A-level history uses a specific vocabulary of concepts — words like totalitarianism, hegemony, the longue durée, dialectical materialism — that appear constantly in essays, mark schemes, and historians’ arguments. Most students encounter these concepts without ever being properly taught what they mean. This section provides clear, concise explanations of each concept, how it developed, how it applies across A-level topics, and how to use it effectively in an answer.

Each page is designed to be read in five minutes and used immediately. The concepts are listed alphabetically below and also grouped by theme.

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Political and Ideological Concepts

Concept	In brief
Totalitarianism	The attempt to control all aspects of public and private life — Arendt’s analysis and its limits
Authoritarianism	Concentrated power without democratic accountability — how it differs from totalitarianism
Fascism	The concept for exam use — Griffin, Paxton, what distinguishes fascism from conservatism
Nationalism	The claim that nations should govern themselves — civic vs ethnic, liberal vs authoritarian
Imperialism	The extension of power over other territories — formal and informal, economic and political
Hegemony	Gramsci’s concept of cultural and ideological dominance — what it means and how to use it
Revolution vs Reform	The strategic and ideological debate at the heart of the socialist tradition
Class	The Marxist concept and its uses and limits as a historical analytical tool
Ideology	What an ideology is, how it functions, why it matters for historical explanation
Sovereignty	The basis of legitimate political authority — state sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and their tensions
Legitimacy	Why people obey power — Weber’s three types and their historical applications
Propaganda	The deliberate shaping of belief — how it works, its limits, and how historians assess it

Historical Method Concepts

Concept	In brief
Historiography	The study of historical interpretation — why it matters and how to engage with it
Causation	How historians explain why things happened — proximate vs structural, necessary vs sufficient
Continuity and Change	The analytical framework for assessing how much things changed across a period
Significance	How historians assess whether an event or individual mattered — and the criteria they use
The Longue Durée	Braudel’s concept of long-term historical time — what it means and how to apply it
History from Below	E.P. Thompson and the social history turn — recovering ordinary lives as historical evidence
Revisionism	What it means when a historian is called a ‘revisionist’ — and why it is not an insult
Anachronism	Judging the past by the standards of the present — why historians avoid it and when it matters
Periodisation	How historians divide time into periods — and why the boundaries are contested
Primary and Secondary Sources	The difference, why it matters, and how to evaluate each type

Economic Concepts

Concept	In brief
Capitalism	How capitalism works, its varieties, and how Marxist and liberal historians analyse it differently
Socialism and Marxism	The key ideas, the split between democratic socialism and revolutionary communism
The Mixed Economy and Welfare State	The post-war settlement — what it was, why it succeeded, why it eroded
Neoliberalism	The concept for exam use — what it means, Hayek’s foundations, Thatcher’s application

Theoretical Concepts

Concept	In brief
Dialectical Materialism	Marx’s theory of historical change — what it claims and how it shaped socialist thought
Critical Theory	The Frankfurt School’s approach — what it was criticising and why it mattered
Postcolonialism	Said, Spivak, Bhabha — the key ideas and how they apply to historical analysis
Orientalism	Said’s concept of Western representations of the East — what it means for imperial history

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