- Define and explain Schools of Thought in your own words
- Use key terms such as Historiography accurately
- Apply what you have learned to new examples and questions
- Avoid the common mistakes learners make with this topic
This lesson focuses on Schools of Thought: marxist, Whig, revisionist and postmodern approaches to writing history.
Marxist, Whig, revisionist and postmodern approaches to writing history.
Key ideas
Interpretations change with the times
In the 1920s, German historians defended Germany while Allied historians blamed it; after the Second World War, Fritz Fischer's work reopened the question of German responsibility. Later historians shifted attention to structures, accidents and shared responsibility. Each wave of writing reflects its own era's concerns.
Good essays engage with historians
A-level essays should name interpretations and judge them: 'Fischer argues X, but revisionists counter Y because of Z.' Dropping in a historian's name without explaining their argument earns little; showing why one interpretation is more convincing earns much.
Key term — Historiography: The study of how history has been written: the methods, debates and changing interpretations of historians.
Assess two interpretations: (1) Germany deliberately sought war in 1914; (2) the war resulted from shared miscalculation by all powers.
Summarise interpretation 1: associated with Fritz Fischer, who argued German leaders pursued aggressive expansion and used the July crisis. Summarise interpretation 2: revisionists stress rigid alliances, war plans and misjudgements shared across capitals. Compare evidence: Fischer draws on German war-aims documents; revisionists point to Russian mobilisation and French and British decisions. Judge: note that Fischer's thesis reshaped debate, but most historians now see a mix — German risk-taking within a system all powers helped make dangerous.
Answer: A strong answer explains Fischer's case for German responsibility and the revisionist case for shared blame, compares their use of evidence, and concludes that while Fischer proved German leaders took grave risks, the war is best explained by the interaction of German ambition with an alliance system and miscalculations involving all the great powers.
- Writing narrative instead of analysis A-level essays must argue, not just tell the story. Every paragraph should advance your judgement about the interpretations, not merely describe events.
- Treating one historian as the final word Scholarship moves on. Always consider counter-arguments and explain why you find one interpretation stronger, rather than quoting a single authority.
Practice
The study of how history has been written — historians' methods, debates and changing interpretations.
Reinterpreting the past in a new way, challenging the established (orthodox) view.
Judging past people by modern values; historians avoid it because it distorts understanding of why people acted as they did in their own context.
Explain their argument and judge it against counter-arguments and evidence, showing why it is convincing or limited.
Quick check
Which of these best defines "Historiography"?
What did Fritz Fischer argue about the First World War?
Name one reason interpretations of an event change over time.
- Schools of Thought: marxist, Whig, revisionist and postmodern approaches to writing history.
- Interpretations change with the times: In the 1920s, German historians defended Germany while Allied historians blamed it; after the Second World War, Fritz Fischer's work reopened the question of German responsibility.
- Revisionism: Reinterpreting the past in a new way, often overturning an established view — for example, revising blame for the First World War.
- Watch out for: writing narrative instead of analysis