This course is designed to give you a rich contextual understanding of 20th century history – but also to provide insights into different historiographical methods. The deeper you go down the rabbit hole on any particular topic, the more you will delve into and look at ‘events’ through different perspectives….
The 6 themes in the Grade 12 History curriculum:
Theme 1 —The Cold War – Origins and development of the Cold War after WWII. Yalta/Potsdam, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Blockade, then an extended case study (China or Vietnam).
Theme 2 — Independent Africa – How African nations achieved independence in the 1960s-70s. Congo and Tanzania as core case studies, plus the broader decolonisation story and Cold War proxy dimensions (Angola).
Theme 3 — Civil Society Protests (1950s-1970s). Primarily US-focused: the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power, plus women’s movements, anti-war and counter-culture movements.
Theme 4 — Civil Resistance in South Africa (1970s-1980s). Black Consciousness, Soweto 1976, the UDF, internal and external resistance to apartheid, Botha’s reforms. Picks up the SA story from where Grade 11 ends.
Theme 5 — The Coming of Democracy in South Africa. The end of the Cold War (Gorbachev, USSR collapse) linked to the unbanning of the ANC, CODESA negotiations, and the 1994 election. The global and local stories converge here.
Theme 6 — South Africa Coming to Terms with the Past. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission — justice versus reconciliation, memory, and how a society confronts its history. And to what extent it forgets it.
