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 Ancient/Modern - Poll Results

Hi guys, hope everyone is enjoying their holidays...and studying hard. There are plenty of old exam papers you can be looking at on the BOS website.

meanwhile, the latest poll results (a few days late, I know):

Why did Xerxes leave Greece after Salamis? According to 77% of you, it was because he was so humiliated after the battle.

And why did Hitler invade the USSR? 83% of you believed he wanted more territory (lebensraum), whilst 50% each (you could make mulitple responses) said it was because he hated communism, and because it had been his lifelong obsession. All pretty accurate, I would say - Hitler certainly did see the fight with Russia as an ideological and racial showdown, that was both inevitable, and necessary for Germany's survival.

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Poll Results

Hurray! The biggest voting numbers yet! I guess it could have something to do with the assessments last week...(which I hope went well, by the way...)

When it came to Hitler's biggest mistake in WW2 - 69% of you said it was his invasion of the USSR. Certainly, that would be the view of most modern historians.

As for the most interesting battle in the Persian Wars - 71% of you went with Thermopylae. That must be The 300 effect. 19% of you voted for Salamis, and the rest went with Marathon. Surprise, surpise - nobody voted for Artemisium, Plataea, or Mycale.

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Polls Closed

Okay, so not many votes, but the results are still pretty clear this week...

All of you said that Hitler was to blame for starting WW2, but only 66% ascribed the complete blame to the Fuhrer.

88% of you believed that the Battle of Salamis was the turning point of the Persian Wars...so pretty overwhelming.

New polls up soon!

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Polls Closed

Here are this week's poll results:

For Ancient, 54% of you believe that Xerxes was a failure as a military commander; 27% each said that he was a great ruler, and that he was ifted in running domestic affairs. So you have not all been sucked in by the anti-Xerxes Greek sources!

For Modern, 40% of you asserted that the Allies should have gone to war with Hitler when he reoccupied the Rhineland; 30% each said they should have done so after he announced rearmament, or after he invaded Czechoslovakia. Based on that, none of you believe that the policy of appeasement should have been followed all the way to the invasion of Poland.

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Poll Results

Here are the results of the latest polls:

62% of you thought that Persian expansionism was to blame for the Greco-Persian Wars

...and...

75% of you thought that Hitler's boldest foreign policy move was the recoccupation of the Rhineland.

New polls up soon.

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Poll Results

The polls for this week have closed, and the results are as follows:

Equal numbers (37%) said that The 300 was either absolutely rubbish, or a great action film. So the critics are divided...

Half of you said that the Nazis' most effective tool for controlling society was propaganda, with only a couple going for the other options.

New polls up soon.

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Latest Polls Closed

It's that time of the week again: the verdicts are in for the latest history polls...

75% of you agreed that Nazi Germany was indeed, a totalitarian dictatorship; and

70% of you thought that Spartan pottery was their finest type of art.

New polls as soon as I can think of a subject...

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - Latest Polls Closed

When did Germany take the fateful step to being a dictatorship? A huge percentage - 85% - said it was when the Enabling Act of March 1933 was passed...which is when Hitler had the power to make any law he wanted, so I think you were pretty spot on there.

For Sparta - 44% of you said the perioeci were most integral to the economy, and 33% went for the helots. Again, pretty much as expected, as these groups certainly did underpin the crafts/agriculture side of the economy, while the Spartiates were off training or waging war.

New polls up very soon!

Year 12 Modern - Favourite Nazis...

OK, not many people voted - it was the holidays - but it seems that 2/3 of you are looking forward to studying Albert Speer...which is very fortuitous, as he happens to be our chosen Nazi personality for 2009. I bet you can't wait!

See you tomorrow, ready to learn lots about Germany in the 1930s.

Year 12 Ancient - Spartan Myths Poll

An overwhelming result for this poll - all but one of you who voted - so over 90% - went for the Apollo-Hyakinth myth. I can see why a story about a Greek god killing his boyfriend with a discus would be memorable...just make sure you also remember that the Hyakinthia festival was held in honour of the slain lover!

Year 12 Modern - Latest Poll Closed

What was it that enabled the Nazis to come to power in 1933? Well, according to those of you who voted, 50% put it down to the Great Depression, while 37% attributed it to Hitler's own personality and charisma. It was actually a complex interplay of factors that catapulted Hitler into the chancellorship, but certainly, without the Depression, he would never have made it.

New poll up soon.

Year 12 Ancient - Those Crazy Spartans

The jury is in: according to 60% of you, the weirdest thing about the Spartans was their penchant for exercising and dancing in the nude. The cheese-stealing ceremony got a few votes too. One thing is for certain - they were a pretty unique bunch.

New poll up soon.

Oh, and by the way - good luck in the half-yearly on Tuesday. Make sure you revise all of Pompeii, plus Spartan society/government/religion/women.

Year 12 Ancient - Gods Poll

The Greek Gods poll has closed, and the most popular response (for the 8 of you who voted...I really need a more engaging poll topic!) was Athena (62%). Apollo and Zeus both rated at 37%. For the record, I think my response was Apollo. Come on, he was like the Brad Pitt of Ancient Greece!

Year 12 Modern - Weimar Poll Closed

So, according to the vast majority of you (72%), it was Gustav Stresemann who turned around Weimar Germany's fortunes in the late 1920s. I guess they didn't call it the 'Stresemann Era' for nothing, then...

New poll up soon.

Year 12 Ancient - Lycurgus Poll

So, according to you guys, did Lycurgus actually exist? Here are the results:

15% each voted for either he was completely real, or he was an amalgam of more than one person

31% said he may have existed, but

36 % said he was a complete myth.

I'm with the last group, but remember - it's your opinion on this guy!

Year 12 Ancient/Modern - The Polls Have Closed!

Well, the results of the first Modern and Ancient blog polls are in. OK, not many of you voted, but I'm going to publish the results anyway...

In answer to the question,

What do you think was the major problem faced by the Weimar Republic?

44% of you thought it was economic collapse. 33% thought it was the humilation of Versailles. The rest thought it was uprisings by the Right.

And, in Ancient, in response to the question

Which class of Spartans would you like to have been born into?

The vast majority (60%) said the perioeci , possibly because they had few rights but equally few responsibilities. Next was Spartiates with 26 %. Helots and Inferiors got one vote each...though I can't figure out why.

There'll be new polls up soon, plus there's one on Lycurgus for you Ancient Historians to have a go at.