IB History HL cheat sheet

Paper 1 is 1 hour, 25 marks, four structured questions on a source booklet; typically Q1 and Q2 test comprehension and analysis of individual sources, Q3 compares two sources, Q4 is the 8-mark mini-essay on a synthesis question.

Source types named in the booklet are usually primary (speeches, treaties, letters, memoirs, cartoons, statistics) and secondary (historian extracts); provenance means author, date, place, audience, and purpose.

Origin and purpose questions reward evaluating the source's value and limitations for a specific enquiry, not generic claims that 'it is biased'.

For the compare question, organize by criterion (origin, purpose, content, tone, emphasis) rather than source-by-source summary, and state similarity AND difference explicitly.

The 8-mark synthesis question requires using at least three sources plus own knowledge; marks are allocated for a clear argument, effective source integration, and contextual detail.

Value/limitation reasoning: a source is valuable when its origin gives access to the perspective being studied (e.g. a government minister on policy aims) and limited when it postdates events or serves propaganda.

Cross-referencing rule: when sources conflict, explain the conflict through provenance (audience, censorship, timing) rather than declaring one source wrong.

Paper 1 timing: roughly 5 minutes reading the sources, 10 minutes per short question, and 20-25 minutes for Q4.

Paper 2 is 1 hour 30 minutes, 30 marks, two essays from different topics; each essay is marked on knowledge/understanding, application, synthesis/evaluation, and structure.

The essay must address the question's command term: 'to what extent' requires a judgement with counter-argument, 'compare and contrast' requires both similarities and differences with a conclusion.

Use 3-4 well-developed case studies as evidence; a paragraph should follow claim, evidence, explanation, link-to-question structure.

World history topics include authoritarian states (e.g. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro), causes and effects of 20th-century wars, the Cold War, decolonization, and rights and protest movements.

For authoritarian states, distinguish methods of establishing power (force, legal manipulation, propaganda) from methods of maintaining power (terror, indoctrination, popular policies, charismatic leadership).

For the Cold War, separate causes (ideological division, Yalta/Potsdam, containment), developments (Berlin, Cuba, Vietnam, détente), and consequences (arms race, proxy wars, collapse of the USSR).

Comparative essays should name the criteria of comparison in the introduction and apply the same criteria to each case study.

A strong conclusion restates the thesis, weighs the relative importance of factors, and offers a reasoned final judgement rather than a summary.

Paper 3 is HL only: 2 hours 30 minutes, 45 marks, three essays from one regional option; each essay is worth 15 marks and marked on knowledge, understanding, and synthesis/evaluation.

Regional options include History of Europe, History of the Americas, History of Asia and Oceania, and History of Africa and the Middle East, each split into period sections.

Choose one region and study its periods; the exam paper offers questions spanning the whole region and period, so breadth of coverage matters.

Depth-study questions often demand analysis of causation, change and continuity, or significance over a defined period (e.g. 'the impact of the First World War on one European state').

Effective Paper 3 essays use precise chronology, named individuals, treaties, dates, and statistics, and explicitly connect evidence to the question's timeframe.

For change-and-continuity questions, identify turning points and explain what changed, what persisted, and for whom.

For causation questions, rank factors (long-term, short-term, trigger) and explain interconnections rather than listing causes.

Planning rule: 5 minutes per essay for a thesis and 3-4 topic sentences; essays should be roughly 4-6 paragraphs with a clear argument thread.

The historical investigation is internally assessed, worth 25 marks (20% of the final grade at HL) and is divided into three sections: identification and evaluation of sources (6 marks), investigation (15 marks), and reflection (4 marks).

Section 1 requires two sources evaluated for origin, purpose, value, and limitation, with a clearly stated research question of historical significance.

Section 2 (investigation) must use a range of evidence, analyse rather than narrate, and reach a reasoned conclusion answering the research question.

Section 3 (reflection) addresses what the investigation revealed about the nature and methods of the historian's work, with specific reference to the student's own research process.

The research question should be focused, answerable with available sources, and phrased as an open question (e.g. 'How significant was X in causing Y?').

Source evaluation must explain value and limitation in relation to the specific enquiry, not in generic terms.

Word limit is 2,200 words for the whole investigation; footnotes and bibliography are excluded from the count.

All sources must be cited in a consistent referencing style and a bibliography included; plagiarism results in zero marks for the component.