Find the exact unit code used by your school before choosing a page. A code such as Y106, Y107, Y221, Y311, Y318 or Y320 is more reliable than a familiar country or period in the title.
You do not need to know the people, institutions or dates yet. Each module hub is intended to give you a manageable place to begin and to state honestly where further teaching is still needed.
Choose your OCR unit
OCR Y106 — England, 1485–1558: the Early Tudors
Begin with England in 1485, then follow Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I through changes in power, government, society and religion.
Start OCR Y106: the Early Tudors
OCR Y107 — England, 1547–1603: the Later Tudors
Follow the difficult successions after Henry VIII, the religious changes under Edward and Mary, and the challenges faced by Elizabeth I.
Start OCR Y107: the Later Tudors
OCR Y221 — Democracy and Dictatorships in Germany, 1919–1963
Learn the story of the Weimar Republic, Nazi dictatorship, post-war division and the early development of the two German states. The present site coverage is thinner for 1939–1949 and East Germany.
Start OCR Y221: Germany, 1919–1963
OCR Y318 — Russia and its Rulers, 1855–1964
Compare government and society under the Tsars and Communist rulers while tracing reform, revolution, dictatorship and continuity across the whole period.
Start OCR Y318: Russia and its Rulers
OCR Y222 — The Cold War in Asia, 1945–1993
Follow reconstruction, revolution, decolonisation and conflict through China, Korea, Indochina and the changing Asian Cold War.
Start OCR Y222: The Cold War in Asia
OCR Y223 — The Cold War in Europe, 1941–1995
Trace wartime distrust, the division of Europe, crises and détente, the revolutions of 1989 and the difficult creation of a new European order.
Start OCR Y223: The Cold War in Europe
OCR Y311 — The Origins and Growth of the British Empire, 1558–1783
Trace the early empire through companies, settlement, slavery, commercial rivalry and the loss of the American colonies.
Start OCR Y311: Origins and Growth of the British Empire
OCR Y320 — From Colonialism to Independence: The British Empire, 1857–1965
Compare governance, economics, resistance, international pressures and turning points across the transformation from colonialism to independence.
Start OCR Y320: From Colonialism to Independence
OCR Y319 — Civil Rights in the USA, 1865–1992
Compare the connected struggles for African American, labour, Native American and women’s rights across the whole period.
Start OCR Y319: Civil Rights in the USA
OCR Y317 — China and its Rulers, 1839–1989
Compare government, economy, society and China’s wider-world relationships across imperial, republican, Nationalist and Communist rule.
Start OCR Y317: China and its Rulers
OCR Y213 — The French Revolution and the rule of Napoleon, 1774–1815
Follow the collapse of the Ancien Régime, constitutional revolution, republic and Terror, then examine Napoleon’s government, empire and defeat.
Start OCR Y213: The French Revolution and Napoleon
OCR Y214 — France, 1814–1870
Follow the Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy and Second Republic, then examine Napoleon III’s government, foreign policy and fall.
Start OCR Y214: France, 1814–1870
OCR Y113 — Britain, 1930–1997
Study Churchill through contemporary sources from 1930 to 1951, then follow British politics, society, the economy and Britain’s world role from 1951 to 1997.
Start OCR Y113: Britain, 1930–1997
OCR Y112 — Britain, 1900–1951
Investigate political, social and wartime change to 1918 through contemporary sources, then follow British politics, economic crisis and welfare reform to 1951.
Start OCR Y112: Britain, 1900–1951
OCR Y108 — The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War, 1603–1660
Examine Crown, Parliament, finance, religion and the origins of civil war to 1646, then investigate regicide, republican government, Cromwell and Restoration through contemporary sources.
Start OCR Y108: The Early Stuarts and the Origins of the Civil War
OCR Y104 — England, 1377–1455
Investigate Richard II’s minority, the Peasants’ Revolt, the Lords Appellant and his overthrow through contemporary sources, then follow Henry IV, Henry V, the French war and Henry VI’s minority to 1455.
OCR Y105 — England, 1445–1509: Lancastrians, Yorkists and Henry VII
Explore the crisis of Henry VI’s government and the Wars of the Roses through contemporary sources, then follow Edward IV, Richard III and Henry VII to 1509.
OCR Y306 – Rebellion and Disorder under the Tudors, 1485-1603
Compare the causes, nature and impact of Tudor rebellions across England and Ireland, then study the Pilgrimage of Grace, Western Rebellion and Tyrone’s Rebellion through historical interpretations.
OCR Y208 – Philip II, 1556-1598
Explore how Philip II governed Spain, pursued Catholic reform and managed connected conflicts in France, the Mediterranean, Portugal, England and the Netherlands.
OCR Y103 – England, 1199-1272
Investigate King John’s loss of Normandy, conflict with the Church and the crisis of Magna Carta through contemporary sources, then follow Henry III’s minority, personal rule, political reform, baronial war and settlement to 1272.
OCR Y308 – The Catholic Reformation, 1492-1610
Compare Catholic reform across Europe and beyond from 1492 to 1610, then evaluate historical interpretations of the Council of Trent, Philip II of Spain and the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.
OCR Y309 – The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1606
Study Ottoman government, expansion, provincial society and relations with European powers, then evaluate historical interpretations of Constantinople, Mohacs and Lepanto.
Start OCR Y309: The Ascendancy of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-1606
OCR Y310 – The Development of the Nation State: France, 1498-1610
Explore French monarchy, law, provinces, religion and war from Louis XII to Henry IV, then evaluate interpretations of Francis I, St Bartholomew’s Day and Henry IV.
OCR Y307 – Tudor Foreign Policy, 1485-1603
Compare Tudor aims, methods, relationships and domestic consequences from Henry VII to Elizabeth I, then evaluate interpretations of Henry VIII’s early policy, Calais and the Spanish Armada.
OCR Y312 – Popular Culture and the Witchcraze of the 16th and 17th Centuries
Compare popular culture, the rise and decline of witch persecution, those accused and the responses of authorities, then evaluate interpretations of southern Germany, Hopkins’s East Anglian hunt and Salem.
OCR Y313 – The Ascendancy of France, 1610-1715
Trace the development and limits of French monarchy through ministers, religion, society and international power, then evaluate interpretations of Richelieu and the nobility, the Fronde, and Versailles and royal image-making.
OCR Y314 – The Challenge of German Nationalism, 1789-1919
Trace how German nationalism changed through cultural and liberal ideas, economic integration, Prussian-led unification and contested imperial mass politics, then evaluate interpretations of 1848-49, unification in 1867-71 and Wilhelmine nationalism.
Start OCR Y314: The Challenge of German Nationalism, 1789-1919
OCR Y315 – The Changing Nature of Warfare, 1792-1945
Compare how political aims, soldiers, command, technology, planning, logistics, state capacity and society changed land warfare from the Revolutionary Wars to 1945, then evaluate interpretations of the French Revolutionary Wars, American Civil War and Western Front.
OCR Y316 – Britain and Ireland, 1791-1921
Trace rebellion, Union, reform, Famine, land politics, constitutional and revolutionary nationalism, Ulster Unionism and Partition, then evaluate interpretations of 1791-1803, O’Connell and the Home Rule crisis.
OCR Y321 – The Middle East, 1908-2011: Ottomans to Arab Spring
Follow Ottoman collapse, mandates and state formation, Zionism, Israel and Palestine, Arab nationalism, oil, political Islam and Great Power intervention, then evaluate interpretations of British policy, the Arab-Israeli conflict and Nasserism.
OCR Y224 – Apartheid and Reconciliation: South African Politics, 1948-1999
Study how apartheid was established and enforced, how resistance and international pressure developed, why the system collapsed, and how negotiation, democracy and reconciliation reshaped South Africa by 1999.
OCR Y220 – Italy, 1896-1943
Trace liberal Italy, war and post-war crisis, the rise and limits of Fascist dictatorship, Mussolini’s domestic policies, imperial ambitions, Second World War failures and fall.
OCR Y218 – International Relations, 1890-1941
Trace great-power rivalry and the First World War, post-war peacemaking and collective security, European dictatorship and appeasement, and Japanese expansion and international conflict in East Asia to 1941.
OCR Y219 – Russia, 1894-1941
Follow Nicholas II, the revolutions of 1917, Bolshevik victory and Leninist government, then examine the rise of Stalin, dictatorship, collectivisation and industrial transformation.
OCR Y217 – Japan, 1853-1937
Follow foreign intrusion and the fall of Tokugawa rule, Meiji state-building and social change, imperial expansion, and the growth of nationalism and military influence to war in China in 1937.
OCR Y216 – The USA in the 19th Century: Westward expansion and Civil War, 1803-c.1890
Follow continental expansion, Indigenous dispossession and survival, the sectional crisis over slavery, and the Civil War from the Louisiana Purchase to the closing decades of western conquest.
OCR Y215 – Italy and Unification, 1789-1896
Follow revolutionary and Napoleonic change, competing nationalist projects, the revolutions of 1848-49, contingent unification, and the difficult construction of the Italian state to 1896.
OCR Y212 – The American Revolution, 1740-1796
Follow imperial rivalry, the breakdown of British authority, the contested war for independence, and the creation of a stronger but still limited early American republic.
OCR Y211 – The Rise and Decline of the Mughal Empire in India, 1526-1739
Follow conquest and restoration, Akbar’s imperial consolidation, Mughal court culture and prosperity, then the military, fiscal and regional pressures that transformed imperial power by 1739.
OCR Y210 – Russia, 1645-1741
Follow Muscovite rule under Alexis, Peter the Great’s reforms and wars, Russia’s imperial expansion, and opposition and succession crises through 1741.
OCR Y209 – African Kingdoms c.1400-c.1800: four case studies
Study Songhay, Kongo, Benin, and Oyo and Dahomey as distinct African states shaped by political institutions, belief, commerce, warfare and changing regional and Atlantic relationships.
OCR Y207 – The German Reformation and the rule of Charles V, 1500-1559
Follow Luther’s challenge and the consolidation of Lutheranism, then connect Charles V’s struggle in Germany to his wars with France and the Ottoman Empire.
OCR Y206 – Spain 1469-1556
Trace how Isabella and Ferdinand strengthened a composite monarchy, reshaped religious life and expanded overseas, then follow Charles I through revolt, negotiated stability and imperial pressure.
OCR Y205 – Exploration, Encounters and Empire 1445-1570
Follow Portuguese and Spanish exploration through encounters, conquest and settlement, then compare their consequences across Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
OCR Y204 – Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes c.1167-1405
Follow Genghis Khan’s imperial expansion, Khubilai’s Yuan dynasty, the successor khanates and Timur, then assess how Mongol rule reshaped exchange across Eurasia.
Start OCR Y204: Genghis Khan and the Explosion from the Steppes
OCR Y203 – The Crusades and the Crusader States 1095-1192
Follow the First Crusade, the creation and survival of Outremer, the failure of the Second Crusade, and Saladin’s conflict with the Third Crusade.
OCR Y202 – Charlemagne 768-814
Follow Charlemagne’s wars, government and cultural reform, then assess the imperial coronation and the strengths and limits of his later rule.
OCR Y201 – The Rise of Islam c.550-750
Follow late antique Arabia, Muhammad’s Meccan and Medinan leadership, the first four caliphs, and the expansion, reform and fall of Umayyad rule.
OCR Y111 – Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour, 1846-1918
Follow the remaking of Liberal and Conservative politics from the Corn Law split to Salisbury, then investigate political, social and wartime change from 1900 to 1918 through contemporary sources.
Start OCR Y111: Liberals, Conservatives and the Rise of Labour
OCR Y110 – From Pitt to Peel: Britain, 1783-1853
Follow British government through revolution, war, protest and the Great Reform Act, then investigate Peel, Conservative reconstruction, social reform and pressure groups through contemporary sources.
OCR Y109 – The Making of Georgian Britain, 1678-c.1760
OCR Y102 – Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest, 1035-1107
OCR Y101 – Alfred and the Making of England, 871-1016
OCR Y305 – The Renaissance c.1400-c.1600
OCR Y304 – The Church and Medieval Heresy c.1100-1437
OCR Y303 – English Government and the Church 1066-1216
OCR Y302 – The Viking Age c.790-1066
OCR Y301: The Early Anglo-Saxons c.400-800
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