A brand new study unit. The IB History examination is very keen that students learn to compare and contrast the methods and conditions which led to the rise to power of single party state rulers – sometimes insisting that they are from different parts of the world, and / or that one is a right-wing dictator whilst the other is a left-wing dictator!

As a result, I follow my detailed treatment of the Rise of Mao in China with a shorter “mini-unit” on Pinochet in Chile. Students then conclude this study by writing an essay on the subject of “Compare and contrast the methods and conditions which led to the rise of Mao and Pinochet”.

Combined with their studies of the Rise of Franco in Spain and Rise of Stalin in the USSR, this means that students go into the exam equipped with two left-wing dictators (each from a different part of the world) and two right-wing dictators (each from a different part of the world).