FORM SIX MOST APPEARING HISTORY 2 NECTA QUESTIONS

NECTA Form Six History 2 Examination Guide

Comprehensive resource covering examination topics, objectives, common questions, and solutions for Tanzanian Advanced Level History 2

Introduction to History 2 Examination

The National Examinations Council of Tanzania (NECTA) Form Six History 2 examination is a critical component of the Advanced Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (ACSEE). History 2 focuses primarily on African history from the 19th century to the present, with emphasis on East Africa, particularly Tanzania.

Examination Format: The History 2 paper typically consists of three sections (A, B, and C) with a total of 10-12 questions. Candidates are required to answer a total of 5 questions, with at least one from each section. The examination duration is 3 hours.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the topics, NECTA objectives, common examination questions, and model solutions to help students prepare effectively for the History 2 examination.

History 2 Topics and Themes

The History 2 syllabus covers African history from the 19th century to the present day, organized into the following major themes:

1. Africa in the 19th Century

• Pre-colonial African societies and states
• Economic systems and trade networks
• Social and political organization
• Interactions between different African societies

2. Imperialism and Colonialism

• European scramble for Africa
• Colonial occupation and resistance
• Colonial administrative systems
• Economic and social impact of colonialism

3. Nationalism and Decolonization

• Rise of African nationalism
• Formation of political parties
• Struggle for independence
• Paths to independence across Africa

4. Post-Colonial Africa

• Challenges of nation-building
• Economic development policies
• Political systems and conflicts
• Pan-Africanism and regional integration

5. Social and Economic Changes

• Urbanization and migration
• Education and health systems
• Gender roles and family structures
• Environmental issues

6. Tanzania's Historical Development

• Pre-colonial Tanzania
• German and British colonial rule
• TANU and the independence movement
• Ujamaa policy and its implementation
• Contemporary Tanzania

NECTA Examination Objectives

The History 2 examination is designed to assess students' abilities in several key areas. NECTA expects candidates to demonstrate the following:

Knowledge and Understanding

• Recall and describe key historical events, processes, and personalities in African history from the 19th century to the present
• Explain the causes, course, and consequences of major historical developments in Africa
• Identify different historical interpretations and perspectives on African history
• Understand historical concepts and terminology specific to African history

Analytical and Interpretive Skills

• Analyze primary and secondary historical sources related to African history
• Evaluate different historical interpretations and arguments about Africa's past
• Compare and contrast historical developments across different African regions
• Assess the relative importance of different factors in historical change

Critical Thinking and Evaluation

• Formulate coherent arguments supported by historical evidence
• Critically examine historical claims and assumptions about Africa
• Evaluate the impact of historical processes on contemporary African societies
• Assess the reliability and usefulness of different historical sources

Communication Skills

• Present historical information and arguments in clear, well-structured written form
• Use appropriate historical terminology correctly
• Organize historical information logically and coherently
• Cite relevant historical evidence to support arguments

Note: The examination places particular emphasis on understanding Tanzania's historical experience within the broader context of African and world history. Candidates should be able to draw connections between local, regional, and continental historical processes.

Common Examination Questions and Solutions

Based on analysis of previous NECTA History 2 examinations, the following are frequently tested areas with model questions and solutions:

Question 1: Colonialism and African Resistance

"Explain why African resistance against colonial rule in most parts of Africa failed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries."

Model Solution

African resistance against colonial rule faced numerous challenges that contributed to its failure in most regions:

1. Military Disparity: Colonial powers possessed superior weaponry including maxim guns, rifles, and artillery, while most African resistance movements relied on traditional weapons like spears, bows, and outdated firearms.
2. Technological Advantage: Europeans had steam-powered ships, railways for troop movement, and telegraph communication that allowed for coordinated military campaigns.
3. Divide and Rule Tactics: Colonial powers exploited existing ethnic divisions and rivalries, often recruiting soldiers from one ethnic group to fight against another.
4. Lack of Unity: Resistance was often localized with no continent-wide coordination. Different African societies fought separately rather than forming alliances against the common enemy.
5. Disease and Demography: Epidemics like smallpox and rinderpest weakened African populations, while European medical advances protected colonial forces.
6. Economic Factors: Colonial powers had greater economic resources to sustain prolonged military campaigns, while African economies were disrupted by the very conflicts.
7. Diplomatic Isolation: African resistance movements received no external support, while European powers sometimes cooperated in suppressing uprisings.

Exception: Ethiopia successfully resisted Italian colonization through modernization under Emperor Menelik II, centralized leadership, and advantageous diplomacy, showing that failure was not inevitable but required specific conditions to be overcome.

Question 2: Post-Colonial Challenges

"Assess the challenges faced by African governments in the first decade after independence."

Model Solution

Newly independent African nations faced numerous interconnected challenges in their first decade of sovereignty:

1. National Integration: Creating national unity from ethnically diverse populations with stronger loyalties to ethnic groups than to the new nation-states. Colonial boundaries had arbitrarily grouped together different ethnicities with historical tensions.
2. Economic Dependency: Inheriting economies structured to serve colonial interests - dependent on single commodity exports, lacking industrialization, with infrastructure connecting mines/plantations to ports rather than integrating national economies.
3. Political Instability: Lack of democratic traditions, with many countries experiencing military coups (e.g., Ghana 1966, Nigeria 1966) or one-party states that suppressed opposition.
4. Skilled Personnel Shortage: Critical lack of educated Africans to staff civil services, educational institutions, and technical positions due to limited colonial education policies.
5. Neocolonial Pressures: Continued economic and sometimes political interference from former colonial powers and new superpowers during the Cold War, limiting true sovereignty.
6. Resource Constraints: Limited government revenue to fund development projects, education expansion, healthcare improvements, and infrastructure development simultaneously.
7. Rising Expectations: Citizens expected rapid improvements in living standards after independence, creating pressure for immediate results that were difficult to achieve.

Different countries adopted various strategies to address these challenges, with varying degrees of success. Tanzania's Ujamaa policy, for instance, attempted to address economic dependency and national integration simultaneously through socialist rural development.

Question 3: Impact of Colonial Economic Policies

"To what extent did colonial economic policies transform African societies?"

Model Solution

Colonial economic policies profoundly transformed African societies in several significant ways:

Major Transformations:

1. Monetization of Economies: Introduction of cash crops and wage labor created money economies that gradually replaced subsistence and barter systems.
2. Labor Migration: Creation of migrant labor systems that drew workers from rural areas to mines, plantations, and urban centers, disrupting traditional family structures and community life.
3. Land Alienation: Expropriation of fertile lands for settler agriculture or plantations, transforming land from communal resource to private commodity and creating landlessness among Africans.
4. Infrastructure Development: Construction of railways, roads, and ports primarily to extract resources, but which also created new economic connections and urban centers.
5. Social Stratification: Emergence of new social classes including African elites educated in Western systems, wage workers, and cash crop farmers alongside traditional authorities.

Limitations to Transformation:

1. Partial Penetration: In many areas, particularly remote regions, colonial economic impact was limited and subsistence economies persisted.
2. Resistance and Adaptation: Africans often resisted or adapted colonial economic demands to minimize disruption to their ways of life.
3. Dependent Development: Transformation created economies dependent on exporting raw materials and importing manufactured goods, rather than balanced development.
4. Regional Disparities: Transformation was uneven, benefiting some regions (cash crop areas, mining regions) while marginalizing others.

Conclusion: Colonial economic policies did transform African societies significantly, but the transformation was uneven, created new dependencies, and was resisted and adapted by Africans in ways that blended old and new economic practices.

Question 4: Rise of African Nationalism

"Analyze the factors that contributed to the rise of African nationalism after the Second World War."

Model Solution

The rapid growth of African nationalism after WWII resulted from a combination of internal developments and international changes:

Internal Factors:

1. Western-educated Elite: Growth of a class of Africans educated in Western schools who became aware of concepts like self-determination and democracy, and who felt excluded from positions matching their education.
2. Economic Grievances: Wartime economic pressures, inflation, and continued discrimination in economic opportunities created widespread discontent.
3. Urbanization: Growth of cities created spaces where people from different ethnic backgrounds developed shared grievances and national consciousness.
4. Mass Political Parties: Emergence of political parties like TANU (Tanzania), CPP (Ghana), and KANU (Kenya) that mobilized broad popular support across ethnic lines.

External/International Factors:

1. Weakened Colonial Powers: European powers were economically and militarily weakened by WWII, reducing their capacity to maintain colonial control.
2. Atlantic Charter (1941): Roosevelt and Churchill's declaration supporting self-determination for all peoples provided moral ammunition for nationalist movements.
3. UN Charter: United Nations principles of self-determination and human rights provided international platforms for anti-colonial arguments.
4. Cold War Dynamics: Competition between US and USSR allowed African nationalists to seek support from one side against colonial powers.
5. Asian Independence: Successful independence movements in India (1947), Indonesia (1949), and elsewhere inspired African nationalists and demonstrated European vulnerability.
6. Pan-Africanism: Movements like the 1945 Manchester Pan-African Congress brought together African intellectuals and activists to coordinate anti-colonial strategies.

The interaction of these factors created a powerful momentum for decolonization that colonial powers could not ultimately resist, leading to rapid independence across Africa in the 1950s and 1960s.

Examination Success Tips

1. Time Management: Allocate approximately 35 minutes per question to complete all required questions within the 3-hour timeframe.
2. Read Questions Carefully: Pay attention to command words like "analyze," "assess," "evaluate," "to what extent" - each requires a different approach.
3. Plan Before Writing: Spend 5 minutes planning each answer with a brief outline to ensure logical structure and coverage of key points.
4. Use Specific Examples: Support arguments with precise historical examples (events, dates, people, places) rather than general statements.
5. Balance Perspectives: For "assess" or "evaluate" questions, present multiple perspectives before reaching a balanced conclusion.
6. Clear Structure: Use paragraphs with clear topic sentences. Introduction should outline your argument, body paragraphs develop it with evidence, conclusion should summarize key points.
7. Review Past Papers: Practice with previous NECTA examinations to familiarize yourself with question formats and marking schemes.
8. Focus on Tanzania: While studying continental African history, pay special attention to Tanzania-specific examples which often earn additional credit.

Additional Preparation Resources

• Recommended Textbooks: "A History of Africa" by J.D. Fage, "Africa Since 1800" by Roland Oliver and Anthony Atmore, "Tanzania: The Story of a Nation" by Gregory Maddox
• NECTA Past Papers: Available on the official NECTA website (www.necta.go.tz) - practice at least 5 years of past papers
• Primary Sources: Familiarize yourself with key documents like the Berlin Conference Act, colonial reports, independence speeches, and early post-colonial policies
• Historical Maps: Study maps showing pre-colonial states, colonial boundaries, and resource distribution to understand spatial aspects of history
• Timeline Creation: Develop chronological timelines linking Tanzanian, East African, and continental historical developments

Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not an official NECTA publication. Always consult the latest NECTA syllabus and past papers for current examination requirements.

© 2023 History Examination Guide | Designed for Form Six History 2 Students