Trinity College, Cambridge, offer an annual essay competition. The Robert Robson Prize is technically a History prize but actually many of the questions are actually political. The key political questions from this year are included below. For more information, see the website here.
THE DEADLINE IS 1st July 2018
The Robson History Prize is an annual competition for Year 12 or Lower 6th students. The Prize was established in 2007 in memory of the historian Robert Robson, who was for many years a Fellow and Tutor at Trinity. The aims of the Robson Prize are twofold: firstly, to encourage ambitious and talented Year 12 or Lower Sixth students considering applying to university to read History or a related discipline; and secondly, to recognize the achievements both of high-calibre students and of those who teach them.
Candidates are invited each year to submit an essay of between 2,000 and 4,000 words on a topic to be chosen from the list of questions.
Submissions must be made in hard copy (we regret that we cannot accept email submissions) and should be received by the deadline of 1 July each year. Those intending to apply should also complete an application form which is to be included with the submission. Results will be announced by the end of September.
QUESTIONS
All questions can be found here (Questions PDF)but below are the best political choices...- 5. What, if anything, was so ‘great’ about Magna Carta?
- 7. What made a ‘good king’ in late medieval England or Scotland?
- 9. To what extent was Henry VII the ‘last medieval king of England’?
- 13. Assess the causes of the English civil war.
- 14. What was not restored after 1660?
- 15. ‘There was nothing glorious about the Glorious Revolution when viewed from an Irish or Scottish perspective.’ Discuss.
- 16. Assess the benefits to Scotland of the Union with England of 1707.
- 17. To what extent was Robert Walpole’s longevity in office simply the result of the inadequacy of his opponents?
- 18. What did it mean to be a Tory before 1760?
- 19. What impact did the French Revolution have on domestic British politics?
- 21. How important was Peel to the revival of the Conservative party after 1832?
- 23. What role did Gladstone play in holding together the Liberals?
- 24. Why was Irish Home Rule such an explosive issue in British politics?
- 25. How did Disraeli alter the ‘culture of Conservatism’?
- 26. Assess the significance of ‘New Liberalism’?
- 27. What role did socialism play in the rise of the Labour Party?
- 28. What was the impact of women’s enfranchisement on political life?
- 29. What was the political impact of the British Union of Fascists?
- 30. Has the significance of the 1945-1951 Labour Governments been exaggerated?
- 33. Why did the Scottish or Welsh Nationalists fail to make a sustained electoral breakthrough in the 1970s or 1980s?
- 34. ‘Without the SDP Thatcherism would have been inconceivable.’ Discuss.
- 35. What did Thatcher and Blair have in common (beyond electoral success)?
- 36. ‘It was British membership of the European Union, not Brexit, that represented an historical anomaly’. Discuss.
- 55. Were the Revolutions of 1848-9 doomed to failure?
- 58. To what extent has the significance of the Risorgimento been exaggerated?
- 59. Assess the significance of the reign of Tsar Nicholas II.
- 63. How popular was Fascism in interwar Europe?
- 74. Why were the Nationalists (KMT) more effective in urban than in rural China?
- 75. To what extent was imperial expansion popular in interwar Japan?
- 77. What impact did the Second World War have on the European empires?
- 78. To what extent was nationalism in South-East Asia a product of Japanese imperialism?
- 83. How democratic were the mainland American colonies by 1750?
- 84. ‘There was no “American Revolution” for African Americans.’ Discuss.
- 85. How did the political role of women change after the end of the Civil War to the passage of the 19th Amendment?
- 86. Compare and contrast the styles, policies, and legacies of Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.
- 87. ‘The New Deal was more about politics than economics.’ Discuss.
- 88. Was Black Power a natural outgrowth of the Civil Rights movement?
- 89. Account for the Presidential victory of Donald Trump.
PRIZES
The competition carries a First Prize of £600, to be split equally between the candidate and his or her school or college (the school or college’s portion of the prize to be issued in the form of book tokens with which to buy history books), and a Second Prize of £400, which again is to be shared equally between the candidate and his or her school or college. In addition, three further essays of a high quality will be commended. All successful competitors will be invited to visit the College.