South Africa 1960-1994: the People and the State | OCR GCSE History A (J410)
South Africa 1960-1994: the People and the State
- 93 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Paper 1
- Paper 1
South Africa 1960–1994: The People and the State is examined in Paper 1, Period study with non-British depth study.
It covers consolidating apartheid in the 1960s: the Bantustans, state control and Sharpeville, reasons for, methods of and impact of different types of resistance, the further development of resistance, the Anti-Apartheid Movement and the regime's response in the 1970s, growing pressure on the regime, the State of Emergency and the failure of total strategy 1985–1990, negotiations between the government and the ANC and the state and the South African people, 1960–1994.
Sample questions from South Africa 1960-1994: the People and the State
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Consolidating apartheid in the 1960s: the Bantustans, state control and Sharpeville
Which groups gave the apartheid system its strongest backing?
Show the answer
Afrikaner nationalist voters of the National Party, organised through the secret Broederbond, encouraged by the Dutch Reformed Church, and held together by fear of communism and of being outnumbered. -
Reasons for, methods of and impact of different types of resistance
Why did the African National Congress abandon non-violence after 1960?
Show the answer
Because the banning of the movement closed every legal route to protest, and half a century of peaceful campaigning had won nothing. -
The further development of resistance
How did women organise against the regime in the 1970s?
Show the answer
Through bodies such as the Black Women’s Federation, founded in 1975 under Fatima Meer, and through township campaigns over rents, food prices, schooling and the detention of husbands and sons. -
The Anti-Apartheid Movement and the regime's response in the 1970s
What action did the United Nations take against apartheid?
Show the answer
The General Assembly condemned it repeatedly and called for sanctions, an arms embargo was recommended in 1963 and made binding in 1977, and in 1973 apartheid was declared a crime against humanity. -
Growing pressure on the regime
How could the United Democratic Front operate when the African National Congress was banned?
Show the answer
It worked openly and legally as a loose federation, so banning one affiliate did not destroy it, while its charterist aims and symbols left nobody in doubt whose politics it shared. -
The State of Emergency and the failure of total strategy 1985–1990
What restrictions were placed on journalists under emergency rule?
Show the answer
They were forbidden to film or report unrest, so the television pictures that had shocked viewers abroad stopped reaching them. -
Negotiations between the government and the ANC
What was CODESA, and why did it break down?
Show the answer
The Convention for a Democratic South Africa, which first met in December 1991 with delegates from nineteen parties; it collapsed in May 1992 when the two main sides could not agree what majority should be needed to settle a new constitution. -
The state and the South African people, 1960–1994
How did apartheid bear on the lives of African women in particular?
Show the answer
Many were left behind in the reserves to raise families on a migrant husband’s wages, and those who found work in the cities as domestic servants lived in white households far from their own children.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Consolidating apartheid in the 1960s: the Bantustans, state control and Sharpeville | Separate development and the Bantustans, the loss of citizenship, who backed apartheid and the white dissenters, the pass book, security laws, Bantu Education, and why the Sharpeville crowd gathered, the shootings and what followed. | 11 |
| Reasons for, methods of and impact of different types of resistance | The Freedom Charter of 1955 and its lasting importance, why the ANC abandoned non-violence, Umkhonto we Sizwe and its targets, how Poqo differed, the Liliesleaf Farm raid, and the Rivonia Trial sentences and their consequences for resistance inside the country. | 10 |
| The further development of resistance | Steve Biko and Black Consciousness, SASO, Biko's death in detention, women's organisations, the Durban strike of 1973, the Soweto uprising and its consequences, and the ANC abroad under Oliver Tambo and the Morogoro conference. | 10 |
| The Anti-Apartheid Movement and the regime's response in the 1970s | The Boycott Movement in Britain, consumer, cultural and sporting boycotts, United Nations action, the economic cost of opposition, the regime's concessions and why they failed, the bans of 1977, total strategy and raids on exiles abroad. | 10 |
| Growing pressure on the regime | Sanctions and the financial crisis of 1985, the United Democratic Front and how it operated, mass resistance in the townships, Inkatha and the civil war in Natal, the state's hidden part in the violence, and the 1983 constitution and the opposition to it. | 11 |
| The State of Emergency and the failure of total strategy 1985–1990 | Where emergency rule was imposed, the powers it gave the security forces, restrictions on journalists, what it achieved and at what price, verligte and verkrampte, the Conservative Party breakaway, the failure of total strategy and Cuito Cuanavale. | 8 |
| Negotiations between the government and the ANC | The parts played by de Klerk, Ramaphosa and Mandela, secret talks from 1985, CODESA and its collapse, violence in 1992 and 1993, the sunset clause, the unbanning of February 1990, the return of the ANC and the Communist Party, the 1994 election and the government of national unity. | 13 |
| The state and the South African people, 1960–1994 | Racial classification, residential segregation, influx control and migrant labour, job reservation and petty apartheid, the effects on African women and children and on Coloured, Indian and white South Africans, the churches, the homelands, white business and opinion, and the problems of the sources. | 20 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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.
Nearby topics
OCR GCSE History A Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 1,449 questions with their answers.