AQA GCSE History · AC

Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

50 exam-style questions with answers for AC Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day in AQA GCSE History (spec 8145). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
State two reasons for Viking invasions of Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: wealth from raiding monasteries (1); a shortage of farmland in Scandinavia (1); trade (1); good ships (longboats) (1).
Question 2 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
What was the Danelaw? [1 mark]
Answer:
The area of north and east England under Viking control and law, agreed in Alfred’s treaty with Guthrum after his victory at Edington (878).
Question 3 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
Explain how Alfred the Great defended Wessex. [3 marks]
Answer:
Any three from: defeated the Vikings at Edington (878) (1); built burhs (fortified towns) (1); built a navy (1); reorganised the army (fyrd) (1).
Question 4 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
Who was King Cnut? [2 marks]
Answer:
A Danish king who ruled England from 1016 to 1035 (1); he also ruled Denmark and Norway, creating a North Sea Empire (1).
Question 5 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
Why was Emma of Normandy important? [2 marks]
Answer:
She was married to Æthelred and then Cnut (1); she linked England with Normandy, which later influenced William’s claim to the throne (1).
Question 6 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
Explain why England and France were closely linked after 1066. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Norman kings of England were also Dukes of Normandy (1); they held land in France and owed loyalty to the French king for it (1).
Question 7 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
What was the Angevin Empire? [1 mark]
Answer:
The lands of Henry II, which stretched from England and Ireland to the Pyrenees.
Question 8 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
What did King John lose in 1204? [1 mark]
Answer:
Normandy, to the French king Philip II.
Question 9 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
When was the Hundred Years’ War fought? [1 mark]
Answer:
1337 to 1453.
Question 10 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
State two English victories in the Hundred Years’ War. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: Crécy (1346) (1); Poitiers (1356) (1); Agincourt (1415) (1).
Question 11 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part one
Explain how the Hundred Years’ War helped create an English identity. [2 marks]
Answer:
England lost almost all its French lands, so kings focused on England (1); English replaced French as the language of government and law (1).
Question 12 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Who was John Hawkins? [1 mark]
Answer:
An Elizabethan sailor who began English involvement in the transatlantic slave trade in the 1560s.
Question 13 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Describe the triangular trade. [3 marks]
Answer:
Ships took manufactured goods from Britain to West Africa (1); enslaved Africans were taken across the Atlantic (the Middle Passage) (1); sugar, tobacco and cotton were brought back to Britain (1).
Question 14 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Explain why Barbados became valuable to Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
It grew sugar on plantations (1); sugar was very profitable and relied on enslaved labour (1).
Question 15 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
State two economic impacts of the slave trade on Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: ports such as Bristol and Liverpool grew wealthy (1); profits helped fund industry (1); banks and insurance grew (1).
Question 16 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Who was Walter Raleigh? [1 mark]
Answer:
An Elizabethan courtier who sponsored the failed Roanoke colony in America in the 1580s.
Question 17 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
What was Jamestown? [2 marks]
Answer:
The first permanent English settlement in America, founded in 1607 (1); it survived by growing tobacco (1).
Question 18 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Who were the Pilgrim Fathers? [2 marks]
Answer:
Puritans who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 (1); they founded Plymouth Colony to worship freely (1).
Question 19 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Define the term ‘indentured servant’. [1 mark]
Answer:
A person who worked unpaid for a set number of years in return for passage to the colonies.
Question 20 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Describe relations between colonists and Native Americans. [2 marks]
Answer:
There was some trade and cooperation, eg with the Powhatan (1); but conflict grew over land, eg the attack on Jamestown in 1622 (1).
Question 21 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
What were the consequences of the American War of Independence for Britain? [2 marks]
Answer:
Britain lost its 13 American colonies in 1783 (1); it turned towards expanding elsewhere, eg India and Australia (1).
Question 22 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
Who were the Huguenots? [2 marks]
Answer:
French Protestants who fled religious persecution, especially after 1685 (1); many settled in London and brought skills such as silk weaving (1).
Question 23 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
What were the Highland Clearances? [2 marks]
Answer:
The forced eviction of Scottish Highlanders from their land in the 18th and 19th centuries (1); landlords replaced them with sheep, and many emigrated (1).
Question 24 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part two
What were the Ulster Plantations? [1 mark]
Answer:
The settlement of English and Scottish Protestants on confiscated land in Ulster from 1609.
Question 25 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
How did the East India Company gain power in India? [2 marks]
Answer:
It began as a trading company in 1600 (1); it built an army and took control of territory (1).
Question 26 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain the importance of Robert Clive. [2 marks]
Answer:
He defeated the Nawab of Bengal at Plassey in 1757 (1); this gave the East India Company control of Bengal (1).
Question 27 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
State two causes of the Indian Rebellion (1857). [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: rumours that cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat (1); annexation of Indian states (1); attempts to impose Christianity and British customs (1).
Question 28 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
State two consequences of the Indian Rebellion. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: the East India Company was abolished and the British government took control (the Raj) (1); Victoria became Empress of India in 1877 (1); more Indian soldiers were recruited from loyal groups (1).
Question 29 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
State two impacts of the empire on India. [2 marks]
Answer:
Any two from: railways and telegraph (1); the English language (1); economic exploitation (1); famines (1); Western education (1).
Question 30 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain why missionaries went to Africa. [2 marks]
Answer:
To spread Christianity (1); to end the slave trade and bring ‘civilisation’ (1).
Question 31 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
What was the Scramble for Africa? [1 mark]
Answer:
The rapid division of Africa among European powers between about 1881 and 1914.
Question 32 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Who was Cecil Rhodes? [2 marks]
Answer:
A businessman and Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1); he expanded British control in southern Africa, including Rhodesia (1).
Question 33 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain why Britain took control of Egypt in 1882. [2 marks]
Answer:
To protect the Suez Canal, the route to India (1); to protect British investments (1).
Question 34 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
What were concentration camps in the Boer War? [2 marks]
Answer:
Camps where Boer women and children were held (1); about 26,000 Boers and many black Africans died from disease (1).
Question 35 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Give one example of imperial propaganda. [1 mark]
Answer:
Any one from: Empire Day (1); school textbooks and maps (1); adventure stories (1); advertising (1).
Question 36 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain why Irish people migrated to Britain in the 19th century. [2 marks]
Answer:
The Great Famine of 1845–1849 caused starvation (1); there was work in British industry and building (1).
Question 37 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain why Jewish people migrated to Britain in the late 19th century. [1 mark]
Answer:
To escape pogroms (persecution) in the Russian Empire.
Question 38 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Define the term ‘transportation’. [1 mark]
Answer:
Sending convicts to colonies such as Australia as punishment.
Question 39 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part three
Explain why Indians migrated to East Africa. [1 mark]
Answer:
Many came as labourers to build the Uganda Railway and stayed as traders.
Question 40 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Explain how the Second World War weakened the British Empire. [2 marks]
Answer:
Britain was exhausted and in debt (1); colonies had contributed to the war and demanded independence in return (1).
Question 41 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
When did India gain independence? [1 mark]
Answer:
1947.
Question 42 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Describe Gandhi’s methods. [2 marks]
Answer:
Non-violent civil disobedience (1); eg the Salt March of 1930 (1).
Question 43 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
What was the Suez Crisis (1956)? [2 marks]
Answer:
Britain, France and Israel invaded Egypt after Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal (1); US pressure forced Britain to withdraw, showing it was no longer a superpower (1).
Question 44 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Who were Nkrumah and Kenyatta? [2 marks]
Answer:
Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957 (1); Kenyatta became the first leader of independent Kenya in 1963 (1).
Question 45 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Who was Claudia Jones? [2 marks]
Answer:
A Trinidad-born campaigner who founded the West Indian Gazette (1958) (1); she helped start the Caribbean carnival that became Notting Hill Carnival (1).
Question 46 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Why did Ugandan Asians come to Britain in 1972? [1 mark]
Answer:
Idi Amin expelled them from Uganda.
Question 47 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
What is the Commonwealth? [1 mark]
Answer:
A voluntary association of independent countries, most of them former British colonies.
Question 48 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Why did the Falklands War (1982) happen? [2 marks]
Answer:
Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, a British territory (1); Britain sent a task force and recaptured them (1).
Question 49 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
When did Britain join the European Economic Community? [1 mark]
Answer:
1973.
Question 50 · Spec 3.3.1 AC, Part four
Explain how the end of the Cold War affected migration to Britain. [2 marks]
Answer:
Eastern European countries joined the EU, in 2004 and later (1); free movement allowed many to work in Britain (1).

← AB Britain: Power and the people: c1170 to the present day BA Norman England, c1066–c1100 →

Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day

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