2023 HTAV Sample Exam - Revolutions - SOURCES BOOK I2k1pw

Sources Book
HTAV VCE HISTORY SAMPLE EXAM
REVOLUTIONS
2023
Units 3 & 4
First published 2023 by:
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2023 HTAV VCE History Sample Exam: Revolutions –

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2023 HTAV VCE HISTORY SAMPLE EXAM: REVOLUTIONS | Sources Book
HISTORY: REVOLUTIONS
Written examination
Day Date
Reading time: to (15 minutes)
Writing time: to (2 hours)
SOURCES BOOK
Instructions
A question and answer book is provided with this Sources Book.
Refer to the sources in this book for each question in Section A, as indicated in the question and
answer book.
Students are NOT permitted to bring mobile phones and/or any other unauthorised electronic
devices into the examination room.
Exam questions © HTAV 2023. Exam instructions © VCAA, reproduced by permission. HTAV Sample Exams (including Sources Books)
can be printed and distributed to teachers and students at the purchasing institution only.
2 2023 HTAV VCE HISTORY SAMPLE EXAM: REVOLUTIONS | Sources Book
The American Revolution

Sources 1–4 relate to Question 1.
Source 1
A historical interpretation, first published in 1984, of the impact of the Proclamation Act.
The Proclamation of 1763 received a mixed reaction in America. … Colonial speculators and
the directors of powerful land companies protested that the king had appropriated1 their property
without compensation. Other colonists worried that the crown had adopted a new western policy
without first consulting the people who lived on the frontier. Finally it became clear that British
troops would have to be garrisoned2 permanently in North America to patrol the frontier and
enforce the new policy.
Source: Dennis Phillips, Empire of Liberty? (Melbourne: Pitman, 1984), 32.
1
appropriated – to take for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission
2
garrisoned – to station a group of troops at a location to defend it
2023 HTAV VCE HISTORY SAMPLE EXAM: REVOLUTIONS | Sources Book 3
Source 2
An extract from a letter written by Henry Hulton in August 1768 to an acquaintance in Europe.
Hulton was an Englishman who moved to Boston in 1768 to take the post of commissioner in the
newly established American Board of Customs Commissioners, which enforced British tax revenue
policies.
The Americans, having been long indulged by Great Britain, were extremely averse1 to the
payment of any duties towards defraying2 the expense which the Mother Country was at in
maintaining and defending them. …
The most inflammatory publications were spread through the Colonies and every plan was
concerted3 that might counteract the resolutions of Parliament. They cry aloud for liberty, and
boast of loyalty to their Sovereign, but their notion of liberty is licentiousness,4 and their loyalty
a spirit of independence, denying the authority of Great Britain.
Such was the temper of the Colonies when we Commissioners arrived here. The Demagogues
of the People5 have been stirring them up to resistance ever since our arrival; whilst the several
Assemblies have been remonstrating6 with the Ministry at home; and complaining of the
hardship of their fate in being taxed by the Parliament of Great Britain. We continued to act in
our duty at Boston as long as it was safe for our persons to remain there; but … we were obliged
to retire into the Castle, on a small Island in the harbour about three miles from Boston; where
we shall remain until Government at home takes measures to support its authority here.
Source: Cited in Neil Longley York, Henry Hulton and the American Revolution: An Outsider’s Inside View,
vol. 80 (Boston: Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 2010), 223–224,
https://www.colonialsociety.org/node/1897
1
averse – having a strong dislike of or opposition to something
2
defraying – providing money to pay
3
concerted – jointly arranged or coordinated
4
licentiousness – a deliberate disregard for rules
5
Demagogues of the People – this phrase refers to political leaders who gain power and popularity
by arousing the emotions, passions and prejudices of the people
6
remonstrating – presenting reasons in complaint; pleading in protest
Source 3
The engraving below, titled The Tory’s Day of Judgement, was first published in New York in 1795.
It depicts a crowd of colonists harassing some Loyalists (know as Tories), either during or just after
the War of Independence.
Source: Elkanah Tisdale, The Tory’s Day of Judgement,

1795, engraving, Library of Congress,
https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006691561/
The engraving shows colonists preparing to tar and feather1 a Loyalist seated on the ground as
another Loyalist hangs from a gallows with a rope around his waist.
1
tar and feather – the action of covering a person with tar and feathers to punish or humiliate them
Source 4
A historical interpretation, first published in 2017, of debates over representation during the
Philadelphia Convention in 1787.
The heated debates over representation exposed a second, even more dangerous fault line
between northern and southern states. Slaves comprised less than 4 percent of the northern
population compared to 40 percent in the South. Determined to protect their property rights
in humans, southern delegates worried about entering a more powerful union that northerners
might control. … Southerners wanted a union strong enough to defend their states against slave
rebellion and foreign invasion but without the authority to tax or emancipate slaves.
Some northern delegates argued that only free citizens should count in allocating seats in the
House of Representatives. … Southerners countered that they needed the political clout1 of slave
numbers to protect their property from federal interference.
Rival regional interests, rather than moral qualms,2 drove the debate, for the delegates regarded
blacks as inferior to whites. Every delegate primarily sought a formula for representation meant
to protect his state.
Source: Alan Taylor, American Revolutions: A Continental History,
1750–1804 (New York: W.W. Norton, 2017), 379.
1
clout – strong influence
2
qualms – an uneasy feeling of doubt or misgivings, usually based on one’s conscience
The French Revolution

Source 5
A painting titled La Journée des Tuiles à Grenoble, le 7 juin 1788 (The Day of Tiles in Grenoble,
7 June 1788), created in 1889 by Alexandre Debelle. The painting depicts the moment the
townspeople of Grenoble attacked royal troops who had come to arrest the parlement judges
on the orders of King Louis XVI.
Source: Alexandre Debelle, La Journée des Tuiles à Grenoble, le 7 juin 1788,

1889, Musée de Grenoble,
https://www.museedegrenoble.fr/oeuvre/5396/1922-la-journee-des-tuiles.htm
Source 6
A historical interpretation, first published in 2016, of the difficulties faced by ordinary French
people as a result of the harvest crisis and food shortage.
Even in normal times urban workers spent about half their wages on large, heavy loaves of
bread. As prices rose during years of shortage, so did the tension between urban populations
dependent on cheap and plentiful bread and the poorer sections of the rural community,
threatened by local merchants seeking to export their grain to lucrative1 urban markets.
Twenty-two of the years between 1765 and 1789 were marked by food riots, either in urban
neighbourhoods where women in particular sought to impose taxation populaire2 to hold prices
at customary levels,3 or in rural areas where peasants banded together to prevent scarce supplies
being sent away to market.
Source: Peter McPhee, Liberty or Death: The French Revolution (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016), 11.
1
lucrative – something that produces a large profit
2
taxation populaire – ‘popular taxation’; the practice of urban workers paying
shop owners a price for goods that they deemed fair rather than the actual price
3
customary levels – at the usual price
Source 7
A historical interpretation, first published in 2002, of the roles of the representatives-on-mission and
Revolutionary armies during the Federalist Revolts in 1793.
Throughout the summer of 1793 … representatives on mission had been free to interpret their
role much as they wished. This phase of the Terror was anarchic,1 uncoordinated, and little
subject to central direction. Its characteristic instruments were the Revolutionary Armies,
which mushroomed2 throughout the provinces in imitation of that of Paris, and whose numbers
may have reached 40,000 men at their height. Terroristic jacks-of-all-trades,3 their purpose
was to intimidate and punish, arrest and repress, anyone suspected of activities that could
be deemed hostile to the Revolution. … In fact up to half a million people may have been
imprisoned as suspects of one sort or another during the Terror. Up to 10,000 may have died in
custody,4 crowded into prisons never intended for such numbers.
Source: William Doyle, The Oxford History of the French Revolution, 2nd ed.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 258–259.
1
anarchic – the absence of authority, control or direction
2
mushroomed – to appear, spread or develop rapidly
3
jacks-of-all-trades – people who are competent in a range of different tasks or skills
4
custody – to be imprisoned
Source 8
An extract from a letter by Nicolas Ruault, a bookseller in Paris, to his brother about the uprising
of urban workers against the revolutionary government on 12 and 13 Germinal Year III (1 and
2 April 1795).
Public affairs are a thousand times worse in Paris than with you, my dear friend; we are lost
here in an immense gulf;1 between us we have become a hydra2 with 650,000 heads and the
same number of stomachs, which have been hungry now for a long time. … I dare not tell you
all the expressions, all the curses heard in the long queues which form every evening, every
night, at the bakers’ doors, in the hope of getting, after five or six hours’ wait, perhaps half a
pound of biscuit, perhaps half a pound of bad bread, or four ounces of rice, per person. … The
flour intended for Paris is stopped on the way and stolen by citizens even hungrier no doubt
than ourselves, if such there be within the whole Republic.
Source: Richard Cobb and Colin Jones, eds, Voices of the French Revolution
(Topsfield: Salem House Publishers, 1988), 238.
1
immense gulf – a great, vast gap
2
hydra – a mythical creature with many heads; when one was cut off,
two more would grow in its place
The Russian Revolution

Source 9
An illustration by N. Ivanov, titled ‘Russia’s Ruling House’, showing perspectives of the tsarist
court in 1917.
Source: N. Ivanov, ‘Russia’s Ruling House,’ published in René Fülöp-Miller,

Rasputin: The Holy Devil (New York: Viking, 1928).
Source 10
A historical interpretation, published in 1994, of the Fundamental Laws that were issued by
Tsar Nicholas II in April 1906.
In the Fundamental Laws of 1906 … Nicholas made known his belief that Russia was still an
autocracy. True, the autocrat now consulted with an elected parliament, and political parties had
been legalized. But the Duma had limited powers; Ministers remained responsible solely to the
autocrat; and, after the first two Dumas proved insubordinate1 and were arbitrarily2 dissolved,
a new electoral system which virtually disfranchised3 some social groups and heavily over-
represented the landed nobility was introduced.
Source: Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 34.
1
insubordinate – disobedient of authority
2
arbitrarily – without a legal reason or justification
3
disenfranchised – deprived of the right to vote
Source 11
A historical interpretation, published in 1997, of how nobles and the bourgeoisie experienced the
consolidation of Soviet power in 1918.
Lenin had promised that the fundamental rule of the Soviet order would be ‘He who does not
work, neither shall he eat’. …
Trotsky pioneered the mass conscription of bourgeois labour in the early days of the Red Army,
where it was used for non-combatant tasks in the rear, such as digging trenches and cleaning
out the barracks. But it soon became a general practice of the city Soviets. Aristocrats,1 former
factory directors, stockbrokers, lawyers, artists, priests and former officials would all be rounded
up and forced to do jobs such as clearing the rubbish or snow from the streets. … As Trotsky
put it in a speech that perfectly expressed the mob psychology:2 ‘For centuries our fathers and
grandfathers have been cleaning up the dirt and the filth of the ruling classes, but now we will
make them clean up our dirt. We must make life so uncomfortable for them that they will lose
the desire to remain bourgeois.’ Dispossessed3 and degraded, the life of these ‘former people’
soon became an arduous4 daily struggle. Hours were spent queuing for bread and fuel along
with the rest of the urban poor. As inflation rocketed, they were forced to sell their last precious
possessions just to feed themselves. … The aristocracy were reduced to petty street vendors:
Princess Golitsyn sold home-made pies, Baroness Wrangel knitwear, Countess Witte cakes and
sweets, while Brusilov’s wife sold matches, just like hundreds of wounded veterans from the
army her husband had once commanded.
Source: Orlando Figes, A People’s Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891–1924 (Pimlico: London, 1997), 529.
1
aristocrats – nobles
2
mob psychology – the behaviour of a crowd
3
dispossessed – stripped of property
4
arduous – very difficult and tiring
Source 12
An extract from a 1919 speech by Vladimir Lenin on the policy of War Communism.
It has been an extremely difficult task to supply grain to the population of a vast country with
poor transport facilities and a scattered peasantry, and it has given us the most trouble. … Our
peasants are extremely scattered and disunited. In the rural districts ignorance and the habit of
working individually are more deep-rooted1 than anywhere: The rural population is dissatisfied
with not being allowed freedom to trade in grain. And in this situation, of course, political
crooks,2 all sorts of Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, incite the peasantry by saying to
them, ‘They are robbing you!’ … These people are agents of capitalism, and we must treat them
as such and nothing else!
At a time when the main difficulty confronting the Soviet government is the famine, it is the
duty of every Soviet citizen to hand over all his surplus grain to the famine-stricken. … It is
on this truth that the urban workers rely. … It was only under capitalism that people argued, ‘I
shall trade, I shall get rich. Every man for himself.’ … This was the principle of capitalism and it
engendered war; that is why the workers and peasants were poor, and an insignificant number of
people became multimillionaires.
Source: Vladimir I. Lenin, ‘Achievements and Difficulties of the Soviet Government,’ in Collected Works,
trans. George Hanna, vol. 29, 4th English ed. (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1972),
https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1919/mar/x01.htm
1
deep-rooted – strongly established
2
crook – dishonest person or criminal
The Chinese Revolution

Source 13
A painting depicting Chairman Mao and the First Front Army crossing the Great Snowy Mountains
(c. 1966–1976).
Source: Chairman Mao and the First Front Army Crossing the Great Snowy Mountains.
Source 14
A historical interpretation, published in 2008, of Chinese reactions to the Japanese occupation of
Manchuria in 1931.
The initial popular response was a wave of nationalist anger. In Shanghai, 50,000 demonstrators
demanded death for anybody who traded with the enemy. There were riots in Tianjin. The
Communists called for resistance. The China Times published a song urging ‘Kill the enemy!
Kill the enemy! Hurry up and kill the enemy!’ … In Nanjing, 6000 young people, including
300 women dressed as nurses, marched to demand to be sent north to fight. Anti-Japanese
students attacked KMT1 headquarters. Demonstrators waved banners proclaiming ‘Death before
Surrender’ and ‘Supreme Sacrifice’ as they called for ‘the Entire Nation to come to the Rescue’.
… Chiang Kai-shek2 declared that an hour of unprecedented gravity3 had struck the nation. …
However, [he] had decided not to resist. … Chinese troops were no match for the enemy.
Source: Jonathan Fenby, Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present
(New York: HarperCollins, 2008), 234–235.
1
KMT – Kuomintang or Guomindang
2
Chiang Kai-shek – Jiang Jieshi
3
unprecedented gravity – great seriousness
Source 15
A historical interpretation, published in 2010, of the experiences of women in Communist China.
Because of the lack of mechanization1 in China, all projects were labor intensive. Women’s
labor was particularly needed. … ‘Iron women’ were born, as it were, as more women began
performing nontraditional tasks. In the fields, they drove water buffalo teams and tractors for
plowing, traditionally a man’s job. In the factories, women moved in droves2 into management.
… [This highlighted] Mao’s desire for and commitment to female ‘liberation through labor’.
And yet … women’s double burden became intolerably difficult to manage. … Women were
celebrated in their public role as ‘iron women’; for their heroic contributions to production.
Meanwhile, they were forced to silently struggle with household chores. Ding Ling, who had
courageously spoken out in 1942 and then again in 1957 on the issue, was sent for a second time
for re-education among the masses during the anti-rightist campaign.
Source: Rebecca Karl, Mao Zedong and China in the Twentieth-Century World
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2010), 104–105.
1
mechanization – use of machinery, such as tractors
2
in droves – in large numbers
Source 16
Extract from a speech by Mao Zedong to the Central Committee of the Communist Party on
6 June 1950.
Many people are dissatisfied with us because of … a certain disruption of industry and
commerce wrought1 by the war. … What is our general policy at present? It is to eliminate the
remnant Kuomintang2 forces, … overthrow the landlord class, liberate Taiwan and Tibet and
fight imperialism to the end. In order to isolate and attack our immediate enemies, we must
convert those among the people who are dissatisfied with us into our supporters. …
We should make proper readjustments in industry and commerce so that factories can resume
operation and the problem of unemployment can be solved. … When we … suppress the …
local tyrants3 and carry out agrarian reform, the masses of the peasantry will support us. … We
should run training courses of various kinds … for the intellectuals and educate and remould
them while availing ourselves of their services. … The national bourgeoisie will eventually
cease to exist, but at this stage we should rally4 them around us and not push them away. …
We must do our work well so that all the workers [and] peasants … will support us and the
overwhelming majority of the national bourgeoisie and intellectuals will not oppose us.
Source: Mao Zedong, ‘Don’t Hit Out in All Directions (6 June 1951),’
in Selected Works, vol. V (Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1977),
https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-5/mswv5_07.htm
1
wrought – caused or created
2
Kuomintang – Guomindang
3
local tyrants – oppressive landlords
4
rally – gather
END OF SOURCES BOOK

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Sources Book

HTAV VCE HISTORY SAMPLE EXAM

History Teachers’ Association of Victoria

Phone 03 9417 3422

2023 HTAV VCE History Sample Exam: Revolutions –

Exam questions and Sources Book content

Exam instructions © VCAA, reproduced by permission.

HTAV Sample Exams (including Sources Books) can be

Disclaimer: This is a sample only. The HTAV takes no

PRINTING THIS SOURCES BOOK

To print this document as a booklet,

The American Revolution

Source: Elkanah Tisdale, The Tory’s Day of Judgement,

The French Revolution

Source: Alexandre Debelle, La Journée des Tuiles à Grenoble, le 7 juin 1788,

The Russian Revolution

Source: N. Ivanov, ‘Russia’s Ruling House,’ published in René Fülöp-Miller,

The Chinese Revolution

END OF SOURCES BOOK

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