The Contemporary World

What this page covers

This unit sits in the strand "The Cold War and the Contemporary World" within History. The resources range across international relations in the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. You will find material on the peace settlement after 1918, the League of Nations, the causes of two world wars, the Great Depression, the United Nations, European integration, terrorism and recent conflicts.

Where to start

Mind maps are the biggest group here, so begin with one. Alliance System sets out the Dual Alliance and its impact on international relations. The Causes of World War 2 starts with the Great Depression and the 1929 Wall Street Crash. The peace settlement 1918-28 opens with the armistice and why it happened.

For the later part of the story, try these:

• The mind map War in Afghanistan, which links the war to the attacks of September 2001.
• The flowchart EU History Timeline, which begins with Churchill's 1946 call for a "United States of Europe".
• The mind map on the concept of decolonization, which looks at how the term was first used.

Using quizzes and maps together

Read a map first, then test yourself. The quiz League of Nations - Structure asks which body acted as a parliament and which as a civil service. It pairs well with the League of Nations mind maps. Wrong answers show you which branch of the map to reread.

Flashcards suit dates and terms. The deck International Agreements 1920s covers the Rapallo Treaty, Dawes Plan, Locarno Treaties, Kellogg-Briand Pact and Young Plan. The deck on the Moroccan Crisis of 1905 and 1911 asks what Kaiser Wilhelm II did and why it raised tension with France.

Exam practice

Some resources are aimed at GCSE History, including EdExcel GCSE History A Unit 1 as a quiz and a deck on exam technique. Teachers can use these as ready-made starters for a lesson or a homework task.

Make it your own

Once you have worked through a few resources, build a mind map or flashcard deck of your own on the topic that felt weakest.