Year 12 Ancient - Xerxes/Persian Wars Sources

Just a quick post. I have compiled some of the most relevant chunks of Herodotus, to provide some quotes on Xerxes and the Persian Wars.

You can access them here.

All the best in Monday's exam, I'm sure you'll all do wonderfully!

Year 12 Ancient - Xerxes in The Persians

Some more quotes for you to play around with. The following are all from the play The persians, written by Aeschylus (a Greek) who actually fought at Salamis. Despite being fictional, the play is about real events, and gives us a fair idea of the Greek view of Xerxes: tyrannical, impetuous (acted before thinking), ill-fated, and hubristic (let his pride take him over the edge).

Quotes about Xerxes from the Play The Persians by Aeschylus

“The mighty Xerxes from Darius sprung”

“Deep were the groans of Xerxes when he saw This havoc; for his seat, a lofty mound Commanding the wide sea, o'erlook'd his hosts” [watching Salamis]

“Xerxes, ill-fated, led the war”

“Xerxes sent forth the unwise command, The crowded ships unpeopled all the land”

“The impetuous Xerxes, thinning all the land.” [of people, that is]

“The impetuous Xerxes learn'd; these caught his ear With thy great deeds, as winning for thy sons Vast riches with thy conquering spear, while he Tim'rous and slothful, never, save in sport, Lifted his lance, nor added to the wealth Won by his noble fathers. This reproach Oft by bad men repeated, urged his soul To attempt this war, and lead his troops to Greece.” [This is saying that Xerxes had never done anything of worth, and so he led his troops to Greece to try to secure his legacy]

“The unpeopled land laments her youth By Xerxes led to slaughter, till the realms Of death are gorged with Persians”

Year 12 Ancient - Sources on Sparta

Another bunch of ancient sources for your study purposes...this time on Sparta. I have included the full translation of Plutarch's Lycurgus just because it is so important.

Sources on Xerxes and the Persian Wars to follow...

You can access the Sparta sources here.

Year 12 Ancient - Sources on Pompeii/Herculaneum

Hi everyone. As promised, here are some ancient sources you can quote in your exam responses for Pompeii & Herculaneum. I have included some grafitti inscriptions, commerical wax tablet inscriptions, and the letter from Pliny the Younger about the eruption.

Sources on Sparta, Xerxes and the Greek World will follow soon...

You can view the document as a webpage here.

Year 12 Modern - Trial Exam Advice

Well, the Trial HSC will be this Friday. A bit of last-minute advice for all you Modern students...

For WW1, focus on perspective, reliability and usefulness of sources. Be prepared to write extended responses on the larger topics: for example, the nature of warfare on the Western Front, the reasons for the stalemate, the changing attitudes of soldiers and civilians, the effects of 'total war' on civilians, the turning points of the conflict, and the aims of the Big Three at Versailles.

For Germany, remember you will have a choice of two essays. Usually, one will focus on Weimar, the other on Nazi Germany. Be sure that you know all about the problems faced by the Weimar Republic, how the Nazis achieved power, and the nature of Nazi society from 1933-1939, as well as Nazi foreign and religious policy.

For Speer, have a working knowledge of his career (maybe memorise ten important landmarks in his life). Make a list of all of his achievements and failures. Formulate an opinion on his significance as a historical personality. Be able to argue whether he was a successful person, or an unsuccessful person, and back it with evidence. Have an opinion on the guy!

For Conflict in Europe, know the steps leading to war (LA-SCRAMCUP, dictatorships, failure of the League of Nations), and the chronology of the war from 1939 to 1943. Have a detailed knowledge of the early successes of Germany (Poland, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg, Yugoslavia, Greece) as well as the failed Barbarossa campaign up to and including the Battle of Stalingrad. Revise the Battle of Britain, the Battle of El Alamein, and the effects of the war on civilians in Britain and Germany. Make sure you know about Nazi racial policies in Europe.

Have a go at some practice exams on the BOS website. Try this link for last year's paper.

Most of all - good luck! Email me if you have any problems on thomas.griffith@det.nsw.edu.au

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Poll Results

Sorry it's taken a while...but here are the latest poll results:

The Battle of Stalingrad got 100% of the votes for 'most interesting battle', of the three we study. Which I agree with...an incredible and tragic event in world history.

As for Athenian statesmen, 44% of you thought that Themistocles was the greatest, with Aristides close behind on 33%. The rest of you went for Pericles.

New poll up after the trials.

Year 12 Modern - Civilian Statistics

Hi Year 12. Here is a rather badly copied-and-pasted screenshot of the notes from yesterday's lesson. It gives a list of civilian-related statistics from WW2, for both Britain and Germany. You should be able to click on the image and see it in a higher resolution.

Year 12 Ancient - Archaeologists of Pompeii

Hi guys. This PowerPoint contains a bunch of slides all about the archaeologists who have worked at Pompeii, from Fiorelli onwards. I have borrowed this presentation from online, so it is not my own work. It has enough information to help you fill out the worksheet I handed out during the tutorial. Grab one from me in class if you didn't get one.

Archaeologists of Pompeii

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by tomgriffith | Upload your own presentation

You can download it here.

Year 12 Ancient - Delian League PowerPoint

Hi Ancients. Here is the PowerPoint on the Delian League. It's a bit text-heavy, but has lots of info.

The Delian League

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by tomgriffith | Upload your own presentation

You can download it here.

Year 12 Modern - Enabling Act/Article 48

Hi folks. There has been a request for clarification regarding the difference between Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, and the Enabling Act.

Here are the relevant sections of legislation:

Article 48, Weimar Constitution, 1919

"If a state does not fulfill the obligations laid upon it by the Reich constitution or Reich laws, the Reich President may use armed force to cause it to oblige.

In case public safety is seriously threatened or disturbed, the Reich President may take the measures necessary to reestablish law and order, if necessary using armed force. In the pursuit of this aim, he may suspend the civil rights described in articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153, partially or entirely.

The Reich President must inform the Reichstag immediately about all measures undertaken based on paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article. The measures must be suspended immediately if the Reichstag so demands.

If danger is imminent, the state government may, for their specific territory, implement steps as described in paragraph 2. These steps may be suspended if so demanded by the Reich President or the Reichstag.

Further details may be regulated by Reich legislation."

Enabling Act, 1933

"ARTICLE 1. In addition to the procedure for the passage of legislation outlined in the Constitution, the Reich Cabinet is also authorized to enact Laws. . . .

ARTICLE 2. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet may deviate from the Constitution provided they do not affect the position of the Reichstag and the Reichsrat. The powers of the President remain unaffected.

ARTICLE 3. The national laws enacted by the Reich Cabinet shall be prepared by the Chancellor and published in the official gazette. They come into effect, unless otherwise specified, upon the day following their publication . . ."

The Difference?

Article 48 gives the President the power to suspend the Constitution, and civil rights, if they think that law and order are threatened. This was the power utilised by Hindenburg to appoint and dismiss chancellors between 1930-33, and to suspend civil rights after the Reichstag Fire.

The Enabling Act gives the Cabinet (that is, the Chancellor) the power to enact laws without them being agreed to by the Reichstag. The powers of the President, and the position of the Reichstag and Reichsrat, are not allowed to be altered by the Act.

So, Article 48 gave the President (i.e. Hindenburg)extraordinary powers; the Enabling Act gave the Chancellor (i.e. Hitler) extraordinary powers).

Year 12 Ancient - Delian League to Athenian Empire

Here is the introduction to an essay written by Thomas Ash, explaining the transformation of the Delian League into the Athenian Empire. Click on the link at the end to read the whole thing.

When Athens began to emerge as a Greek city state in the ninth century, it was a poor city, built on and surrounded by undesirable land, which could support only a few poor crops and olive trees. As it grew it was forced to import much of its food, and while it was near the centre of the Greek world, it was far from being a vital trading juncture like, for example, Corinth. Its army was, by the standards of cities such as Sparta, weak. Yet somehow it became the most prominent of the Greek city states, the one remembered while contemporaries such as Sparta are often forgotten. It was the world's first democracy of a substantial size (and, in some ways, though certainly not others, one of the few true democracies the world has ever seen), producing art and fine architecture in unprecedented amounts. It became a centre of thinking and literature, producing philosophers and playwrights like Socrates and Aristophanes. But most strikingly of all, it was the one Greek city that managed to control an empire spanning the Aegean Sea. During the course of this essay I will attempt to explain how tiny Athens managed to acquire this formidable empire, and why she became Greece's most prominent city state, rather than cities which seemed to have more going for them like Sparta or Corinth. [continue reading here]

For more info on the League, try this page.

Year 12 Modern - Civilians in WW2

Hi folks. the trial is rapidly descending upon us, and so we move on to our last topic that could be in the exam: civilians in WW2. We will be looking at the social and economic effects of the conflict on civilians in BRITAIN and GERMANY, as well as the HOLOCAUST and NAZI RACIAL POLICIES.

For a good summary of the Home Front in Britain, check out this BBC History page - WW2 People's War. It covers topics such as the Blitz, rationing, and internment of enemy aliens, with a focus on the stories of survivors.

You could also try this other BBC page, with a more political focus.

Also useful is this government site with a focus on school activities, based on the collection of the British National Archives.

For Germany, you could try watching the World at War episode 'Inside the Reich', on youtube. here is the first instalment: