National Year 9 History

Chapters: 5

1. Church, state and society in medieval Britain 1066-1509

Medieval Britain

Medieval England, 1066–1307: How Kings, Barons and the Law Changed – After the Norman Conquest of 1066, England was run through the feudal system: land for loyalty and service. Henry II (1154–1189) restored royal power after a civil war, built a common law with royal courts and juries, and clashed with Archbishop Thomas Becket. Richard I spent his reign mostly abroad. King John lost lands in France, taxed hard, and in 1215 had to accept Magna Carta, which put the king under the law. Edward I (1272–1307) used Parliament to raise taxes and pass statutes, conquered Wales and fought long wars in Scotland. Most people lived in villages as peasants, under the lord of the manor and the Church.

2. Church, state and society in Britain 1509-1745

Early modern Britain

Tudor England (1485–1603) – The Tudors ruled England for 118 years. Henry VII won the crown in battle in 1485 and made it safe: he married into the rival family, filled the treasury and controlled the nobles. Henry VIII broke with the Pope so he could end his marriage, made himself head of the Church and closed the monasteries. Under his children the country swung between religions: Edward VI made it Protestant, Mary I brought back Catholic worship, and Elizabeth I chose a Protestant 'middle way'. Across the century the population and prices rose, wages fell behind, poverty grew and governments made Poor Laws. England's ties with Scotland, France and Spain moved from war to uneasy peace, and the Armada of 1588 was turned back.

3. Ideas, political power, industry and empire: Britain 1745-1901

Georgian and Victorian Britain

The Industrial Revolution: Causes, Effects and Reform (1760–1914) – Between about 1760 and 1914 work moved from hand tools at home to machines in factories. A first wave (about 1760–1840) began in Britain with coal, iron, steam power and cotton mills. A second wave (about 1870–1914) brought steel, electricity, chemicals and oil, and spread to Western Europe, the United States, Japan and Russia. Towns grew fast; workers faced long hours, child labour and dirty housing. Workers organised in unions, new ideas (liberalism, socialism, conservatism) argued about what to do, and governments slowly passed factory, health and voting reforms.

4. Challenges for Britain, Europe and the wider world 1901 to present

Twentieth century and after

The Two World Wars Compared: Causes, Costs and the New World Order – World War I (1914–1918) grew out of militarism, rival alliances, imperial competition and nationalism, set off by one assassination in 1914. Its peace settlement, the Great Depression and the rise of dictators led to World War II (1939–1945). Both were total wars that used whole economies and new technology, and WWII killed about four times as many people, more than half of them civilians, including the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. After WWI the League of Nations failed; after WWII the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and decolonisation reshaped the world.

5. Other required studies

Local history study · British thematic study · Significant world society or issue

Local History: Discovering the Story of Your Own Place – Local history is the history of one place you can visit: a village, town, neighbourhood, school or building. You ask a question, look for clues in buildings, maps, records, photos, memorials and people's memories, and link what happened locally to bigger national and world events. It shows change and continuity, helps you understand today's local issues, and helps protect heritage.
History and Memory: How We Remember the Past – Memory is how people and groups remember the past; history is the careful study of the past using evidence. After an event, witnesses keep living memory for a few generations. Sources such as documents, photos, objects and interviews survive longer. Societies turn memory into memorials, museums, street names and remembrance days. Different groups may remember the same event differently, so historians compare sources to test memory, correct myths and give a fair account. Remembering past wrongs can support justice and reconciliation.
World History: How to Study a Society, and How Armies Changed – World history looks beyond one country to see how different societies lived at the same time. To study any society, ask five questions: who had power, how people worked and traded, what they believed, what they created, and whom they met. Four big societies of 1500–1950 (Mughal India, Qing China, the Russian Empire and the United States) show how differently people organised life. Armies also changed: from spears and shields, to mounted warriors and castles, to gunpowder and cannon, to paid standing armies and finally industrial war with railways and factories. Each change caused others, such as stronger central governments and higher taxes.