AQA A-Level History Active Recall Guide (7042)

AQA · A-Level

AQA A-Level History Active Recall Guide

A question-and-answer revision guide for AQA A-Level History, built to be worked in three passes rather than read.

  • AQA
  • A-Level
  • Specification 7042
  • 30 topics

See what is inside or try the sample questions.

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The 3-step active recall method

Re-reading notes is a futile process when your aim is to remember the information and successfully apply it in exam settings. Active recall is the method you use to ensure the information sticks for a long period of time. But even active recall can be futile unless you have a structured way of implementing it. This is where the 3-step active recall method comes in, a structured method that is signature to the Levo Learning guides.

  1. Step 1

    Answer up to 10 questions cold, closed book, even if you are unsure on the topic.

  2. Step 2

    Answer the same questions again, but open book. Write the correct answer down even if it seems pointless.

  3. Step 3

    Repeat as step 1 and answer the questions closed book again.

Worked across the AQA A-Level History specification, one subtopic at a time.

The subject, and what is assessed

AQA A-Level History (specification 7042) is assessed by two written papers and a non-examined historical investigation. Component 1 is a breadth study chosen from eleven options, examined for 2 hours 30 minutes and worth 40 per cent. Component 2 is a depth study chosen from twenty options, examined for 2 hours 30 minutes and worth 40 per cent. Component 3 is a personal study of around 4,500 words on a topic spanning about a hundred years, worth the remaining 20 per cent. Every student sits one breadth option and one depth option, so the pages here cover all thirty of them.

Paper Covers Length Marks Weighting
Component 1 Breadth study
One option from 1A to 1L; Evaluation of three primary sources; Two essays from a choice of three 		2 hours 30 minutes 80 marks 40%
Component 2 Depth study
One option from 2A to 2T; Evaluation of three secondary extracts; Two essays from a choice of three 		2 hours 30 minutes 80 marks 40%
Component 3 Historical investigation
A personal study of about 4,500 words; A topic spanning approximately 100 years; Marked by the centre and moderated by AQA 		Non-examined 40 marks 20%

Memorisation, then application

Marks are given for applying content to the question that has been set, which cannot happen while the content is still being looked up. Step 1 shows what is actually held. Step 2 puts the correct wording in front of you while the gap is still fresh. Step 3 repeats the cold test, and the difference between the first and third attempt is the part that has moved.

Every question in the guide is paired with its answer in the same document, so step 2 is done from the guide itself rather than from a separate set of notes.

What is inside the guide

Questions are grouped by topic and then by subtopic, following the AQA specification. Open a topic to see its subtopics.

1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071-120419 subtopics
  • The Church and the Papacy before the Crusades9
  • Manzikert and the Call of the First Crusade9
  • The First Crusade: Motives and Campaign22
  • Baldwin I and the Kingdom of Jerusalem24
  • The Knights Templar and the Hospitallers15
  • The Crusader States, Byzantium and the Latin West9
  • Zengi and the Fall of Edessa9
  • The Second Crusade20
  • Nur ad-Din and the Muslim Counter-Crusade11
  • Outremer and the Four Crusader States13
  • Castles and the Weakening of Outremer10
  • Baldwin IV and the Divisions within Outremer9
  • Saladin and the Fall of Jerusalem34
  • Audita Tremendi and the Third Crusade24
  • Rivalries and Divisions on the Third Crusade12
  • The Treaty of Jaffa and the Outcome of the Third Crusade9
  • Innocent III and the Launch of the Fourth Crusade22
  • The Crusaders at Constantinople, 1203-049
  • and 1 more subtopic in this topic
1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469-159819 subtopics
  • The Kingdoms of Iberia in 146918
  • Ferdinand, Isabella and the Nobility20
  • Aragonese Foreign Policy and the Noble Hierarchy11
  • The Inquisition and the Expulsion of the Jews10
  • The Alpujarras Revolt and Economic Stagnation16
  • The Casa de Contratacion and the Annexation of Navarre9
  • The Inheritance of Charles V12
  • Imperial Ideology and Conciliar Government9
  • Charles V's Absences and the Wars with France31
  • Philip II: Character and Style of Government22
  • Court Factions and the Antonio Perez Affair9
  • Don Carlos, Philip II and the Jesuits13
  • Philip II, the Papacy and Royal Finances24
  • The Escorial and the Spanish Golden Age11
  • Spain's Strengths and Weaknesses by 159823
  • Philip II's Inheritance in 15569
  • The Burdens of Empire and the Spanish Tercios10
  • Lepanto and the Annexation of Portugal9
  • and 1 more subtopic in this topic
1C The Tudors: England, 1485-160321 subtopics
  • Henry VII's Claim to the Throne10
  • Henry VII's Councils and Government12
  • Henry VII's Finances and Control of the Nobility22
  • Social Hierarchy under Henry VII23
  • Henry VIII: Character and Aims9
  • Wolsey, Cromwell and the King's Ministers12
  • The Dissolution of the Monasteries17
  • The Ranks of Tudor Society10
  • The Pilgrimage of Grace14
  • Humanism and the English Renaissance21
  • Edward VI and Somerset's Protectorate24
  • The 1549 Prayer Book and the Act of Uniformity19
  • The 1549 Rebellions and the Fall of Somerset9
  • Mary I and the Return to Rome27
  • The End of Mary's Reign and Elizabeth's Accession26
  • Early Elizabethan Finance and the Statute of Artificers20
  • The Elizabethan Court and William Cecil9
  • The Succession and Mary, Queen of Scots9
  • and 3 more subtopics in this topic
1D Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603-170217 subtopics
  • The Political Nation and the Divine Right of Kings9
  • Charles I's Court and the Crown's Financial Weakness22
  • Disputes between Crown and Parliament19
  • Arminianism, Laudianism and Puritan Opposition9
  • The Personal Rule and Resistance to It18
  • The First Civil War14
  • The Second Civil War and the Levellers9
  • The Quarrel between the Army and Parliament23
  • Cromwell in Ireland and Scotland9
  • Millenarianism and Barebone's Parliament9
  • The Protectorate and the Major-Generals9
  • The Restoration and the Fall of Clarendon10
  • The Rise of Court and Country31
  • The Exclusion Crisis18
  • The Glorious Revolution of 168814
  • The Revolution in Ireland and the Rise of the Whigs9
  • The Revolution Settlement and Religious Toleration21
1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682-179616 subtopics
  • Russian Society and Government in 168211
  • The Succession Crisis of 1682 and the Streltsy9
  • The Great Embassy and Peter's Western Interests14
  • Peter I's Early Economic and Financial Reforms17
  • Opposition to Peter's Reforms and the Streltsy Revolt20
  • The Poll Tax and State Monopolies9
  • The Abolition of the Patriarchate and the Holy Synod9
  • The Colleges and Provincial Government17
  • Westernisation and Peter's Legacy by 172520
  • The Service State under Peter the Great9
  • The Supreme Privy Council and the Guards Regiments9
  • Elizabeth's Reforms and the Changing Service State22
  • Catherine II's Seizure of Power11
  • The Legislative Commission and the Nakaz12
  • The Charter to the Nobility9
  • Serfdom and Toleration under Catherine II25
1F Industrialisation and the People: Britain, c1783-188521 subtopics
  • The British Political System in 178318
  • Pitt the Younger and His Ministries31
  • The Beginnings of Industrialisation in Textiles17
  • Enclosure and Agricultural Change38
  • The French Revolution and British Radicalism43
  • The Demands of the Parliamentary Reformers32
  • Lord Liverpool and the Corn Laws13
  • Post-War Distress, Repression and Canning16
  • Textiles, Iron, Coal and the Common Lands9
  • Urbanisation, Housing and Public Health9
  • Radicals, Abolitionists and the Rise of Methodism30
  • Grey, Melbourne and Whig Reform9
  • The Factory Act of 18339
  • Education Grants and the People's Charter15
  • Shaftesbury, the Mines Act and Chadwick's Report26
  • The Peelites and the Birth of the Liberal Party12
  • Gladstonian Liberalism and Disraeli's Reforms9
  • The Second and Third Reform Acts34
  • and 3 more subtopics in this topic
1G Challenge and Transformation: Britain, c1851-196420 subtopics
  • Parliament and the Franchise before 186715
  • The Second Reform Act of 186716
  • High Farming, Free Trade and Agricultural Depression15
  • Class and Region in Victorian Britain11
  • Trade Union Law and the Education Acts18
  • Ireland, the Great Famine and the Land Question29
  • Conservative Dominance before 190518
  • The Independent Labour Party and New Liberalism14
  • The Osborne Judgement and the Great Depression31
  • New Unionism and the Strikes of 1888-8919
  • Booth, Rowntree and the Liberal Welfare Reforms16
  • The Home Rule Movement and the Irish Party12
  • The Decline of the Liberal Party13
  • The National Governments and the Fascist Challenge9
  • The Staple Industries and the General Strike12
  • Women's Work and Interwar Living Standards33
  • Churchill, 1945 and Labour's Programme9
  • Labour Divisions and the Conservative Establishment9
  • and 2 more subtopics in this topic
1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855-196420 subtopics
  • Autocracy and Serfdom in 18559
  • The Emancipation of the Serfs9
  • Reform, Reaction and the Death of Alexander II9
  • Pobedonostsev and Russification31
  • Nicholas II, Bloody Sunday and the Fundamental Laws9
  • The Dumas and Stolypin's Reforms13
  • Workers, Peasants and the Grain Trade9
  • Liberals, Socialist Revolutionaries and Marxists9
  • Russia in the First World War31
  • Lenin's Ideology and the Vanguard Party27
  • The New Economic Policy and the Ban on Factions9
  • Terror, the 1936 Constitution and Collectivisation16
  • Internal Passports, the Gulag and Soviet Society22
  • The Party Oppositions and the Rewriting of History9
  • The Great Purges and the NKVD9
  • Barbarossa and the Soviet War Effort11
  • High Stalinism and Post-War Repression20
  • The Secret Speech and the Anti-Party Group9
  • and 2 more subtopics in this topic
1J The British Empire, c1857-196718 subtopics
  • The Suez Canal and the Occupation of Egypt9
  • The Government of India Act of 185810
  • The Chartered Companies in Africa9
  • Missionaries, Traders and the Civilising Mission30
  • Expansion in Africa and the Government of India9
  • The Morley-Minto Reforms and the Veiled Protectorate9
  • Indirect Rule and the Entente Cordiale9
  • Joseph Chamberlain and Tariff Reform10
  • The Justifications for Empire21
  • Exhibitions, Youth Movements and Popular Imperialism35
  • The Mandates and the Empire after the Great War9
  • The Dominions, Westminster and Imperial Defence26
  • The Independence of Britain's African Colonies9
  • Africanisation and the Suez Crisis16
  • The Commonwealth and Britain's Post-War Weakness9
  • Nationalist Leaders and the Case for Empire9
  • Britain's Ties with Its Former Colonies26
  • Independence Talks and the Mau Mau Uprising38
1K The Making of a Superpower: USA, 1865-197522 subtopics
  • Andrew Johnson and the Scandals of Reconstruction11
  • The Redeemers and the Gilded Age Presidents9
  • The Post-Reconstruction South and Jim Crow9
  • Disfranchisement and the Railroad Boom33
  • The Populist Movement and the People's Party10
  • Progressivism and Roosevelt's Square Deal13
  • Wilson's Reforms: Tariffs, Banking and the Trusts15
  • Urban Growth, Corruption and Segregation15
  • American Imperialism and the War of 189820
  • American Society and Industrial Power by 192012
  • Republican Government in the 1920s9
  • The First New Deal11
  • The Boom of the 1920s12
  • The Wartime Economy and the Jazz Age30
  • The American Regions and Southern Discrimination9
  • The Klan's Decline and American Isolationism15
  • Truman and the Fair Deal13
  • Kennedy's New Frontier18
  • and 4 more subtopics in this topic
1L The Quest for Political Stability: Germany, 1871-199116 subtopics
  • The States of the German Empire in 187114
  • The Constitution of 1871: Bundesrat and Reichstag26
  • Wilhelm II and Weltpolitik14
  • German Industrial Power before 191411
  • The Burgertum and the Prestige of the Elite10
  • German Workers, Trade Unions and Urban Growth13
  • The German Home Front in the First World War20
  • Reparations, the Stab-in-the-Back Myth and Violence9
  • Stresemann, the Dawes Plan and Locarno19
  • The Slump and the Fall of the Grand Coalition18
  • The Reichstag Fire and the Enabling Act12
  • The Four Year Plan and the Volksgemeinschaft11
  • Germany at War and the Holocaust19
  • Adenauer and the Basic Law16
  • Bad Godesberg and the Grand Coalition9
  • Student Protest and the German Autumn25
2A Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154-121611 subtopics
  • The Anarchy and the Legacy Henry II Inherited14
  • Henry II's Challenges at His Accession15
  • The Church, Its Courts and Benefit of Clergy23
  • Henry II and Thomas Becket22
  • The Great Rebellion and the Management of the Barons22
  • Richard I and the Crusade9
  • Government in Richard's Absence23
  • The Accession and Character of King John9
  • John's Finances, Justice and Hubert Walter9
  • The Loss of Normandy22
  • Bouvines and the End of John's Continental Hopes21
2B The Wars of the Roses, 1450-149915 subtopics
  • The Weaknesses of Henry VI20
  • Richard of York and His Claim to the Throne9
  • The First Protectorate and the Battle of St Albans19
  • Edward IV and the Woodville Marriage12
  • Warwick, Margaret of Anjou and the Readeption20
  • Barnet, Tewkesbury and the Fall of Lancaster11
  • Edward IV's Second Reign and Royal Finance14
  • Benevolences and the Rise of the Woodvilles12
  • The Wool and Cloth Trade under Edward IV17
  • The Succession Crisis of 148310
  • Richard III and the Princes in the Tower21
  • The Battle of Bosworth10
  • Lovell, Lambert Simnel and Stoke Field9
  • Margaret of Burgundy and the Yorkist Pretenders19
  • The Economic Cost of the Wars and Recovery by 149910
2C The Reformation in Europe, c1500-156420 subtopics
  • Papal Supremacy and the Church Hierarchy10
  • Salvation and the Seven Sacraments13
  • Corruption in the Pre-Reformation Church25
  • The Holy Roman Empire and Its Electors14
  • The Imperial Diet and the Young Luther14
  • The Heidelberg and Leipzig Disputations15
  • Luther in Print and His Excommunication19
  • Karlstadt, the Zwickau Prophets and Luther's Return9
  • Zwingli and the Dispute over the Eucharist9
  • The German Peasants' War30
  • Melanchthon and the Augsburg Confession14
  • The Radical Reformation and the Anabaptists17
  • The Schmalkaldic League14
  • The Formation of John Calvin12
  • Calvin in Geneva and the Ecclesiastical Ordinances21
  • The Consensus Tigurinus and Reformed Religion17
  • Luther's Death and the Schmalkaldic War11
  • The Peace of Augsburg11
  • and 2 more subtopics in this topic
2D Religious Conflict and the Church in England, c1529-c157015 subtopics
  • The English Church and Its Wealth in 152915
  • Humanism and the Call for Church Reform11
  • Henry VIII's Great Matter11
  • The Reformation Parliament and the Break with Rome24
  • The Reformist Faction at Court9
  • Faction, Diplomacy and Religious Policy9
  • The Case for Dissolving the Monasteries19
  • The Ten Articles of 153620
  • Religion and War in Henry VIII's Last Years11
  • Somerset's Protectorate and Northumberland's Rise9
  • Cranmer, the Prayer Books and the Chantries Act17
  • Mary I's Accession and Her Religious Aims9
  • The Restoration of Catholic Worship under Mary20
  • Elizabeth I's Search for a Broad Settlement9
  • The Act of Uniformity and the 1559 Prayer Book23
2E The English Revolution, 1625-166023 subtopics
  • James I's Legacy and Charles I's Kingship22
  • The Personal Rule and Its Ministers19
  • Laud's Reforms and Protestant Fears10
  • The Scottish Prayer Book and Thorough in Ireland10
  • Puritan Emigration and the National Covenant18
  • The Bishops' Wars and the Recall of Parliament20
  • John Pym and the Long Parliament18
  • Negotiation, Deadlock and the Fall of Strafford17
  • The Attempt on the Five Members14
  • The Militia Ordinance and the Drift to War9
  • The Nineteen Propositions10
  • Royalist Strengths at the Outbreak of War9
  • Royalist Weaknesses and War Finance9
  • Parliament's Commanders and the Wealth of London9
  • The Solemn League and Covenant and Marston Moor25
  • Naseby and Popular Radicalism in London17
  • Presbyterians and Independents24
  • The Politicisation of the New Model Army15
  • and 5 more subtopics in this topic
2F The Sun King: Louis XIV, France and Europe, 1643-171517 subtopics
  • Richelieu and the Building of Royal Power9
  • Mazarin and the Parlement of Paris15
  • The Treaties of Westphalia20
  • Louis XIV's Conception of Kingship9
  • The Royal Council and the Intendants13
  • Colbert and the Royal Academies34
  • The Huguenots and the Edict of Fontainebleau10
  • Gloire, Frontiers and French Foreign Policy13
  • The Decline of Spain after 165923
  • The Strengths and Weaknesses of Personal Rule9
  • French Finances and the Cost of War10
  • Gallicanism and the Four Articles of 168226
  • William of Orange and the Anglo-Dutch Alliance9
  • The Nine Years War23
  • The Spanish Succession and the Will of Charles II9
  • Ramillies, Malplaquet and the Crisis of 17099
  • The Treaty of Utrecht20
2G The Birth of the USA, 1760-180119 subtopics
  • Mercantilism and Salutary Neglect9
  • The Thirteen Colonies and Their Assemblies16
  • The Proclamation of 1763 and the Stamp Act20
  • The Massachusetts Government and Justice Acts9
  • The Quartering and Quebec Acts10
  • The First Continental Congress9
  • Common Sense and the Organisation of Resistance11
  • General Gage and the Road to Lexington22
  • British Military Advantages in 17769
  • American Advantages in the War of Independence9
  • Distance, Terrain and the Limits of British Power9
  • French Intervention and the Chesapeake9
  • Spain's War against Britain28
  • The Surrender at Yorktown24
  • The Articles of Confederation and Post-War Problems16
  • Washington's Presidency and Its Precedents13
  • The Alien and Sedition Acts and Hamilton's Programme12
  • The Birth of the Party System14
  • and 1 more subtopic in this topic
2H France in Revolution, 1774-181525 subtopics
  • Louis XVI and French Absolutism41
  • The Philosophes and the Enlightenment12
  • The Financial Crisis of the Ancien Regime18
  • Calonne and the Assembly of Notables15
  • The Crisis of 1788 and the Estates-General9
  • The Cahiers and the Opening of the Estates-General9
  • The National Assembly and the Fall of the Bastille10
  • The Civil Constitution of the Clergy10
  • The Assignats and the Political Clubs20
  • The Founding of the Republic9
  • The Trial and Execution of Louis XVI23
  • The Levee en Masse and the Coming of the Terror9
  • The Fall of the Factions and the Great Terror18
  • Thermidor and the Dismantling of the Terror11
  • Vendemiaire and the Constitution of the Year III15
  • The Directory and the Rise of Bonaparte15
  • The Coup of Brumaire17
  • The Constitution of the Year VIII16
  • and 7 more subtopics in this topic
2J America: a Nation Divided, c1845-187717 subtopics
  • Federalism and States' Rights9
  • Judicial Review and the Northern Economy11
  • Cotton, Plantations and the Southern Economy32
  • Manifest Destiny and the Wilmot Proviso10
  • The Gold Rush and the Compromise of 185021
  • The Kansas-Nebraska Act and Bleeding Kansas9
  • The Formation of the Republican Party9
  • Dred Scott and the Lincoln-Douglas Debates30
  • Confederate Strengths and the Union's Numbers9
  • Lee, States' Rights and King Cotton20
  • Grant, Sherman and Union Economic Strength32
  • Total War and the Destruction of the South9
  • The War's Legacy and the Death of Lincoln9
  • The Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln's Plan9
  • Radical Republicans and Presidential Reconstruction20
  • Grant's Presidency and the Fifteenth Amendment9
  • The Reconstruction Acts, Scalawags and Carpetbaggers17
2K International Relations and Global Conflict, c1890-194123 subtopics
  • How Britain and France Made Foreign Policy10
  • Britain's Decline and German Industrial Power15
  • The Scramble for Africa and Great Power Rivalry21
  • Balkan Nationalism and Austria-Hungary9
  • The Naval Race and HMS Dreadnought24
  • The Entente Cordiale and the Triple Entente9
  • The Decline of the Ottoman Empire14
  • The Bosnian Crisis of 190813
  • The Balkan Wars14
  • Sarajevo and the Austrian Ultimatum11
  • Mobilisation and the Schlieffen Plan14
  • The July Crisis19
  • Revolution in Russia and the Collapse of Germany9
  • The Collapse of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires9
  • Clemenceau and French Aims at Paris11
  • Lloyd George and the Search for a Moderate Peace45
  • American Isolation and the League of Nations25
  • Soviet Russia, the Comintern and Rapallo33
  • and 5 more subtopics in this topic
2L Italy and Fascism, c1900-194524 subtopics
  • A Young Kingdom: North, South and the Risorgimento10
  • The Italian Monarchy and the Narrow Franchise13
  • Giolitti and the Gentiloni Pact14
  • Nationalism, Futurism and the Triple Alliance19
  • Italy's Territorial Aims in 19159
  • The Isonzo Front and Caporetto9
  • The Italian Home Front in the Great War9
  • Fiume and the Mutilated Victory12
  • Post-War Crisis and Political Instability16
  • The Biennio Rosso and the Fascist Response28
  • The March on Rome and Mussolini's Appointment9
  • Why the Elites Accepted Mussolini9
  • Fascist Ideology: Violence, Nation and Struggle16
  • The Grand Council, the Militia and the Acerbo Law26
  • Corfu, Fiume and the Consolidation of Power11
  • Press, Radio and Film under Fascism9
  • The Balilla and the Dopolavoro11
  • The Corporate State and the Charter of Labour15
  • and 6 more subtopics in this topic
2M Wars and Welfare: Britain in Transition, 1906-195726 subtopics
  • The Liberal Landslide of 1906 and New Liberalism13
  • The Lib-Lab Pact and the Tariff Reform Split12
  • Edwardian Class and the Discovery of Poverty23
  • The 1910 Elections and the Parliament Act19
  • The Labour Unrest of 1910 to 19149
  • The Wartime Coalitions and the Liberal Split11
  • The War Economy, DORA and the Housing Shortage17
  • Women's War Work and the Vote in 191816
  • The War Poets and the Easter Rising12
  • Liberal Decline and Baldwin's Tariff Election17
  • Post-War Readjustment and the Return to Gold18
  • Unemployment and the Divided Regions of the 1920s13
  • The Flapper Vote and the 1929 Election11
  • The Second Labour Government and the Slump9
  • The Formation of the National Government9
  • The Great Depression and the Crisis of 193118
  • The Means Test and the Depths of the Slump17
  • The Peace Ballot, the Left Book Club and Spain21
  • and 8 more subtopics in this topic
2N Revolution and Dictatorship: Russia, 1917-195327 subtopics
  • Tsarism and the Strain of War by 191711
  • The February Revolution14
  • The Provisional Government and the April Theses22
  • The October Revolution10
  • The First Decrees and the Constituent Assembly11
  • The Cheka and the Rise of One-Party Rule9
  • Brest-Litovsk and the Causes of the Civil War9
  • Trotsky and the Building of the Red Army9
  • Why the Reds Won the Civil War9
  • The Bolsheviks and the Remaking of Social Life35
  • Foreign Intervention and the Ban on Factions38
  • Lenin's Death and His Testament23
  • Permanent Revolution and Socialism in One Country9
  • The Defeat of the Oppositions and the Great Turn13
  • The Rise of the Stalin Cult11
  • Collectivisation and the Collective Farms14
  • The Five Year Plans21
  • The Costs of Planning and the Short Course9
  • and 9 more subtopics in this topic
2O Democracy and Nazism: Germany, 1918-194526 subtopics
  • The Collapse of 1918 and the Kiel Mutiny23
  • The Weimar Constitution and the Terms of Versailles9
  • The Military Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles32
  • The Spartacist Uprising and the Freikorps9
  • The Ruhr Crisis and the Bias of the Courts9
  • The Munich Putsch and Weimar's Coalitions9
  • Stresemann and the Dawes Plan13
  • Weimar Culture: Bauhaus, Art and Theatre9
  • Hindenburg's Election and the Golden Years24
  • The Wall Street Crash and the German Banks19
  • Bruning's Deflation and the Breakthrough of 193024
  • The SA, the Leader Principle and Nazi Appeal9
  • The Divided Left and the Fear of Communism9
  • The Prussian Coup and Hitler's Refusal of Office15
  • The Reichstag Fire42
  • The Enabling Act28
  • Hitler as Fuhrer and the Rise of the SS47
  • Schacht and the New Plan22
  • and 8 more subtopics in this topic
2P The Transformation of China, 1936-199725 subtopics
  • Japanese Encroachment and Manchukuo11
  • Jiang Jieshi and the Encirclement Campaigns14
  • Mao's Military Strategy and the Yan'an Base36
  • The Race for Territory and the Marshall Mission9
  • The Nationalist Position in 194612
  • The Civil War and the Nationalist Collapse11
  • China in 1949 and the Founding of the Republic10
  • The Mass Campaigns and the Grip on Power26
  • The Soviet Alliance and the Korean War11
  • The Hundred Flowers and the Anti-Rightist Campaign9
  • The Great Leap Forward and the People's Communes13
  • Rectification, Class Enemies and the Marriage Law24
  • Mao's Retreat and the Divided Leadership16
  • The Little Red Book and the Socialist Education Movement12
  • Women, Work and Education in the Early 1960s23
  • The Sino-Soviet Split11
  • The Origins of the Cultural Revolution9
  • The Red Guards, Lin Biao and the PLA12
  • and 7 more subtopics in this topic
2Q The American Dream: Reality and Illusion, 1945-198020 subtopics
  • American Power and Politics in 194526
  • NATO, the Fall of China and the Korean War9
  • The Taft-Hartley Act and the Republican Congress9
  • HUAC, the Hiss Case and the Loyalty Program23
  • Eisenhower and Modern Republicanism9
  • The Fall of McCarthy and the Fifties Economy9
  • Suburbia, the Highways and Its Critics9
  • Hungary, Rollback and the Berlin Crisis9
  • Eisenhower, South Vietnam and SEATO46
  • The Election of 19609
  • The New Frontier and the Berlin Wall9
  • The Diem Coup and Civil Rights Tactics26
  • Johnson, the Great Society and the 1964 Election9
  • Johnson's Legislative Strategy and Rolling Thunder9
  • Selma, Fair Housing and Northern Racism23
  • The Election of 1968 and the Democratic Split9
  • Nixon's Domestic Conservatism9
  • Kissinger, Detente and the Paris Peace Accords24
  • and 2 more subtopics in this topic
2R The Cold War, c1945-199126 subtopics
  • Yalta and the Wartime Alliance16
  • The Sovietisation of Eastern Europe17
  • The Marshall Plan and American Aid to Europe9
  • The Division of Germany and Berlin18
  • The American Occupation of Japan23
  • Korea in 1950 and the UN Response11
  • McCarthyism and the Loyalty Oaths12
  • West Germany, NATO and the Warsaw Pact11
  • Khrushchev and the Polish Crisis of 19569
  • The Hungarian Uprising and Peaceful Coexistence10
  • The U-2 Affair and the Missile Race20
  • The Division of Vietnam and the NLF11
  • Cuba, the Bay of Pigs and the Missile Crisis19
  • The Gulf of Tonkin and American Escalation13
  • Viet Cong Tactics and the Tet Offensive11
  • The Hot Line and the Test Ban Treaty17
  • The Paris Accords and the Fall of Saigon9
  • The Cost of Vietnam and the Road to SALT I9
  • and 8 more subtopics in this topic
2S The Making of Modern Britain, 1951-200730 subtopics
  • The Conservative Prime Ministers, 1951 to 196412
  • The Long Boom and Stop-Go9
  • Women's Lives and Commonwealth Immigration24
  • Harold Wilson and the Inheritance of 19649
  • The National Plan and the Devaluation of 19679
  • In Place of Strife21
  • The Abolition of Hanging and Divorce Reform13
  • Pirate Radio and the Expansion of the Media23
  • Vietnam, the EEC Veto and the Atlantic Alliance12
  • Heath, the 1970 Election and Selsdon Park11
  • The Industrial Relations Act and the 1972 Strike9
  • The Oil Crisis and the Second Miners' Strike21
  • The Social Contract and Wilson's Resignation23
  • Second-Wave Feminism and the Equal Pay Act17
  • Punk and the New Politics of the 1970s30
  • Thatcher's Rise and Her Political Creed27
  • Northern Ireland, Brighton and Monetarism19
  • Right to Buy and the Miners' Strike18
  • and 12 more subtopics in this topic
2T The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953-200029 subtopics
  • Stalin's Death and the System He Left14
  • Khrushchev's Rise and the Anti-Party Group18
  • The Sovnarkhozy Reform18
  • The Limits of the Thaw and the Break with China16
  • The Fall of Khrushchev9
  • Brezhnev and His Leading Colleagues9
  • The Kosygin Reforms and Economic Stagnation18
  • Detente and the Arms Limitation Treaties29
  • Gorbachev's Aims and Perestroika9
  • Glasnost, Democratisation and Afghanistan12
  • Chernobyl and the Cost of Secrecy17
  • The Opposition to Gorbachev30
  • Yeltsin and Shock Therapy22
  • Putin's Rise and the Second Chechen War9
  • The Leaders of the Satellite States9
  • Party Control and the Nomenklatura10
  • Sovietisation and Daily Life in the Satellites9
  • Travel, Conformity and Careers behind the Curtain36
  • and 11 more subtopics in this topic

Sample questions

Taken from the AQA A-Level History guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

  1. 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071-1204

    What gave the Church in western Europe its supreme spiritual authority around 1071?

    Show the answer
    The Church controlled access to salvation through the sacraments and the power of excommunication.

  2. 1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469-1598

    Who were the two rival claimants to the Castilian throne in 1469?

    Show the answer
    Juana (Henry IV's daughter) and Isabella (Henry IV's half-sister)

  3. 1C The Tudors: England, 1485-1603

    How did Henry Tudor become king of England in 1485?

    Show the answer
    He defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1485.

  4. 1D Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603-1702

    Who comprised the Political Nation in early Stuart England?

    Show the answer
    The landed gentry, nobility, and wealthy merchants who held political influence through property ownership and economic power.

  5. 1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682-1796

    What type of political system governed Russia in 1682, and what was the extent of the Tsar's power?

    Show the answer
    Russia was governed by an autocratic Tsar who held absolute power.

  6. 1F Industrialisation and the People: Britain, c1783-1885

    What significant executive powers did the King retain in 1783?

    Show the answer
    The King retained significant executive power, including the appointment of ministers

  7. 1G Challenge and Transformation: Britain, c1851-1964

    What were the two chambers of Parliament in mid-19th century Britain?

    Show the answer
    The House of Commons (elected) and the House of Lords (hereditary peers and bishops)

  8. 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855-1964

    What did autocracy mean in the Russian political system?

    Show the answer
    The Tsar held absolute power, ruling by divine right without constitutional limits or a representative assembly.

Questions about this guide

How do you use active recall for AQA A-Level History?

Answer up to 10 questions cold and closed book. Answer the same questions again open book, writing the correct answer down. Then answer them closed book one more time. The difference between the first and third attempt is what has moved into recall.

How is AQA A-Level History assessed?

AQA A-Level History is assessed by 3 components: Component 1, breadth study (2 hours 30 minutes, 80 marks, 40%); Component 2, depth study (2 hours 30 minutes, 80 marks, 40%); Component 3, historical investigation (Non-examined, 40 marks, 20%).

What topics does the AQA A-Level History active recall guide cover?

It covers 1A The Age of the Crusades, c1071-1204, 1B Spain in the Age of Discovery, 1469-1598, 1C The Tudors: England, 1485-1603, 1D Stuart Britain and the Crisis of Monarchy, 1603-1702, 1E Russia in the Age of Absolutism and Enlightenment, 1682-1796, 1F Industrialisation and the People: Britain, c1783-1885, 1G Challenge and Transformation: Britain, c1851-1964, 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855-1964, 1J The British Empire, c1857-1967, 1K The Making of a Superpower: USA, 1865-1975, 1L The Quest for Political Stability: Germany, 1871-1991, 2A Royal Authority and the Angevin Kings, 1154-1216, 2B The Wars of the Roses, 1450-1499 and 2C The Reformation in Europe, c1500-1564. The full list is set out on this page.

Is the AQA A-Level History guide a PDF?

Yes. It is a digital PDF sent to the email address on your order after purchase. Check the address is correct at checkout, and check junk or spam if it has not arrived.

Does the guide include the answers?

Yes. Every question has its answer in the same document, grouped by topic, so step 2 of the method is done from the guide.

AQA A-Level History Active Recall Guide

Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic, ready to work in three passes.

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