GCSE History: Migration, Empires and the People c790–Present

This material covers the GCSE History thematic study of migration and empire – for example AQA's 'Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day'. It follows more than a thousand years in which people moved to and from Britain, and in which Britain built, ruled and then gave up a worldwide empire.

The first part looks at conquest and settlement in the Middle Ages: Viking raids from the attack on Lindisfarne in 793, Viking settlement and the Danelaw after Alfred's treaty with Guthrum, the reign of Cnut, and the Norman Conquest as a change of ruling class, together with the Angevin lands in France and their loss under King John. You then study refugees and trade in the early modern period: the Huguenots who fled France after 1685 and brought skills such as silk weaving to Spitalfields, and the East India Company, founded in 1600, which grew from a trading company into a ruling power after Robert Clive's victory at Plassey in 1757.

The age of empire is covered through Britain's central role in the transatlantic slave trade and its abolition in 1807 and 1833, the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the start of direct rule by the Crown in 1858, and the Scramble for Africa, Cecil Rhodes and the Boer War, including the use of concentration camps for civilians. Migration into Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is examined through Irish migration after the Great Famine and Jewish migration from the Russian Empire after 1881, which led to the Aliens Act of 1905.

The final part covers the end of empire and post-war migration: the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947 and decolonisation in Africa, the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948 and the British Nationality Act of the same year, the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962, and the arrival of Ugandan Asians expelled by Idi Amin in 1972.

The quiz tests key events, dates and causes, including a chronology question. The flashcards drill landmark events. The written work asks for explanations and judgements about the causes and effects of migration and empire. In the oral exam an examiner asks one question at a time and gives brief feedback at the end.

The material is revision practice written by Zestly and is not produced or reviewed by any exam board; check the details of your own specification with your teacher.

• Explain the impact of Viking, Danish and Norman settlement on England
• Explain why Huguenots and other refugees came to Britain and what they contributed
• Describe how the East India Company gained power in India and why the Crown took over in 1858
• Explain Britain's role in the slave trade and in Africa, including the Boer War
• Explain the causes of Irish and Jewish migration to Britain in the nineteenth century
• Explain decolonisation and post-war migration to Britain, including Windrush and the 1962 Act

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE history subject content (thematic study) and options such as AQA 'Britain: Migration, empires and the people: c790 to the present day' (GCSE History 8145).