History

For the IDs it is important to focus on these five W questions: What? Why? When? Where? Who? — and sometimes also How? First of all, preparation is key. Starting early makes it less stressful, but it is also possible to pass the exam studying only during the study week, since the workshop sessions also prepare you very well, repeating and going over the topics each week once more in a short and easy manner.

The most important factor again is to understand. While studying, try to connect the dots between all the events. Since the workshops go over the topics each week, you will already have a slight overview of everything. The most important thing during the study sessions will be to go into detail — but this can be done when you have a profound basis of all the topics. Reading one of the recommended books will help a lot to understand the core foundation of the topics covered.

For the essay part, there are two different eras you have to analyse by writing an essay for each. One era is the long 19th century, which starts with the French Revolution in 1789 and continues until the beginning of the First World War in 1914; the second era begins with the First World War in 1914 as the short 20th century. Each has special essay topics that always were asked as essay questions — here it is important to choose the ones that are the most interesting for you. For example, it is asked why the Balkans were the Powder Keg. With a question like this, I suggest making a mind map during the exam with the topic of the question (and maybe also during the study sessions) and writing EVERYTHING you connect to this one event. There will be — and should be — a lot of events leading up to this specific event, and also people and countries involved, and all the little details matter here. What is also often asked is the Congress of Europe in 1815 and how it shaped Europe afterwards — focus on who participated, which countries, who the Prime Ministers were, which alliances were formed afterwards, and so on.

For the short 20th century, the Great Depression is a topic asked very often, as well as the origins of the Second World War — why it started and so on. During the workshop sessions, you learn how far to go back for such events. You can start explaining with the end of the First World War: what happened in the US, what happened in Europe after Germany lost, reparation costs, and so on — which politicians are important, where the Great Depression originated.

Here it is important to use old exam questions, which used to repeat themselves, and create these mind maps with all the events — and these events and people are already IDs, meaning that while you study for the essay, you can also fill up all the important IDs that will be asked anyway. All in all, what matters most is that you create your own timeline in your head with which you can argue the essay question. If you are convincing enough, then you win anyway. The most important here is to have arguments for why what happened.

The essay should consist of a short introduction explaining what the essay is about, then your arguments, and end with a short conclusion. The arguments should be all the events you use, linking them together and explaining why they are linked and how they conclusively led to your opinion. Be clear about which position you are taking and argue for it!