MAPS OF HISTORY · IB HISTORY · PAPER 2 · CONFLICT
IB HISTORY · PAPER 2 · THEMATIC STUDY
Paper 2: Conflict
Conflict is one of the four Paper 2 Thematic Studies of the new IB History course, first examined in May 2028, and it draws its examples from 750 onwards. The theme is about wars, revolutions and civil conflicts: why they broke out, what decided them, what they did to the people caught in them, and how they ended. It is organised around four questions, and a strong essay uses examples from more than one region, so under each question below the chapters are grouped by region.
Every chapter listed here carries IB notes in its atlas: evidence to quote, primary sources and a practice question with a model essay plan. Between them they cover twenty chapters in four atlases, set in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, and Africa and the Middle East.
WW2 is free — every chapter. Try chapters 1–2 of any 2 other atlases (3 with a free account). Opening a new atlas uses one of them. Membership opens all 21 — Join.
1. Why did conflict emerge?
3 CHAPTERS WITH IB NOTES · 3 REGIONS
Europe
- A State at War with ItselfREMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 11 · 1994–1998
Tatarstan, where Russians made up about two-fifths of the population, signed a treaty with Moscow on 15 February 1994. The republic stayed inside Russia with control over its oil, budget and much of its law, so bargaining held the federation together.— Remaking the State, chapter 11: A State at War with Itself
The Americas
- The Flower Wars and the End of the SystemCLIMATE AND INNOVATION · CHAPTER 11 · 1450s–1521
According to Alva Ixtlilxochitl, the Triple Alliance agreed in 1454 to fight Tlaxcala, Huexotzinco and Cholula in ritual flower wars for captives, while Ross Hassig reads these wars as attrition and Barry Isaac as cover for a failure to conquer.— Climate and Innovation, chapter 11: The Flower Wars and the End of the System
Asia and Oceania
- A Great PowerREMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 6 · 1894–1912
When a Donghak peasant rebellion led Korea to ask China for troops in 1894, Japan sent a larger force, seized the royal palace in Seoul and declared war in August, because its leaders saw control of the peninsula as vital to Japan’s security.— Remaking the State, chapter 6: A Great Power
2. What determined the outcome?
4 CHAPTERS WITH IB NOTES · 2 REGIONS
The Americas
- The Flower Wars and the End of the SystemCLIMATE AND INNOVATION · CHAPTER 11 · 1450s–1521
- Toussaint LouvertureTWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE · CHAPTER 3 · 1793–1801
- Napoleon’s ExpeditionTWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE · CHAPTER 4 · 1802–1803
The Tarascan kingdom destroyed a Mexica army near Taximaroa around 1478–79, and fortified frontiers such as the Mexica fortress at Oztuma then faced Tarascan strongholds for the rest of the empire’s life.— Climate and Innovation, chapter 11: The Flower Wars and the End of the System
Asia and Oceania
- The Fall of the ShogunateREMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 3 · 1858–1869
Chōshū’s Kiheitai, founded in 1863, trained samurai, farmers and townsmen together with modern rifles, and in early 1865 Takasugi Shinsaku used such mixed-class units to retake the domain, which shows that recruiting beyond the samurai produced a stronger army.— Remaking the State, chapter 3: The Fall of the Shogunate
3. How did conflict affect people’s lives?
12 CHAPTERS WITH IB NOTES · 4 REGIONS
Europe
- A State at War with ItselfREMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 11 · 1994–1998
- Europe UprootedUPROOTED · CHAPTER 1 · MAY 1945
- The Expulsions of GermansUPROOTED · CHAPTER 2 · 1945–1950
- Borders Move, People FollowUPROOTED · CHAPTER 3 · 1944–1950
- The DP CampsUPROOTED · CHAPTER 4 · 1945–1947
- Integration and the Cold WarUPROOTED · CHAPTER 6 · 1950–1961
Russian forces took Grozny by artillery and air bombardment that killed tens of thousands of civilians by March 1995. Many were older ethnic Russians, and estimates for the whole 1994–96 war run from about 35,000 to 100,000 dead, most of them civilians.— Remaking the State, chapter 11: A State at War with Itself
Asia and Oceania
- A Great PowerREMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 6 · 1894–1912
- Communist VictoryUPROOTED · CHAPTER 7 · 1975
- Re-education and FlightUPROOTED · CHAPTER 8 · 1975–1978
- The Boat PeopleUPROOTED · CHAPTER 9 · 1978–1979
By Japan’s own records about 14,000 Taiwanese were killed in the conquest of 1895, after five months of resistance in which defenders proclaimed a short-lived Republic of Formosa, so Japan’s first colony was taken by force from a population that fought back.— Remaking the State, chapter 6: A Great Power
Africa and the Middle East
- The EmergencyTWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE · CHAPTER 9 · 1952–1960
From June 1954 villagisation moved over a million people, 1,050,899 by Caroline Elkins’s count, into some 800 guarded villages, cutting the forest fighters off from food and recruits.— Two Roads to Independence, chapter 9: The Emergency
More than one region
- Two Crises ComparedUPROOTED · EPILOGUE · 1945–1990
In 1956 UNHCR recognised Hungarians as refugees as a group without individual hearings, while the 1989 Comprehensive Plan of Action screened each arrival and recognised only about 28 percent.— Uprooted, chapter 12: Two Crises Compared
4. How was peace established?
6 CHAPTERS WITH IB NOTES · 3 REGIONS
Europe
- The Expulsions of GermansUPROOTED · CHAPTER 2 · 1945–1950
- Borders Move, People FollowUPROOTED · CHAPTER 3 · 1944–1950
- From Relief to RightsUPROOTED · CHAPTER 5 · 1947–1952
Winston Churchill told the House of Commons on 15 December 1944 that expulsion was the most “satisfactory and lasting” method and that “a clean sweep will be made”, evidence that Britain accepted mass transfer long before the war ended.— Uprooted, chapter 2: The Expulsions of Germans
The Americas
- The Price of RecognitionTWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE · CHAPTER 6 · 1825–1947
The treaty of 12 February 1838 recognised Haiti outright and cut the unpaid balance to 60 million francs, making a total indemnity of 90 million, payable over thirty years.— Two Roads to Independence, chapter 6: The Price of Recognition
Asia and Oceania
- Geneva and the US ResponseUPROOTED · CHAPTER 10 · 1979–1982
- Camps, Screening and the CPAUPROOTED · CHAPTER 11 · 1980–1990
The US Refugee Act of 17 March 1980 adopted the Convention’s definition of a refugee, set a normal ceiling of 50,000 admissions a year and created the Office of Refugee Resettlement.— Uprooted, chapter 10: Geneva and the US Response
Practice questions and essay plans
Each question comes with the outline of a model plan: the thesis and the claim each paragraph makes. Plan your own answer first, then compare. The full plans, with evidence, a counter-argument and a judgement, are in the chapters’ IB notes in each atlas.
PAPER 2 · CLIMATE AND INNOVATION · CHAPTER 11
To what extent was Indigenous opposition to the Mexica the main reason for the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521?
Indigenous opposition was the main reason for the fall of Tenochtitlan, because it supplied the army, the base and the local knowledge that a few hundred Spaniards lacked. Smallpox and the vulnerability of the lake city were decisive accelerating factors, and Spanish ships and steel mattered most when combined with allied manpower.
Indigenous allies supplied the army and the refuge.
Smallpox weakened the city before the siege.
The lake city’s design gave besiegers clear targets.
The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 11 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: The Flower Wars and the End of the System.
PAPER 2 · TWO ROADS TO INDEPENDENCE · CHAPTER 3
Evaluate the importance of Toussaint Louverture’s leadership in the defeat of Spain and Britain in Saint-Domingue, 1794–1798.
Toussaint’s leadership was the most important single factor, because he built the army and made the alliances that turned French emancipation into military victory. Yet his success depended on conditions he did not create: yellow fever, Spain’s exit from the war and the policy of emancipation that made his army loyal to the Republic.
Toussaint built and held a disciplined army.
His diplomacy exploited every rival.
Other forces weakened his enemies.
The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 3 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: Toussaint Louverture.
PAPER 2 · REMAKING THE STATE · CHAPTER 3
Evaluate the reasons why Satsuma and Chōshū were able to overthrow the shogunate between 1863 and 1869.
Satsuma and Chōshū won because by 1868 they combined three advantages: armies that recruited beyond the samurai and fought with modern rifles, a claim to the emperor’s authority, and unity between former rivals. Military organisation decided the battles, while the imperial banner decided how few domains were willing to fight for the shogun.
Military reform made the south-western domains stronger than their size.
The emperor’s name gave the rebellion legitimacy and split the shogun’s camp.
The alliance of 1866 ended the rivalry that had protected the shogunate.
The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 3 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: The Fall of the Shogunate.
PAPER 2 · UPROOTED · CHAPTER 1
Examine the reasons why the end of the Second World War in Europe led to mass displacement.
The end of the war produced mass displacement because three forces met in May 1945: the Nazi labour and population policies that had already moved millions, the collapse of the Eastern Front that set Germans fleeing, and Allied decisions at Yalta that made borders and populations movable. The last of these turned a temporary emergency into a lasting policy of moving people.
Nazi policy had already uprooted the largest group of people before the war ended.
The military collapse of 1945 created a second, German exodus that the Allies did not count as refugees.
Allied wartime agreements ensured that peace would move even more people.
The evidence for each point, the counter-argument and the judgement are in the IB notes of chapter 1 in the atlas. Read the chapter first: Europe Uprooted.
Key concepts
These are the concepts the IB notes of the twenty chapters above name most often for this theme, with chapters to read for each.
- Consequence · 12 CHAPTERS
What followed from an event or decision, intended and unintended, in the short and the long term. For example: The Flower Wars and the End of the System, Napoleon’s Expedition, The Price of Recognition, The Emergency. - Causation · 10 CHAPTERS
Why something happened: the long-term conditions, the triggers and the choices behind it, and which of them mattered most. For example: The Flower Wars and the End of the System, Napoleon’s Expedition, The Fall of the Shogunate, A State at War with Itself. - Significance · 9 CHAPTERS
Why an event, person or idea matters, judged by its effects and by how it has been remembered. For example: Toussaint Louverture, The Price of Recognition, The Emergency, A Great Power. - Perspectives · 9 CHAPTERS
How people at the time, and historians since, have seen the same events differently, and why. For example: The Flower Wars and the End of the System, Toussaint Louverture, The Emergency, The Expulsions of Germans. - Change · 8 CHAPTERS
What was different afterwards, how quickly it changed, and for whom. For example: Toussaint Louverture, The Fall of the Shogunate, The DP Camps, From Relief to Rights. - Continuity · 5 CHAPTERS
What stayed the same through an apparent upheaval, and why it survived. For example: The Price of Recognition, Borders Move, People Follow, Integration and the Cold War, Camps, Screening and the CPA.
More atlases for this theme
The atlases below are filed under Conflict. Those marked “IB notes” carry notes in every chapter; the others cover the theme in their chapters, and each has its own IB History page with study notes and essay questions.
Two refugee crises, forty years apart
A slave revolution and a colony’s Emergency, side by side
Two transitions from an old order, side by side
The Norse and the Aztecs
Two centuries of war for the Holy Land
Genghis Khan and the largest land empire in history
From the Mexican War to Reconstruction
From Bismarck’s blocs to the map of 1923
From the last emperor to the People’s Republic
The 1930s, step by step toward global war
From the Rhineland to Hiroshima
Two superpowers, one divided planet
How each began and what it left
The atlases without IB notes still answer the first and last questions of any theme: each opening chapter argues why its story began, and each closing chapter what it left behind. Here are those arguments in headline form, with the chapters that make them in full.
The Crusades
1095 – 1291 · 12 CHAPTERS
How it began. Three Civilizations, One Sea: Manzikert and the Byzantine appeal · The Seljuk fracture · The reform papacy and the Peace of God · Jerusalem and the pull of pilgrimage
What it left. What the Crusades Made: A catastrophe for Europe’s Jews · A maimed Byzantium, an advancing Islam · A word that would not die
The Mongol Empire
1206 – 1294 · 12 CHAPTERS
How it began. The World of the Steppe: An ecology that manufactures cavalry · The composite bow and the decimal habit · Divide-and-rule from the settled south · A crisis generation
What it left. The Long Shadow: Successor states inherit the frame · The world turns to the sea
The American Civil War
1840 – 1877 · 13 CHAPTERS
How it began. Manifest Destiny and the Mexican War: Land hunger and an ideology of destiny · Polk’s determination to have California · A Mexican state at its weakest · Texas and the politics of slavery
What it left. Memory and Meaning: What stayed settled · What stayed open
The First World War
1871 – 1923 · 15 CHAPTERS
How it began. Bismarck’s Europe and the Two Blocs: A new giant in the middle of Europe · Alsace-Lorraine and the French grievance · The Eastern Question · The Kaiser’s new course
What it left. The New Map of Europe: Guardians and revisionists · Minorities as pretexts · Hyperinflation and the radical right · From Lausanne to the next war
China in Revolution
1911 – 1949 · 12 CHAPTERS
How it began. The Fall of the Qing: Defeat as a system, not an event · Reform that armed its own gravediggers · The railway fuse · A revolutionary idea already in place
What it left. The People’s Republic: The revolution starts governing · Two Chinas institutionalize · The model travels
The Road to War
1931 – 1941 · 12 CHAPTERS
How it began. The World the Slump Made: The Depression discredited the open world · The Washington order had no enforcer · Japan’s army answered to no cabinet · China looked weak enough to bite
What it left. Pearl Harbor: The Roads Meet: The perimeter, then the tide · The arsenal opens both doors · Asia’s empires never come back
The Second World War
1936 – 1945 · 15 CHAPTERS
How it began. The Gathering Storm: Versailles and Nazi revisionism · Depression and political weakness · Memory of 1914–18 · Failed collective security
What it left. The World the War Made: The long peace — under a mushroom cloud · Never again — the unfinished project
The Cold War
1945 – 1991 · 12 CHAPTERS
How it began. The World the War Left: The security dilemma — two rational fears · Ideology made compromise read as defeat · Poland: the test case that failed · A power vacuum with two occupants
What it left. The End — and the Arguments: Who ended it? The four-way argument · What the new map inherits · The ledger of the “long peace”
On the old course (2027 exams)
Students sitting the old course in 2027 will find the closest match in these world history topics, which our IB notes also tag:
- World history topic 11: Causes and effects of 20th-century wars · 3 CHAPTERS
Uprooted, The People’s Republic under Mao - World history topic 12: The Cold War: superpower tensions and rivalries (20th century) · 5 CHAPTERS
The Soviet Union under Stalin, Uprooted, The People’s Republic under Mao
The old-course page lists every chapter by topic.
Revision tools
Test yourself on the atlases with IB notes for this theme. Each atlas ends with a map quiz that asks you to find places and moments on the map itself; the quick quiz and the printable study guide are free pages on this site.
- Uprooted: Refugees in Europe and Indochina
MAP QUIZ · QUICK QUIZ · PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE - Two Roads to Independence: Haiti and Kenya
MAP QUIZ · QUICK QUIZ · PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE - Remaking the State: Meiji Japan and Post-Soviet Russia
MAP QUIZ · QUICK QUIZ · PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE - Climate and Innovation
MAP QUIZ · QUICK QUIZ · PRINTABLE STUDY GUIDE
Maps of History is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the International Baccalaureate Organization. IB course names describe alignment only; paper, theme and section names follow the new course outline and may change when the final guide is published.
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