Y315: the Changing Nature of Warfare 1792-1945 | OCR A-Level History A (H505)

Y315: the Changing Nature of Warfare 1792-1945

138 questions
13 subtopics
Thematic study and historical interpretations, one of twenty-one
Y301 to Y321

The Changing Nature of Warfare 1792–1945 is unit Y315 of OCR History A, one of the twenty-one options in unit group 3, the thematic study and historical interpretations; a student sits one of them.

Its four key topics and three depth studies are the impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war, the impact of technological change, planning and preparation, the relationship between relevant domestic factors and warfare, the French Revolutionary Wars 1792–1802, the American Civil War 1861–1865, the Western Front and the First World War 1914–1918. 138 recall questions across 13 subtopics.

Sample questions from Y315: the Changing Nature of Warfare 1792-1945

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

The impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war: Generalship and its impact

What did Clausewitz mean by friction?

Show the answer
He meant the accumulation of small difficulties, delays, mistakes and uncertainties that make even simple operations hard to carry out in war.
The impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war: concept of ‘Total War’

Give three reasons why casualties rose so sharply across the period.

Show the answer
Armies were far larger, firepower was vastly greater, and campaigns lasted longer because industrial economies could keep replacing men and munitions.
The impact of technological change: development of weaponry

Define indirect fire and explain why it changed artillery's role.

Show the answer
Indirect fire means shooting at a target the gunners cannot see, using map data and observers, which allowed batteries to stay hidden well behind the line and made artillery the greatest killer on the battlefield.
Planning and preparation: general staffs, army organisation and war plans

Give three reasons why the German plan failed in 1914.

Show the answer
The marching troops outran their supplies and their strength, Belgian and Allied resistance cost time, and troops were detached to the east, opening the gap between the German armies that was exploited on the Marne.
The relationship between relevant domestic factors and warfare: organisation of the state for war

What was the most serious protest against the Union draft?

Show the answer
The New York draft riots of July 1863, in which days of rioting directed largely against black residents had to be put down by troops.
Depth study: The French Revolutionary Wars 1792–1802 — Generalship and developments in weaponry

Name the pre-revolutionary theorist whose writings shaped French tactics and organisation.

Show the answer
Guibert, whose treatise on tactics argued for mobility, living off the land, permanent divisions and a national army rather than a mercenary one.
Depth study: The American Civil War 1861–1865 — resources, weapons, railways and manpower

Name the main infantry weapon of the war and describe its capabilities.

Show the answer
The rifled musket firing an expanding conical bullet, accurate at several hundred yards, though most fighting still took place at much shorter ranges in broken and wooded country.
Depth study: The American Civil War 1861–1865 — Grant, Atlanta and interpretations

How is Lee's generalship judged differently by different historians?

Show the answer
Critics such as Nolan argue that his costly offensives squandered irreplaceable manpower that a defensive strategy might have preserved, while Gallagher contends that bold victories were the only way to sustain Confederate morale and win foreign or Northern political concessions.

The 13 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
The impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war: Generalship and its impact	Recall questions on Generalship and its impact, the development of strategy, the aims of campaigns and their determination, the development of tactics, shock tactics, cult of the offensive.	10
The impact of factors directly related to the conduct of war: concept of ‘Total War’	Recall questions on the concept of Total War, the involvement of civilians, casualties.	10
The impact of technological change: Industrialisation and technology	Recall questions on industrialisation and technology, developments in communication and transport including telegraph.	11
The impact of technological change: development of weaponry	Recall questions on development of weaponry including the rifle, artillery developments, machine gun, tanks, aeroplane.	9
Planning and preparation: general staffs, army organisation and war plans	Recall questions on the Prussian General Staff and staff training, mission command, the corps and divisional systems, the Schlieffen Plan and its failure, Plan XVII and railway mobilisation in 1914.	9
Planning and preparation: alliances, staff work and the limits of planning	Recall questions on coalitions against France, the Crimean allies, Entente coordination in 1918, the Central Powers, staff work for mass armies, command and control, the Prussian short-service system, logistics and why plans failed.	9
The relationship between relevant domestic factors and warfare: organisation of the state for war	Recall questions on the organisation of the state for war, public opinion, morale, patriotism and the impact of mass literacy, franchise and the popular press, censorship, conscription, economics and the cost of war, the mobilisation of the economy, mass production, manpower and resources.	20
Depth study: The French Revolutionary Wars 1792–1802 — Generalship and developments in weaponry	Recall questions on Generalship, the quality of the soldiers, the development of tactics and strategy, developments in weaponry.	9
Depth study: The French Revolutionary Wars 1792–1802 — coalitions, conscription and interpretations	Recall questions on rapid signalling from 1794, the break-up of the First Coalition, Bonaparte in Italy, the Loi Jourdan, resistance to conscription, the peace settlements and debates over a new army and total war.	11
Depth study: The American Civil War 1861–1865 — resources, weapons, railways and manpower	Recall questions on Union population and industry, Confederate improvisation, the main infantry weapon, the soldiers, railways and the telegraph, Confederate diplomacy, conscription and the twenty-slave law.	10
Depth study: The American Civil War 1861–1865 — Grant, Atlanta and interpretations	Recall questions on black soldiers, Grant’s command, the fall of Atlanta, the death toll, whether this was the first modern or a total war, the rifled musket debate, Confederate defeat and Lee’s reputation.	10
Depth study: The Western Front and the First World War 1914–1918 — trench deadlock, offensives and tactical change	Recall questions on trench deadlock, Verdun, recruitment and public support, the first day of the Somme, the Nivelle offensive, British tactical change, stormtroop tactics and Amiens in August 1918.	8
Depth study: The Western Front and the First World War 1914–1918 — total war, alliances and interpretations	Recall questions on artillery casualties, total war states, the growth of the BEF, unity of command, the alliance balance, logistics, the advocate of massed tanks, lions led by donkeys, Terraine, the learning curve and its critics.	12

Y315: the Changing Nature of Warfare 1792-1945 is 138 of the 6,240 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.