One of the biggest challenges many IB students face with History IA assignments is the selection of History IA ideas.
In addition to brainstorming the most suitable topic to investigate, you have to identify and evaluate the quality of the sources that you’ll use in doing the work.
To make your work easier, we’ve put together a list of History IA topics to help you understand what a good topic should look like.
History Internal Assessment SL and HL are worth 25% and 20% of the overall marks respectively.
Given that you can work on a topic of your interest, it should be easy to complete the assignment within the respective timeframe.
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Characteristics of a Good History IA Topic
History Internal Assessment is an assignment that investigates events that have already occurred.
For the best outcome, consider picking a topic that sparked controversy in history, provided the issue is specific enough to investigate within the specified word count.
Before you share your chosen topic with your teacher for review, make sure your selection meets the following conditions:
- The topic must focus 100% on history.
- You should have interest in the issue you’re about to explore.
- The topic should be about an issue that’s at least 10 years old.
- Your topic selection should be specific enough to address in 2,200 words.
- The topic should address an issue that has sufficient references
30+ History IA Topic Ideas for IB Students
Now that you understand the characteristics of a good History IA topic, here’s a list of ideas from which you can get an issue to explore:
- How accurately might archaeological fieldwork recreate the battle of Teutoburg Forest?
- How did Lenin and Trotsky's role in the development of the Soviet Union shift between 1918 and 1924?
- What role did Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica have in the development of the Christian church throughout the Middle Ages?
- Investigate the growth and impact of European trade unions in the nineteenth century.
- Why did Margaret Sanger become such a vocal advocate for birth control in the United States?
- When and why did communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapse in the 1980s?
- How did the U.S. press vary from the British press in their coverage of the Soviet and American governments during the Cuban Missile Crisis?
- How did communists in China use Chinese theater during the Cultural Revolution to promote their cause or spread their ideas among the masses?
- Neocolonialism's impact and reliance on transatlantic and international trade expansion
- How did British soldiers in Europe during World War II differ from those in the Pacific?
- What ways did the Italian Baroque style and Greek mythology find expression in the building and functioning of the Palace of Versailles?
- An examination of the response of British politics in the 1880s to the Jack the Ripper murders
- How did the New Deal's Farm Security Administration use photojournalism to spread the word about its programs?
- How did international trade contribute to Norwich's development?
- How successful was Hitler's advocacy for the optimum family during the Third Reich?
- What were some of the key differences between the British and Argentine coverage of the Falklands/Malvinas War?
- When it came to Kennedy's murder, how reliable were the tabloids and how did their stories differ?
- How did communist leaders exploit opera to spread their message during the Cultural Revolution in China?
- How correctly does the film Amadeus depict Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's last sickness and death?
- Explain how the Palace of Versailles reflects the influence of a love of Italian Baroque architecture and ancient mythology.
- What motivated the 1945 bombing of Dresden (substitute any city hit by the war) and what effects did it have on its inhabitants?
- How much did the positive outcomes for the Western Powers result from the Berlin Blockade and Airlift?
- How much did economic difficulties between the wars undermine public safety measures?
- What degree of peace and stability in Europe did the Congress of Vienna bring about from 1815-1848?
- To what extent do you believe internal Republican disputes contributed to the eventual Republican defeat in the Spanish Civil War?
- How much of the Spanish Civil War may be attributed to internal strife in Spain and throughout the Spanish-speaking world?
- Was the only reason for the 1962 Soviet missile assembly in Cuba to deter an attack from the United States?
- How well do you think David Low's cartoons reflected pre-war British popular opinion?
- How and to what degree did policies in Germany and Austria lead to the First World War?
- Does personal experience lend credence to the idea that things became worse in East Germany when the Nazis fell from power?
- Explain why you think Hitler was able to seize power in January of 1933. (Incorporate a contentious stance or argument.
- Exactly how much blame does the CIA and the United States government deserve for Salvador Allende's overthrow?
- In what way did Fidel Castro play a crucial part in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?
- Examine the impact of Lenin and Trotsky on the Soviet Union from 1918 to 1924 and draw comparisons.
- Why did Disraeli play such a significant role in British politics between the years 1846 and 1880, and what impact did his efforts have?
- How did the press in Britain and Argentina report on the Falklands/Malvinas War differently?
- How close to the actual events of J. M. Barrie's life does the 2004 movie Finding Neverland come?
- To what goal did the Special Operations Executive supply Tito's communist Partisans with weapons and supplies?
- How much do you think the execution of Louis XVI in 1793 France contributed to the "Terror"?
- How did the New Deal's Farm Security Administration utilize photography as propaganda to promote its programs?