that would dominate the second half of the century

Question 19

The Holocaust (1941 – 1945)

Answer 19

the deliberate, systematic murder of millions of Jews and other minorities during World War II by the Nazi regime in Germany

the Nazis used propaganda to great effect to stir up anti-Semitic feelings within ordinary Germans

after the conquest of Poland, the Third Reich, which had previously deported Jews and other “undesirables”, suddenly had within its borders the largest concentration of Jews in the world

the solution was to round up Jews and place them in Nazi concentration camps or in ghettos, cornered off sections of cities where Jews were forced to live in deplorable conditions, often with tens of thousands starving to death, and the bodies decaying in the streets

after the invasion of the Soviet Union, armed killing squads of SS men known as Einsatzgruppen systematically rounded up Jews and murdered an estimated one million Jews within the country

the Nazis created a system of extermination camps throughout Poland, and began rounding up Jews from the Soviet Union, and from the Ghettos

not only were Jews shot or gassed to death, but they were forced to provide slave labour and they were used in horrific medical experiments

Question 20

the ‘Nuclear Age’ begins (1945): the first nuclear weapons

Answer 20

during the 1930s, innovations in physics made it apparent that it could be possible to develop nuclear weapons of incredible power

when World War II broke out, scientists and advisors among the Allies feared that Nazi Germany may have been trying to develop its own atomic weapons, and the United States and the United Kingdom pooled their efforts in what became known as the Manhattan Project to beat them to it

the first nuclear weapons were tested at the Trinity site in July 1945

Question 21

the ‘Nuclear Age’ begins (1945): the nuclear arms race during the Cold War

Answer 21

nuclear weapons brought an entirely new and terrifying possibility to warfare: a nuclear holocaust

while at first the United States held a monopoly on the production of nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union managed to detonate its first weapon

the post-war relations between the two, which had already been deteriorating, began to rapidly disintegrate and soon the two were locked in a massive stockpiling of nuclear weapons

the United States began a crash program to develop the first hydrogen bomb in 1950, and detonated its first thermonuclear weapon in 1952, this new weapon was alone over 400 times as powerful as the weapons used against Japan

the Soviet Union detonated a primitive thermonuclear weapon in 1953 and a full-fledged one in 1955

nuclear missiles and computerized launch systems increased the range and scope of possible nuclear war

the conflict continued to escalate, with the major superpowers developing long-range missiles (such as the ICBM) and a nuclear strategy which guaranteed that any use of the nuclear weapons would be suicide for the attacking nation (Mutually Assured Destruction)

the creation of early warning systems put the control of these weapons into the hands of newly created computers, and they served as a tense backdrop throughout the Cold War

Question 22

the ‘Nuclear Age’ begins (1945): nuclear weapons today

Answer 22

since the 1940s there were concerns about the rising proliferation of nuclear weapons to new countries, which was seen as being destabilizing to international relations, spurring regional arms races, and generally increasing the likelihood of some form of nuclear war

eventually, nine nations would overtly develop nuclear weapons, and still maintain stockpiles today: the United States, the Soviet Union (and later Russia would inherit these), the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea

Question 23

post World War 2 (1945 onwards)

Answer 23

following World War II, the majority of the industrialized world lay in ruins as a result of aerial bombings, naval bombardment, and protracted land campaigns

the United States was a notable exception to this; barring Pearl Harbour and some minor incidents, the U.S. had suffered no attacks upon its territory

the United States and the Soviet Union, which, despite the devastation of its most populated areas, rebuilt quickly, found themselves the world’s two dominant superpowers

much of Western Europe was rebuilt after the war and Berlin was divided among the four powers, occupation of Berlin would continue until 1990

following the end of the war, the Allies famously prosecuted numerous German officials for war crimes and other offenses in the Nuremberg Trials

the failure of the League of Nations to prevent World War II essentially discredited the organization, and it was dissolved, but a new attempt at world peace was begun with the founding of the United Nations on October 24, 1945, in San Francisco (today, nearly all countries are members)

Question 24

the End of Empires: Decolonisation: Asia

Answer 24

immediately after the war, European powers began a decades-long process of withdrawing from their possessions in Africa and Asia

in India, Mahatma Gandhi became a global icon for his non-violent struggle to achieve Indian independence, which was achieved in 1947 with the end of British rule in India and the partition of the territory into modern day India and Pakistan, which would later also further divide, leading to the creation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 1971

elsewhere in Asia, The United States granted independence to the Philippines, its major Pacific possession in 1946

in French Indochina, armed insurrections forced the French out in the early 1950s, leading to the formation of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam

Question 25

the End of Empires: Decolonisation: Africa

Answer 25

in Africa, nationalists such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana led their respective nations to independence from foreign rule

mere decades before, the British Empire controlled almost half of the continent, but by 1968, the only British possession in Africa was Seychelles (which would also become independent in 1976)

between 1956 and 1962, almost 20 African countries achieved their independence from France

in 1946, there were 35 member states in the United Nations, but as the newly independent nations joined the organization, by 1970 membership increased to 127

Question 26

The Cold War (1947–1991): the Yalta Conference and the iron curtain

Answer 26

during the Yalta Conference, where the Western, capitalist powers, and the communist Soviet Union agreed on separate spheres of influence in Europe, they set up the stage for a geopolitical rivalry that would dominate international relations for the next five decades

in March 1946, Winston Churchill gave a now famous speech while visiting Westminster College in the US which is usually credited as the first use of the term iron curtain to refer to the separation of Soviet and Western areas of influence in Europe

Question 27

The Cold War (1947–1991): actions of the Soviet Union and the spread of communism

Answer 27

the Soviet Union have already annexed several countries as Soviet Socialist Republics during the war

Eastern Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, part of eastern Finland and eastern Romania were now wholly part of Soviet Union

furthermore, between 1945 and 1949, Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and East Germany saw communist regimes coming to power and their transformation into People’s Republics

countries that would see the rise of communism and would ally themselves to the communist block include Mongolia, China, North Korea, Cuba and Vietnam

the spread of the communist ideology in general and the Soviet influence in particular made Western leaders nervous

Question 28

The Cold War (1947–1991): rivalry between the Soviet Union and the USA

Answer 28

the two rival blocks also merged into formal mutual defence organizations, with the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949 and the Warsaw Pact in 1955, each determine to expand its own influence among unaligned countries and limit the influence of their rivals

the Cuban Missile Crisis illustrates just how close to the brink of nuclear war the world came during the Cold War

Cuba, under Fidel Castro’s socialist government, had formed close ties with the Soviet Union, this was obviously disquieting to the United States, given Cuba’s proximity

when spy plane flights over the island revealed that Soviet missile launchers were being installed, U.S. President John F. Kennedy instituted a naval blockade and publicly confronted the Soviet Union

after a tense week, the Soviet Union backed down and ordered the launchers removed, not wanting to risk igniting a new world war

with Cold War tensions running high, the Soviet Union and United States took their rivalry to the stars in 1957 with the Soviet launch of Sputnik, a “space race” between the two powers followed

Question 29

The Cold War (1947–1991): the weakening and eventual collapse of the Soviet Union

Answer 29

by the 1980s, the Soviet Union was weakening

the Sino-Soviet split had removed the USSR’s most powerful ally, the People’s Republic of China

its arms race with the U.S. was draining the country of funds, and further weakened by internal pressures, ethnic and political

Mikhail Gorbachev, its last leader, attempted to reform the country with glasnost and perestroika, but the formation of Solidarity, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the breaking-off of several Soviet republics, such as Lithuania, started a slippery slope of events that culminated in a coup to overthrow Gorbachev, organized by Communist Party hard-liners

1989 – fall of the Berlin Wall

on December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union was officially disbanded into its constituent republics, thus putting a final line under the already exhausted Cold War

Question 30

information and communications technology

Answer 30

the creation of the transistor revolutionized the development of the computer

1990 – World Wide Web and the internet

Question 31

the modern world

Answer 31

more technological advances had been made than in all of preceding history, communications and information technology, transportation technology, and medical advances had radically altered daily lives

Europe appeared to be at a sustainable peace for the first time in recorded history

global warming – predicted to frequently flood coastal areas, due to human-caused emission of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide produced by the burning of fossil fuels

Americanization led to anti-Western and anti-American feelings in parts of the world, especially the Middle East

the influence of China and India was also rising

the gap between rich and poor nations continued to widen

terrorism, dictatorship, and the spread of nuclear weapons were other issues

disease threatened to destabilize many regions of the world, new viruses such as SARS and West Nile continued to spread and in poor nations, malaria and other diseases affected the majority of the population, millions were infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS

Question 32

1920s key dates

Answer 32

1921: Adolf Hitler becomes Führer of the Nazi Party as hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic begins
1924: Death of Vladimir Lenin triggers power struggle between Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin
1925: Benito Mussolini gains dictatorial powers in Italy. Mein Kampf is published. First televisual image created by John Logie Baird
1927: Stalin becomes leader of the Soviet Union
1928: Discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming
1929: Wall Street crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression

Question 33

1930s key dates

Answer 33

1930: Aided by the Great Depression, the Nazi Party increases its share of the vote from 2.6% to 18.3%
1933: Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. Prohibition in the United States is abolished
1936: Beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Great Purge begins under Stalin
1939: End of Spanish Civil War; Francisco Franco becomes dictator of Spain

Question 34

1940s key dates

Answer 34

1945: Yalta Conference. End of World War II in Europe. The Holocaust ends after (12 million deaths, including 6 million Jews). Creation of the atomic bomb, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Potsdam Conference divides Europe into Western and Soviet blocs. United Nations founded. Nuremberg trials begin
1949: Creation of NATO. Soviet Union tests atomic bomb

Question 35

1950s key dates

Answer 35

1952: Detonation of the hydrogen bomb. First scheduled flight by commercial jet
1954: Supreme Court of the United States decides Brown v. Board of Education, ordering an end to racial segregation in public schools
1957: Launch of Sputnik 1 and the beginning of the Space Age. Treaty of Rome, which would eventually lead to the European Union. First prescription of the combined oral contraceptive pill

Question 36

1960s key dates

Answer 36

1960: The Birth control pill becomes commercially available. Civil rights movement
1962: Cuban missile crisis
1963: Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers “I Have a Dream” at the March on Washington. Assassination of John F. Kennedy
1965: Deaths of Winston Churchill and Malcolm X
1968: Assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy
1969: Stonewall riots in the US instigate the gay rights movement

Question 37

1970s key dates

Answer 37

1973: The Supreme Court of the United States decides Roe v. Wade
1976: First outbreak of the Ebola virus
1977: Introduction of the first mass-produced personal computers
1979: Margaret Thatcher becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Implementation of China’s one-child policy

Question 38

1980s key dates

Answer 38

1980: Ronald Reagan is elected President of the United States
1986: Challenger and Chernobyl disasters
1987: Stock market crash of 1987. The antidepressant drug Prozac becomes commercially available
1989: Fall of the Berlin Wall; Revolutions of 1989 and collapse of the Soviet Bloc in Europe. Tiananmen Square Massacre in China

Question 39

1990s key dates

Answer 39

1990: Tim Berners-Lee invents the World Wide Web. German reunification. Launch of the Hubble Space Telescope
1991: Dissolution of the Soviet Union and independence of 15 former Soviet republics. The first website is put online and made available to the public
1994: End of apartheid in South Africa and election of Nelson Mandela. Assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira triggers the Rwandan genocide. Opening of the Channel Tunnel. Kim Jong-il becomes Supreme Leader of North Korea
1996: Dolly the sheep becomes the first successful cloned mammal. The Taliban government takes control of Afghanistan
1998: Good Friday Agreement brings an end to The Troubles in Northern Ireland

Question 40

US history key dates: 1950s

Answer 40

1950 – Senator Joseph McCarthy gains power, and McCarthyism (1950–1954) begins

1954 – Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark decision of the Supreme Court, declares state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students and denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional

1955 – Rosa Parks remains seated on a bus, the incident which evolves into the Montgomery bus boycott

1957 – Civil Rights Act of 1957, primarily a voting rights bill, becomes the first civil rights legislation enacted by Congress since Reconstruction

1957 – Soviets launch Sputnik; “space race” begins

Question 41

US history key dates: first half of the 1960s

Answer 41

1963 – March on Washington; Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” speech

1963 – The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan published, sparking the women’s liberation movement

1964 – Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawing major forms of legalized discrimination against blacks and women, and ended legalized racial segregation in the United States

1965 – Malcolm X an African-American Muslim minister, public speaker, and human rights activist is assassinated in Harlem, New York

1965 – The Watts riots in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, lasts six days and is the first of several major urban riots due to racial issues

Question 42

US history key dates: second half of the 1960s

Answer 42

1966 – Feminist group National Organization for Women (NOW) formed

1966 – The three major American television networks—NBC, CBS and ABC—have full color lineups in their prime-time schedules

1967 – Detroit race riot precipitates the “Long Hot Summer of 1967”, when race riots erupt in 159 cities nationwide

1968 – Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated

1969 – Stonewall riots in New York City marks the start of the modern gay rights movement in the U.S

1969 – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walk on the Moon on the Apollo 11 mission

Question 43

Nazi book burnings

Answer 43

Nazi book burnings of the 1930s, which saw the ceremonious burning of books regarded as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism

Question 44

Nikolai Yezhov

Answer 44

censorship and the rewriting of history was widespread in the Soviet Union

the Soviet government under Stalin altered numerous images and books in an attempt to erase people from history

a famous example is the image taken of Nikolai Yezhov and Stalin by the Moscow Canal

after Yezhov was killed, he was removed from the image

Question 45

silencing of opposition: Stalinist purges

Answer 45

the Soviet purges of the late 1930s saw the systematic arrest and execution of those who opposed and questioned the authority of Stalin

this was an extreme and brutal attempt to remove all opposition and silence anyone who dare speak out

Question 46

silencing of opposition: the House of Un-American Activities Committee

Answer 46

an alternative method to removing opposition was seen in the United States’ House of Un-American Activities Committee which was established in the 1930s to root out Communist activity and became a huge presence during the late 1940s and early 1950s

those who were suspected of supporting or furthering the Communist agenda were called to testify before the committee and were frequently blacklisted, meaning their lives and careers were ruined

Question 47

the rise of the Christian Right: what is the Christian Right?

Answer 47

in the US, the Christian Right is an informal coalition formed around a core of Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics

the movement has its roots in American politics going back as far as the 1940s and has been especially influential since the 1970s

the Christian Right is notable for advancing socially conservative positions on issues including school prayer, intelligent design, embryonic stem cell research, homosexuality, contraception, abortion and pornography — it has been very powerful in motivating the electorate around these issues

the Christian Right champions itself as the ”self-appointed conscience of American society”

Question 48

the rise of the Christian Right: what has been the influence and significance of the Christian Right?

Answer 48

since the late 1970s, the Christian Right has been a notable force in both the Republican Party and American politics as a whole

especially when Baptist pastor Jerry Falwell (founder of the Moral Majority, which was a key step in the formation of the New Christian Right) and other Christian leaders began to urge Conservative Christians to involve themselves in the political process

in response to the rise of the Christian Right, the 1980 Republican Party under Reagan assumed a number of its positions, including dropping support for the Equal Rights Amendment and adding support for the restoration of school prayer

Question 49

the rise of the Christian Right: what does the group advocate for and believe in?

Answer 49

the Christian Right opposes abortion, believing that life begins at conception and that abortion is murder

it generally promotes the teaching of creationism and intelligent design as opposed to biological evolution

some groups advocate for the removal of sex education literature from public schools, for parental opt-out of comprehensive sex education or for abstinence-only sex education

in the 1950s and 60s, many Christian Conservatives viewed sexual promiscuity as not only excessive but as a threat to their ideal vision of the country

Question 50

the murder of journalists in Russia

Answer 50

over the past decade, Western governments have repeatedly urged the Russian authorities to do more to investigate the deaths of journalists

the organisation Reporters Without Borders claims that many of the murdered journalists had been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin

between 2000 and 2007, 21 journalists were reportedly murdered in Russia due to their work and open criticism of the government

for example, in 2006 Anna Politkovskaja was brutally murdered — she was known for her critical reporting on the conflict in Chechnya in which she sought to expose human rights abuses

a reminder to Russian journalists that violence awaits those who investigate or criticise those in power

silencing of opposition and anyone who criticised those in power, lack of freedom of speech — still present in the world today, dystopias like 1984 are still familiar to modern readers