HSC History Extension Trial Notes PDF

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BAND 6 HISTORY EXTENSION HSC NOTES...

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HSC Course: History Extension Trial Study Notes

HSC History Extension

HSC Topic 1: Constructing History – Key Questions Historiography: The writing of history based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details from the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination. History: The bodies of knowledge about the past produced by historians, together with everything that is involved in the production, communication, and teaching about that knowledge.

A. What is History? Historical Overview 1.1. Ancients: Thucydides ●

5th Century BC Greece is the obvious starting point for any survey of historiography - giving us Herodotus and Thucydides, the pioneers of the historiographical discipline and its initial methods.

1.1.1. Herodotus ‘H’ (c. 484 - c. 424 BC) - The Histories (c. 440 BC) Who are historians?

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Born c. 484 BC in Greek city of Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Travelled through the Mediterranean world, thought to have lived mostly in Thurii. Cicero (1st C. BC Roman writer) referred to H. as the ‘father of history’.

What are the purposes of history?

Achieved aim of preserving memory of great deeds of his near contemporaries, “so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds [...] may not be without their glory.” ( The Histories) .

How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?

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First produced account of Persian Wars for oral presentation, eventually written into 9 ‘books’ that make up the modern publication of The Histories. Challenges of ancient historians include assessment of reliability and dealing with the distinction between history and literature. It can be argued that H’s Histories h  as many characteristics of literature: ○ Contained numerous fables, and his work was created to be performed. ○ H. claimed to rely on ‘eyewitness accounts’, without any method of (now) assessing the reliability and authenticity of these accounts. ○ H, like Homer, digresses from his focus, to introduce local traditions, commentary on various cultures, gods or the natural world. Conversely, Histories i s claimed to be the first of its genre: ○ The focus of Histories w  as real events/people; writing contemporary history. ○ H. relied on oral accounts and his own observation (vs. written accounts of modern historians); open about inability to verify all sources. ○ Able to discern long and short term factors leading to Persian Wars. ○ H’s digressions distinguish him from T; eclectic and inclusive nature of his work appeals to modern historians with a broad outlook on history. ○ Kenneth Stunkel (2011): “In a sense, he wrote the first universal history.”

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Why have approaches to history changed over time?

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As we study The Histories in the 21st-century, it is a reminder that effective history is as much a literary art form as the product of evidence based research. It also features elements of religious and mythological references, thus emphasising the importance of religion and belief during H’s context.

1.1.2. Thucydides ‘T’ (c. 460 - c. 400 BC) - The History of the Peloponnesian War (c. 431 BC) Who are historians?

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What are the purposes of history?

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How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?

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Why have approaches to history changed over time?

Born c. 460 BC and lived through Athens’ cultural and military dominance and almost the entire Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC); after surviving a serious plague, T. began writing about its impacts in Athens. T. served as an Athenian general; failed to protect a city and was exiled for 20 years (major work). May also be referred to as ‘father of (the modern discipline of) history’ History of the Peloponnesian War r ecords events of the P. War up until T’s death, a few years before the end of the War. “My work was not a piece of writing designed to meet the needs of an immediate public, but was done to last forever.” ( History of the P. War) “Mighty indeed are the marks and monuments of our empire which we have left. Future ages will wonder at us, as the present age wonders at us now.” (History of the P. War, P  ericles’ funeral oration). Unlike Herodotus, Thucydides’ makes limited reference to omens/supernatural. Does not concern himself with broader cultural/social history; focus is war/politics. T. devised his own calendar based on summer and winter; helped him create a narrative and allows modern historians to accurately date the events he records. Sense of authority and objectivity bolstered by distance T. maintains from the issues/events he writes about; limited use of first person writing. T. proclaimed his commitment to ‘factual reporting’ and declared that all sources were carefully checked. Conscious, in a seemingly modern way, of the need to work with evidence-based methodology and approached a narrow view of history (war and politics). T. wrote about contemp. events, focusing on oral sources/eyewitness accounts. T. made up speeches in his work; tried to keep general sense of what was said, but used words that, in his opinion, were ‘called for by each situation’. Need to reconstruct speeches indicates difficulty of relying on oral sources. ●

H. and T. are seen as responsible for a ‘dual legacy’ - H. the eclectic social historian and T. the ‘real father’ of the rigorous evidence-based discipline of history to be developed in the future.

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This dichotomy can generate interesting discussion but it should be noted that the views of H. and T. shift.

1.2. Medieval European History ●

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Medieval Era: describes a period from approximately 500-1500 (CE) and refers to a diverse array of people, cultures and events occupying the large area if Europe. Collapse of Roman Empire in the late 5th century AD marks transition from ancient to medieval period in European history. Chronicles/annals: records of events, usually produced by monks in monasteries, associated with the religious calendar, agricultural production, the seasons and other local concerns. W/o reflection/analysis, chronicles were more like modern chronology, w/o any interpretation; also limited to local matters, thus limited in coverage of broader affairs e.g. politics. Distinguishing feature of Medieval Europe was Christianity and its impacts on all scholarship. Christian worldview guided by a higher meaning based on religious faith and saw events as being ultimately directed by God’s will and progressing towards an outcome ordained by faith.

1.2.1. Venerable Bede (c. 673 - 735 AD) - Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c. 732) Who are historians?

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Purposes of history?

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How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?

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Born in northeast England (637 AD); given to Abbot of Wearmouth, Benedict Biscop, to be educated; ordained a priest at the age of thirty. Bede took delight in didactic activities; produced over forty works, including histories, commentaries on the scriptures and lives of saints. Dies in 735 AD; soon after his death, Bede was given the title Venerable and in 1899 was canonised by the Catholic Church and named a Doctor of the Church. Bede’s major work presents history of England from the Roman occupation until 731, few years prior to his death. In his preface, Bede addressed the King of Northumbria, to which his work was dedicated; his work is written for the “instruction of posterity.” (Ecc. History Evangelical purpose - to spread correct teaching of Christ’s gospel, as distilled by the Roman Church and contemp. needs of his own Northumbrian Church. Bede was not a detached or objective historian; he was immersed in an Anglo-Saxan political environment; Bede’s work had a polemical purpose, seen as a teaching of the primary message: the importance of true faith in Christ. Bede’s major work consists of a number of difficulties to a modern historian ○ Bede’s description of miracles makes it hard to consider him seriously as a historian; raises questions about use of evidence and approach to causality. ■ On one hand, they can be dismissed as a product of irrational superstition. ■ On the other, it indicates a complex relationship to religion/faith that was a very real element in Bede’s present and past. ○ Like H, Bede’s use of evidence consists of heresay and interesting stores,

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Why have approaches to history changed over time?

passed off as actual events, inconsistent with the ‘rule of history’. B. was propagandist; he was a priest w  hose first allegiance was to Christianity and its worldview. John Warren (History and the Historians) h  as highlighted: “The truth for Bede was not some sort of neutrality marked by objectivity […] It was the Christian truth, and in the truth of history was God’s plan revealed.”

Bede popularised use of a dating system (BC/AD) in Western Europe His major work survives as a relatively comprehensive and credible source that has influenced prevailing views about the period of history it covers It incorporates literary qualities and human stores that assist modern readers ni making some connection with the people and times he write about. Two significant aspects of historical context would have influenced Bede: 1. Christianity had only arrived in England a century before Bede was born and its spread was gradual. 2. Bede lived during an insecure time; Northumbria competed with powerful rivals and dealt with threats of attacks from the north. By modern standards, there remained significant limitations to historical practices. The Christian worldview prevailed over all else, evidence was not analysed and there was a poor understanding of change over time. ●

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1.3.2. The Scientific Revolution Scientific Revolution: describes a remarkable period of scientific achievement that saw European scholars of the natural world break free from the constraints of classical and medieval learning ro introduce a new approach based on open-minded and forward-looking inquiry. Gave rise to the scientific method: questions are asked, hypotheses proposed, experiments conducted to test hypotheses and conclusions made based on results of experiments.

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Sources of Medieval Learning ● ● ● ●

Bible Medieval scholarship Ancient scholarship Static mastery of past knowledge/

Sources of Learning after the Scientific Revolution ● ● ● ●

Observation, experiment and measurement Reason and logic Application of mathematics Dynamic inquiry based knowledge.

1.3.3. The Enlightenment ●

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The Enlightenment: also known as the Age of Reason, was a philosophical movement that took place primarily in Europe and, later, in North America, during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Intellectual movement that applied ideas and lessons of the Scientific Revolution to human society, associated initially w/ French philosophes e  .g. Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Diderot. It came to embrace a range of ideals, including: ○ The basic equality of all humans; Individualism and tolerance of different ideas.

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Opposition to institutional religion and the power of the Church traditionally exercised over intellectual property and individual liberty. Optimism and faith in human capacity for improvement and progress, especially progress based on education (contrasting the Christian focus on the sinful nature of humankind. A quest for new knowledge and understanding based on open inquiry and the application of reason and logic to all areas of human activity. Secularisation firmly established reason as the guiding principle of intellectual activity.

1.4. Leopold von Ranke (1795 - 1886) - History of the Latin and Germanic Nations (1824) Who are historians?

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Purposes of history?

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How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?

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Why have approaches to history changed over time?

Leopold von Ranke was a German Historian; regarded as the father of modern academic discipline of history. Born 1785 in Saxony; Lutheranism was a strong influence in his family and at school he developed a love for classical authors and ancient languages. Ranke wrote his first book - History of the Latin and Germanic Nations ( 1824) - containing the claim that he sought only to ‘show what actually happened’. “To history had been given the function of judging the past, instructing men for the profit of future years [...] It merely wants to show how, essentially, things happened.” ( History of the Latin and Germanic Nations, 1  824). Ranke’s quest for ‘objective truth’ and the associated significance given to the discovery of ‘facts’ has given history both an enduring goal and fragile ideal that has been endlessly debated (i.e. Postmodernism). 1825: Ranke appointed to University of Berlin; discovered large collection of reports from Venetian ambassadors; saw value in working w/ primary resources. Reinforced the view that in order to ‘get to the truth’ (role of historian), the historian must work with archival material. Gave rise to methodology in history; entailed primary sources were authentic; using and analysing sources to extract evidence from which conclusions about the past could be drawn. Credited with establishment of some main features of academic history and how it was taught in the 19th century; seminars involved small groups of senior students, working with Ranke and trained in the analysis of archival documents. Ranke’s Thucydidean-like focus on war, politics and diplomacy set scene in establishing the relatively narrow topics associated with academic history. Whilst Ranke has majorly impacted the practice of history, he too was influenced by contemporary factors that changed the approach to history. ● 19th-century historians reacted to three perceived ‘failings’ in approaches of earlier historians: 1. They placed greater emphasis on change in history and human development tended to focus on role of ‘Great Men’ in bringing about change. 2. Ongoing secularisation and the ‘prestige and example of science’ encouraged ●

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the quest for facts and helped ensure a receptive response to Ranke’s seemingly scientific methodology, 3. Strong support for the establishment of history as a distinct discipline in schools and universities during the 19th century. ●

Two important personal factors influencing his history: 1. Von Ranke was a conservative German Lutheran;l God was not separate from history (aligned with philosophy of German Idealism). 2. Von Ranke lived in a time when nationalism was an important factor in Europe and Germany. Consequences stated by historian Mark Williams: “The newly professionalised writing of history for all its aims of empirical objectivity [...] continued to be shaped by shifting attitudes towards evidence, audience and the purpose of history itself.” ( A Practical Guide to Studying History, 2  017)

“[History] [...] is herself simply a science, no less and no more.” ( Inaugural Address at Cambridge University, J.B. Bury, 1902). “It is difficult to know which claim is the more audacious: the assumption that the academic historian is protected by the procedures of the discipline [...] or the belief that the historian’s restricted forms of communication can prevail over popular history.” ( The History Wars, S  tuart Mcintyre and Anna Clark, 2003).

1.8. Twentieth Century Challenges ●

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Ranke gave historians a degree of confidence that by employing his ‘scientific’ methodology, they could achieve the objective truth about the past. As the traditional discipline of history was consolidating its position in western universities, throughout the 20th-century, it was subject to challenges that, for many, highlighted its limitations.

1.8.1. The Annales School (i.e. Marc Bloch, The Historian’s Craft, 1949) Who are historians?

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What are the purposes of history?

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1929: French historians (Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre) established journal   that introduced a new approach to history; came to be known as the ‘Annales School’. Marc Bloch (1886-1944) was a French historian. A founding member of the Annales School of French social history, he specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France over the course of his career. Bloch conducted history by establishing a broad question for himself to answer in his history, rather than simply noting the events of an accepted historical period. Bloch’s The Historian's Craft  (1949) expressed the viewpoint that the craft of the historian should not be judgmental one – that the historian should attempt to explain and describe rather than evaluate in normative terms. At one stage in the work, Bloch observes that "the mania for making judgments" is a "satanic enemy of true history" ( The Historian's Craft, 1949)

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How has history been constructed, recorded and presented over time?

“Bloch operated on the basis that history meant the study of the past, not the study of documents. This is not to deny his expertise in documentary analysis, but to recognise that he saw such inquiries as only one aspect of an historian’s work.” (John Warren, History and The HIstorians, 1  999).

Key features of the Annales School - and Bloch’s - approach included: ● Criticism of the Rankean ‘scientific’ methodology, with its narrow focus on political and military history and obsession with written evidence in pursuit of ‘facts’. ● Interdisciplinary approach drawing on knowledge and research techniques used in geography, economics, sociology and anthropology. ○ Bloch’s Feudal Society ( 1939-40) studied European society throughout time (900-1300 AD), through the exploration of social structure. ○ Bloch’s French Rural History ( 1931) studied explored links between landscape, rural customs, and political and social institutions from early medieval to revolutionised France). ● Concern with longer time periods that typically studied by historians; Annalists rejected focus on short events/individuals. ● View that explanations of ‘case and effect’ required understanding of long-term trends and structures, not merely an analysis of immediate events. ● Placed less emphasis on human agency (actions of ‘great men’) and more on highlighting deeper explanations and significance of long-term developments.

Why have approaches to history changed over time?

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In reaction to earlier emphasis on Great Histories of wars and royalty, the Annalists’ wide-ranging and innovative analysis of the development of social relationships has great merit in history today.

1.8.2. Social History, History from Below (e.g. MARXISM), New...