SPI History · World History
Historiography and the Modern World
Historiography is the study of how history is written: the thinkers who shaped it and the use of history today. The modern-world facts asked beside it are the years women won the vote and the founder of modern Turkey.
Why this matters
Five questions in the bank, all MODERATE, and two of them are from the 2022 paper: who wrote The Archaeology of Knowledge, and the other name for Applied History. Both come from the first chapters of the Class 10 Balbharati History book, so learn each thinker with one idea. The other three ask a year or a country, and the years for women's vote sit close together.
Concept 1 of 2: Thinkers who shaped history writing
Definition
- Herodotus, a Greek, wrote The Histories and is called the father of history.
- René Descartes asked historians to doubt: believe nothing until it is proved.
- Voltaire said history should include society, trade, farming and customs, not only kings and wars.
- Hegel explained history through dialectics: thesis, antithesis and synthesis.
- Leopold von Ranke insisted on original documents and a critical check of every source.
- Karl Marx saw history as a struggle between classes; he wrote Das Kapital.
- Michel Foucault, in The Archaeology of Knowledge, argued that history need not be told only in chronological order.
- Applied History, the use of history for people and society today (museums, archives, heritage, tourism), is also called Public History.
| Thinker | Idea or work |
|---|---|
| Herodotus | The Histories; the father of history |
| René Descartes | Doubt everything until it is proved |
| Voltaire | History of society, trade and customs, not only rulers |
| Hegel | Dialectics: thesis, antithesis, synthesis |
| Leopold von Ranke | Original documents, critical method |
| Karl Marx | Class struggle; Das Kapital |
| Michel Foucault | The Archaeology of Knowledge; not only chronological |
| Applied History | Also called Public History |
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps
The same idea in a real exam question:
Example 1 · World History · Historiography and the Modern World
Foucault, not Ranke or Hegel
Public, not Social
Concept 2 of 2: Votes for women and the founder of modern Turkey
Definition
- New Zealand was the first country to give women the vote, in 1893.
- In the United Kingdom, women over 30 who met a property test got the vote in 1918; all women got it on the same terms as men (from age 21) in 1928.
- In the United States, the 19th Amendment gave women the vote in 1920.
- In India, the Constitution gave every adult citizen the vote from 1950, women and men alike.
- Mustafa Kemal Pasha (Ataturk) was born in 1881 in Salonika, then a city of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. He founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and abolished the caliphate in 1924.
| Country | Women's vote |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | 1893, the first country |
| United Kingdom | 1918 for women over 30; 1928 on equal terms with men |
| United States | 1920, the 19th Amendment |
| India | 1950, every adult under the Constitution |
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Example 2 · World History · Historiography and the Modern World
Two dates for the United Kingdom
Kemal's birthplace was Turkish then
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (2)
Thinkers who shaped history writing8 rows
| Thinker | Idea or work |
|---|---|
| Herodotus | The Histories; the father of history |
| René Descartes | Doubt everything until it is proved |
| Voltaire | History of society, trade and customs, not only rulers |
| Hegel | Dialectics: thesis, antithesis, synthesis |
| Leopold von Ranke | Original documents, critical method |
| Karl Marx | Class struggle; Das Kapital |
| Michel Foucault | The Archaeology of Knowledge; not only chronological |
| Applied History | Also called Public History |
Votes for women and the founder of modern Turkey4 rows
| Country | Women's vote |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | 1893, the first country |
| United Kingdom | 1918 for women over 30; 1928 on equal terms with men |
| United States | 1920, the 19th Amendment |
| India | 1950, every adult under the Constitution |
Watch out for (4)
- Foucault, not Ranke or Hegel→ Thinkers who shaped history writing
- Public, not Social→ Thinkers who shaped history writing
- Two dates for the United Kingdom→ Votes for women and the founder of modern Turkey
- Kemal's birthplace was Turkish then→ Votes for women and the founder of modern Turkey
Test yourself on a real paper
Sit a past SPI paper, timed and marked the way the exam marks it. You see your score and every answer the moment you finish. Free to start.