Conflict in the Pacific: HSC Questions

At the moment, I'm gearing up to teach Section IV: International Study in Peace and Conflict, Option D: Conflict in the Pacific for Modern History in Term 3. Part of my preparation for this is to backward map from the HSC Exam (which is just around the corner!) so, like any Year 12 teacher, I started looking at past HSC paper questions.

Part of backward mapping from assessment is to determine what exactly needs to be taught to the students but, as the HSC paper for this year isn't something teachers are told in advance (for obvious reasons), I have to be quite investigative to make sure I cover all my bases. So I went through all the past papers from the last 15 years and had a look at the questions for this option. 

Then I worked out which of the four sections from the syllabus each question matched up to. The four sections being:

• Section 1: Growth of Pacific Tensions
• Section 2: Course of the Pacific War
• Section 3: Civilians at War
• Section 4: End of the Conflict

Turns out they've been covered fairly equally over the last four years, as you can see from this table below:

So this means that, potentially, a student could be asked about any of the sections of the syllabus in the HSC, so it's best that they have a good understanding of each and every section so they've got something to work with no matter what. This is, of course, just common sense - it shouldn't be a surprise that the Board of Studies want every part of the syllabus taught (and understood). I think it's just good to see that this transfers into the HSC exam though, with equal consideration given to each section.

Anyway, just for good measure, here's the actual questions and my matching of each one to the corresponding section. The red ones are the questions from the pre-2006 papers.

To what extent was Japanese foreign policy from 1937 to 1941responsible for the increasing tensions that eventually led to war? (Section 1)

To what extent did imperialism and the various responses to it contribute to the growth of Pacific tensions in the period 1937-1941? (Section 1)

Assess the role of US and British policies in the Pacific from 1937 to 1941 in the outbreak of the Pacific war. (Section 1)

Assess the impact of strategies used by the Japanese and the Allies in the Pacific in the period 1937-1951. (Sections 1, 2, 4)

To what extent did Japanese nationalism lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941? (Section 1)

To what extent did Japanese nationalism cause the outbreak of war with the United States in 1941? (Section 1)

"Japan had little choice but to bomb Pearl Harbour if it wanted to achieve its foreign policy aims in the Pacific." To what extent is this statement accurate? (Section 1)

Discuss the impact of imperialism in the Pacific from the Japanese attack on China in 1937 until Japan's occupation of South-East Asia in 1942. (Sections 1, 3)

Discuss the impact of Japanese imperialism on Asian peoples in occupied territories from the Japanese attack on China to 1945. (Sections 1, 3)  

The success of the Japanese advance to 1942 could not be maintained, and led to Japan's defeat in 1945. (Sections 2, 3, 4)

Explain the failure of the Japanese armed forces to consolidate their position after the fall of Singapore. (Section 2, 3)

Assess the view that the Battle of the Coral Sea was the main turning point in the Pacific War (Section 2)

Evaluate the view that the Battle of the Coral Sea was the major turning point in the course of the Pacific War. (Section 2)

To what extent was the Battle of Midway the most significant turning point in the Pacific War? (Section 2)

Assess the significance of Japan's defeat in the Battle of Midway for the outcome of the Pacific War. (Section 2) 

Account for the defeat of Japan in 1945 despite its dominant strategic position in 1942. (Sections 2, 3, 4)

Assess the effectiveness of the strategies used by Allied forces against Japan in the period 1942-1945 (Sections 2, 4)

To what extent was the impact of war on Asian peoples in Japanese-occupied territories a major factor leading to decolonisation in Southeast Asia? (Section 3)

Assess the impact of the war on civilians in territories occupied by Japan in South-East Asia. (Section 3)

Assess the impact on civilians of the Japanese occupation in South-East Asia in the period 1941 to 1945. (Section 3)

"The effect of the war on the home fronts was the same for Japan and Australia". To what extent is this statement accurate? (Section 3)

Assess the effect of the war on civilians in Japan and EITHER Australia OR the United States between 1941 and 1951. (Section 3) 

To what extent did the use of the A-bomb bring about the end of the conflict? (Section 4)

Evaluate the view that the Japanese armed forces were largely responsible for the US decision to use the A-bomb to end the conflict in the Pacific. (Section 4) 

Evaluate the view that the United States had no option but to use the atomic bomb in 1945. (Section 4)

Evaluate the view that the aims of the Allied powers were achieved successfully in the occupation of Japan in the period up to 1951. (Section 4)

Discuss the impact of the Allied occupation on Japan in the period 1945-1951. (Section 4) 

Evaluate the view that maintaining the status of the Emperor was responsible for the success of the Allied Occupation of Japan to 1951. (Section 4)

How successful was the Allied Occupation of Japan in achieving its aims to 1951? (Section 4)

Pearl Harbor, 1941

And that's it so far. It will be fun to see what comes up in this year's exam. I've included most of this information on a sheet for students, which you can access here - Resource: Essay Practice.