IB DP History (DP History): World history topics – Revision Notes

The world history topics are the content of IB DP History Paper 2, a 1 hour 30 minute essay paper taken at both SL and HL in the course first assessed in 2017. Your school teaches two of the twelve topics, and in the exam you write two 15-mark essays, each on a different topic, usually comparing examples drawn from different regions of the world.

Related: World history topics study guide and practice questions.

Syllabus coverage (DP History, first assessment 2017)

No.	World history topic	Example pairing from two regions (teacher’s choice)
1	Society and economy (750-1400)	Song China and medieval England
2	Causes and effects of wars (750-1500)	First Crusade (1095-99) and the Mongol conquest of the Khwarazmian Empire
3	Dynasties and rulers (750-1500)	Charlemagne and Mansa Musa of Mali
4	Societies in transition (1400-1700)	Reformation Germany and Ming-Qing China
5	Early Modern states (1450-1789)	Louis XIV’s France and Tokugawa Japan
6	Causes and effects of Early Modern wars (1500-1750)	Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) and the Imjin War (1592-98)
7	Origins, development and impact of industrialization (1750-2005)	Britain and Meiji Japan
8	Independence movements (1800-2000)	India (1947) and Algeria (1962)
9	Emergence and development of democratic states (1848-2000)	Weimar Germany and post-1994 South Africa
10	Authoritarian states (20th century)	Hitler’s Germany and Mao’s China
11	Causes and effects of 20th-century wars	Spanish Civil War and the Chinese Civil War
12	The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries (20th century)	Korean War and the Cuban Missile Crisis

The pairings are illustrations; your teacher chooses the examples. IB regions are Africa and the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and Europe.

Paper 2 at a glance

Feature	Detail
Length	1 hour 30 minutes
Questions	Two questions set on each of the 12 topics
Task	Answer two questions, each from a different topic
Marks	15 per essay, 30 in total
Weighting	45% at SL; 25% at HL
Typical demand	“with reference to two … each chosen from a different region”; “compare and contrast”; “to what extent”; “evaluate”; “discuss”

Key concepts for each modern topic

Topic	What examiners typically ask about	Key terms
7 Industrialization	Causes (resources, capital, technology, government); social and political effects; the role of the state	Proto-industrialisation, urbanisation, labour movements
8 Independence movements	Origins of nationalism; methods (violent and non-violent); role of leaders; challenges after independence	Decolonisation, mass mobilisation, partition
9 Democratic states	Conditions for emergence; challenges (economic, political, social); responses and success of governments	Franchise, constitution, coalition, civil society
10 Authoritarian states	Emergence (conditions, methods); consolidation and maintenance of power; aims and results of policies, including treatment of women, minorities, religion and the arts	Single-party state, cult of personality, propaganda, terror
11 20th-century wars	Causes (long- and short-term, economic, ideological, territorial); practices (technology, strategy, home front); effects	Total war, limited war, civil war, guerrilla war
12 Cold War	Rivalry, mistrust and accord; leaders and nations; Cold War crises	Containment, brinkmanship, détente, proxy war

Key concepts for each pre-modern topic

Topic	Themes	Useful evidence
1 Society and economy	Trade, agriculture, towns, religion and social structure	Song paper money and commerce; manorialism; the Black Death (1347-51)
2 Medieval wars	Causes (religion, territory, succession); nature of warfare; political, economic and social effects	Crusades; Mongol campaigns; the Hundred Years’ War (1337-1453)
3 Dynasties and rulers	Legitimacy, administration, expansion and decline	Carolingian, Abbasid and Mali examples
4 Societies in transition	Religious, intellectual and economic change; contact between societies	Luther’s 95 Theses (1517); the Columbian exchange
5 Early Modern states	Rise and consolidation of states, centralisation and limits on rulers	Versailles and the intendants; the Tokugawa sankin-kōtai system
6 Early Modern wars	Causes (dynastic, religious), military change, effects on states	Peace of Westphalia (1648); Korean resistance in the Imjin War

The Paper 2 markbands (summarised)

Marks	Summary of the IB descriptor
13-15	Demands of the question clearly understood; detailed, accurate, relevant knowledge; effective comparison where required; clear, coherent argument; evaluation of different perspectives; consistent focus and well-supported conclusion
10-12	Demands understood; mostly accurate and relevant knowledge; some evaluation; mostly focused argument
7-9	Demands generally understood; some accurate knowledge; some analysis but more description; limited argument
4-6	Some understanding of the question; limited knowledge; mainly narrative or descriptive
1-3	Little understanding; little relevant knowledge

Worked example: turning a comparison into analysis

Question: Compare and contrast the methods used by two authoritarian leaders, each chosen from a different region, to maintain power.

• Weak: two halves – Hitler’s methods, then Mao’s.
• Strong: paragraph by theme. Terror: both used it (Gestapo and SS; the anti-rightist campaign and laogai camps), but Mao relied more on mass mobilisation against “class enemies”. Propaganda: both built personality cults (Goebbels’ ministry; the “Little Red Book”). Economic policy as control: Nazi recovery bought consent; the Great Leap Forward (1958-62) weakened Mao’s position until the Cultural Revolution. Each paragraph ends with a comparative judgement.

Common mistakes / exam traps

• Answering from one region when two are required. Read “each chosen from a different region” carefully; examples from the same region can cap the mark.
• Two separate narratives in a comparison question. Integrate the examples paragraph by paragraph.
• Ignoring the time limits. Topic 10 is twentieth century; Topic 8 runs to 2000.
• Listing historians. Perspectives must be evaluated, not name-dropped.
• No plan. Five minutes of planning per essay is time well spent in a 45-minute essay.

Frequently asked questions

How many topics should I revise? Your school teaches two topics, and you must answer from two different topics, so revise both thoroughly and enough examples to cover regional requirements.

Is Paper 2 different at HL? No: the same paper and markbands, but weighted 25% at HL instead of 45% at SL.

Can I use the same example in Paper 2 and Paper 3? You may use knowledge across papers, but Paper 2 questions are thematic and often comparative, while Paper 3 questions are regional; tailor the material to the question.

Self-test

1. How many questions are set per topic on Paper 2? Two.
2. What is the time per essay? About 45 minutes.
3. Name the four IB regions. Africa and the Middle East; the Americas; Asia and Oceania; Europe.
4. Which topic covers single-party states? Topic 10, Authoritarian states.
5. What does the top markband require beyond knowledge? Clear argument, evaluation of perspectives and a well-supported conclusion.