Section 5: How to become an accredited coursework assessor

Transcription

1 Section 5: How to become an accredited coursework assessor Each Centre should have at least one teacher who is an accredited coursework assessor for (0470) Cambridge IGCSE History. In order to gain accreditation, teachers should read through this handbook thoroughly to get an understanding of how the mark scheme should be applied and study the marked sample below. The following accreditation task can then be attempted. set three coursework titles. For each title provide a brief explanation of how it gives candidates scope and opportunities to measure significance mark the two coursework accreditation samples below (Accreditation samples A and B) using copies of the Accreditation Mark Sheets on the following pages. Please give each answer a level and a mark. Provide brief summative comments explaining why the answer has been placed into a particular level. Also provide marginal comments throughout the answer commenting on how the answer is developing. 5.1 Marked sample Please refer to the generic mark scheme and the guidance on how to use the mark scheme provided in this handbook. Were Mao Zedong s policies after he came to power significant for China? Mao Zedong put in place a number of policies during his long 27 year reign over China. These policies have been the subject of fierce debate. While the policies may have had good intentions such as improving the lives of women, the resulting events in the form of famine, death and poverty overshadow this. The policies were claimed by Mao to be a way of giving life to the struggling agriculture, economy and industry of China. The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution are two examples of his major impact. The reasons for his policies can be traced back to before his reign. Reasonable introduction but insufficient focus on significance. Does not explain how the question will be answered. Before the emergence of Mao the Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek held power. Inflation soon became China s looming problem. The runaway inflation was made worse by the war with Japan between 1937 and Historian Diana Lary has said Almost every family was affected by war. Tens of millions of people took flight. The Nationalists solution was to assert price controls and the actions carried out to implement them were a significant turning point decreasing Nationalist support. These actions included shooting merchants. The disaster of inflation was important to people s lives as conditions became bad for them and they began to seek leadership elsewhere in the form of the Communists. This reveals the conditions which Mao would change in his first major policy in 1958 (the Great Leap Forward). These changes would make his policies significant because they were a change from the way that things were going before. Describes state of affairs before Mao to set up how much Mao changed things. Reasonable. Could include other aspects of pre-communist China. Cambridge IGCSE History CTH 23

2 Mao proclaimed that the Great Leap Forward was an attempt to develop China s agriculture, industry and economy to match Great Britain s within 15 years. American journalist Sidney Rittenberg described the policies in 2011 as building a world without classes, without war, without poverty. This shows that Mao was trying to change virtually everything about China, making his policies very significant. Some explanation of Mao s impact. The largest positive impact that Mao s policies had was on the lives of ordinary people. There was a drive to increase literacy levels of men, women and children. Aiming to better people s lives in this way opened up opportunities for jobs and a greater understanding of life, something that would not have happened in the previous regime. These policies were a watershed for education, especially for women, as the following figures show. 90% of those aged 55 to 59 were illiterate, while 15% of those aged between 15 and 19 were illiterate. This shows what a deep impact Mao s policies had and how they changed things from the previous regime. This effect would also last well into the future and bring about even more improvements in literacy. UNESCO figures show that the number of illiterate people fell from 80% to 43%. These policies were very important to women as they gave them more opportunities to play a central role in the community outside of the home. Although these policies took time to have an effect, it meant that over time they were very significant indeed. By 1988, 44.5% of teachers were women (in 1952 it was only 17%). Another great change made was free health care which had a great impact on the health of the Chinese people. Historian Merle Goldman says they went into villages, they cleaned the water. China s life expectancy certainly was very much prolonged. This was another policy that would be significant in the long run and shows a big change from Nationalist times. More detailed explanation of Mao s impact in important areas. Makes distinction between short-term and long-term impact. Significance is being measured. Relevant, good supporting material. The Great Leap Forward was significant in negative ways. Over the Four Years of the Great Leap Forward 45 million people were starved or beaten to death. The main aim of the Great Leap Forward was to modernise China and turn it away from being just an agrarian society as it was under the Nationalists. The method used to achieve this was collectivisation where private farming was banned and the introduction of backyard furnaces into villages to increase China s industrial production. These policies were very unpopular with most peasants and put them firmly under the control of the Communist Party. Peasants in the communes shared everything the animals, the grain, all food and the work. Private cooking was banned and everybody had to eat together. The peasants were given their orders on what work to do for the day every morning. There was opposition by some peasants but these troubles were put down and all peasants were forced to take part. Many of them were taken off farm work and made to work in steel production in the villages. Moves to Great Leap Forward some measurement of significance but too much description. The policies were a disaster. New methods such as close cropping, deep ploughing and leaving moderately productive land empty all led to a fall in productivity. Another problem was that peasants were diverted 24 Cambridge IGCSE History CTH

3 to steel production which meant that crops were left to rot. Local Communist officials who were under pressure to report record harvests and thus the success of Mao s policies competed with each other to announce better and better results. These results were used to work out how much grain was to be taken by the State to supply the towns and cities. Because the figures were exaggerated too much was taken and there was not enough left for the peasants. The result was starvation and this even led to cannibalism in some places. Yang Jaheng, a Chinese historian, says that people cut off pieces of flesh and brought them home to cook. In extreme cases people even ate their own children. To make things worse peasant homes were pulled down to make fertiliser to build commune canteens or to make roads straighter. However, during this time Mao still insisted that China should export grain because he wanted the world to think his policies were a success. Yang has discovered that during the famine 22 million tons of grain were stored but were not given to the peasants because officials ignored reports of starvation. No Communist officials were prepared to describe how bad things were because they were scared of Mao. The overall effect of the Great Leap Forward on the Chinese economy was devastating. For example, after some initial growth iron production fell steeply in 1961 and did not recover to its pre-great Leap Forward levels until Detailed and relevant account of impact on people. More judgement/argument concerning significance needed. It was clear that Mao s policies were having an important effect, but not the one intended. The policies had failed and in the 1960s there was a reaction against Mao s ideas when some de-collectivisation was introduced. There was even more de-collectivisation later under Deng Xiaoping showing that Mao s policies in this area were not important because they failed and had to be changed. It was Deng Xiaoping s reforms after 1978 that really helped the living standards of Chinese peasants. After the failure of the Great Leap Forward Mao lost a lot of power. In 1966 he started the Cultural Revolution as a way of regaining his power. It was an attempt to renew the Chinese Revolution. Mao s Red Guards attacked everything that was old and traditional. Teachers, scientists, intellectuals and the middle classes were persecuted and many were sent to work in the fields. Many of the top Communist officials were also attacked and the cult of Mao was started. This went on until the early 1970s. The Revolution had a terrible effect on China s economy which basically came to a halt as did its education system. Literacy rates began to go down. In fact, the country was in chaos. In some ways the Cultural Revolution was very important because it had an effect on just about every person in China. Millions of people were persecuted for being enemies of Communism and millions were forced to leave their homes. Mao died in 1976 and after a few years his policies began to be reversed. Deng Xiaoping emerged as the next leader and made great changes which are still going on today. He began to introduce economic reforms which even brought in some capitalism. He got rid of the communes and peasants were given more freedom to sell their products. China was soon making enormous economic advances and most of Mao s policies were forgotten. In fact there was an industrial revolution in China with Chinese firms exporting all over the world and Chinese millionaires appearing. This makes Mao s policies look very unimportant in the long term. Better on judgement/argument. Demonstrate comparison across time. Significance over time considered. A strong section. I want to argue that Mao s policies were very important for a short period but not in the long term. Mao s main importance was before he really came to power in China. He led the Communists in the Civil War and defeated the Nationalists. This was very important and shaped everything that happened to China later. Once in power his policies did have some long term impact especially his educational and health reforms Cambridge IGCSE History CTH 25

4 and the position of women in society. He was responsible for raising literacy and life expectancy. In these ways he dragged China into the 20th Century and the reforms were long lasting. He also stopped China being a feudal country for good and he unified the country. His long-term significance is very strong. He is still worshipped by many people in China and is seen as the Founding Father of modern China His policies of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution had an enormous impact on millions of people at the time. This was mostly a bad impact with starvation, persecution, and millions dying. He ruined China s economy in the country and its industry and set China back by decades. In the long run these policies have turned out to be dead-ends. They went nowhere and Chinese leaders after him have reversed many of his policies, especially the economic ones. Mao would not recognise China today and China has turned its back on him, making the long-term significance of most of his policies very small indeed. Well supported and argued conclusion. Overall, it is fair to say that Mao s policies were very important at the time and affected millions of people. He changed China forever in important ways. But some of his policies are not at all important in modern China words Summative comments: This is a good answer. The question is about Mao s policies after he came to power at the end of the Civil War. The candidate has selected mainly relevant material and has avoided writing much about the earlier period. There are two important policies of Mao missing the Hundred Flowers Campaign and the successful first Five-Year Plan. However, candidates are not expected to cover everything and what matters more is how they use the material they do cover. The candidate has selected well and most of the deployment of the material is relevant to the question. There are a few passages of description and narrative which are not being used to support arguments, but most of the time the material is being used to support arguments about significance. Significance of Mao s policies is the focus throughout much of the answer. The candidate does not wander far from this. Detailed information is used and the candidate is in control most of the time. There is a good range in the coverage from the 1950s to more recent times, and links and comparisons are made across time. Good, accurate, and detailed in places, but material is not always used relevantly. The candidate does have arguments of their own and these are usually well-supported. The significance is measured in a number of ways: comparing with what went before to measure the extent of change; the impact Mao s policies had at the time on the people (mainly depth, some breadth, some differentiation between different groups/policies) across time and Mao s short-term and his longer-term significance are compared. There is a good understanding by the candidate that it is necessary to consider what happened after Mao died to measure his significance. There is a clear conclusion that is largely consistent with, and supported by, the rest of the answer. To sum up: Generally well-organised, the material is generally effectively deployed, good selection, a wide range covered, some links made, good, supported and relevant arguments about significance with a valid conclusion. A few weaknesses here and there keep it out of Level 5. A good Level 4 answer Level 4/ Cambridge IGCSE History CTH

5 5.2 Accreditation sample A How significant was the Reichstag Fire? During the democratic system in Germany operated on a voting system that meant that representatives were elected by the proportional representation system. This encouraged weak coalition governments because no single party ever commanded a majority, it also allowed extreme parties a voice in the Reichstag Parliament. Article 48 of the constitution was dangerous because it allowed the President to ignore the wishes of the Reichstag and use emergency powers to choose a government. The vulnerability of Weimar democracy meant that it was open to attack from extremism, however after 1923 a democratic Germany did emerge. The economic crisis from 1929 undermined that democracy. The German people wanted a new, promising party that listened to their needs, hence the rise of the Nazi Party. The Reichstag Fire can be seen as significant because it was a tipping point in the downward spiral of German democracy and the rise of Nazi extremism. The Fuhrer has spoken decisively. Bruning s fall is expected shortly. The President of the Reich will withdraw his confidence from him. The plan is to constitute a Presidential Cabinet. The Reichstag will be dissolved. Repressive enactments are to be cancelled. We shall be free to go ahead as we like, and mean to outdo ourselves in propaganda. Friedrich Ebert was the first Weimar President, during the years He used Article 48 cautiously with the aim of sustaining democracy. The second President was Paul von Hindenburg for the duration of He used the Article as frequently as he could and as a result he undermined the power of the Reichstag and democracy. In 1930 Hindenburg appointed Henrich Bruning, a member of the Catholic Centre Party, as the Chancellor. Bruning cut public expenditure and increased taxes. Following this, the economic depression became worse and resulted in an increase in unemployment. Hindenburg forced Bruning to resign in March 1932 as he was becoming increasingly unpopular. Hindenburg then appointed Franz von Papen as Chancellor. He was another member of the Catholic Centre Party. He had close links to the aristocracy and the army, but little support in the Reichstag. Von Papen declared a state of emergency and suspended the Prussian Parliament. His regime was driven out of office by a vote of no confidence in November The Reichstag only met 13 times during 1932 and parliamentary government had virtually collapsed. In December 1932 Hindenburg appointed General von Schleicher but he only lasted 57 days. Hindenburg s last resort was Hitler. Under the influence of leading businesses and army figures he eventually decided to make Hitler Chancellor. Hitler was to establish a stable right wing dictatorship upholding the aims of the army, agrarian Junkers and big businesses. Hitler convinced them that he was abandoning the radicals of the Nazi Party in favour of the traditional German establishment. The old guard wanted the new government to pass an Enabling Law that would make the passing of laws dependent on the cabinet and not on the Reichstag. The new Cabinet was dominated by non-nazi conservatives and it was assumed that they would be able to tame and control Hitler. They did not see that Hitler would set up his own one party state. A factor which brought Hitler to power was the growth in electoral support from 2.6% of the voters in 1928 to 37.3% in The failure of the Munich Putsch changed Hitler from an incompetent street fighter into a shrewd and skilful politician. Major electoral advances were in rural Protestant areas. Nazis gained support from agricultural labourers, farmers, peasants and landowners. The romantic idea of a folk Cambridge IGCSE History CTH 27

6 community, coupled with promises to help farmers, seems to have been a vital factor in the growth of Nazi support. The Nazis did less well in large cities and industrial areas where the workers remained loyal to the Communist party. They did have support from small-scale craft workers who did not belong to trade unions. In November 1932 those who opposed the Nazis represented 63% of the German electorate. Also, the Nazis lost 2 million votes and had clearly passed their peak. Even so, the growth of the Nazi Party s electoral support was a significant factor in Hitler s rise to power because it placed the Nazi leader in a very good position to lead a right-wing authoritarian government. By turning the Nazi Party into the most popular German political party, the voters had helped Hitler to put pressure on Hindenburg to make him Chancellor in January The new government was dominated by the conservative old guard, Alfred Hugenberg, leader of the German National People s Party, Franz von Papen was a former Chancellor and General Werner von Blomberg was War Minister. Von Papen told a friend in two months we ll have pushed Hitler into a corner, and he can squeal to his heart s content. The old guard underestimated Hitler s political skills. Hitler intended to break up the coalition and transform Germany into a one-party Nazi state. Hitler s very first act as German Chancellor was to call for fresh elections on 5 March Hitler expected to win an outright majority. Large successful businesses donated 3 million marks to finance the Nazi election campaign. The opposition parties faced an uphill struggle, the Communist Party meetings were banned and the election rallies of the Social Democrats were broken up by the SA, which also disrupted meetings of the Catholic Centre party. It was an extremely violent campaign with 50 anti-nazis and 18 Nazis killed in street clashes. On 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was burned down. The police were on the scene in minutes, but did not call the fire brigade for a full half an hour. They arrested a young unemployed Dutch Communist, Marinus van der Lubbe. Lubbe told the police he set fire to the building on his own initiative as a protest against the Nazis using a few fire-lighters, a rolled-up newspapers and a box of matches. However, some sources state that he created the fire in reaction to the ever-increasing unemployment percentage. Whereas, some sources argue that it was Goring on behalf of the Nazi Party, to create a negative situation towards the Communists. It seems that Lubbe had no connection whatsoever to the German Communist Party, but was in contact with SA extremists in the days leading to the fire. Goring later claimed that he was behind the whole thing, but this was probably idle boasting to score brownie points. Generally, it is thought by most historians that van der Lubbe acted alone. The political significance of the Reichstag Fire is more important than who started it. Hitler used the fire as a convenient excuse to arrest all Communist Party leaders, and to introduce a virtual state of martial law. He decided not to ban the Communist Party immediately in case their votes switched to the Social Democrats in the forthcoming election. The day after the fire, Hitler issued a decree for the protection of the people and state. This wide-ranging set of emergency powers allowed him to suspend all individual and civil liberties, assume complete control of the individual state governments and place all political opponents in protective custody. This emergency decree announced as a temporary measure stayed in force during the whole period of Nazi rule. 30 January 1933 marked the beginning of the Nazi seizure of power. Hitler avoided the mistakes he made ten years previously, he needed to act politically and non-violently. As a result, he had achieved office constitutionally with the support of the conservative establishment and army. How could he convert his position in the Weimar constitution cabinet into a dictatorship in a one-party state? The Nazi seizure of power depended crucially on mass violence and intimidation for its success. Without the concentration camps, there would have been no one-party state. The immediate impact of the Reichstag Fire on opposition parties was horrific. Hitler persuaded Papen to appoint Herman Goring as Prussian Minister of the Interior, he enrolled the Brown Shirts as auxiliary police. 28 Cambridge IGCSE History CTH

7 The Brown Shirts went on numerous rampages, smashing trade union offices, beating up Communists and breaking up Social Democratic meetings. The Reichstag Fire was seen as an opportunity that came to the Nazis aid, suggesting that they were in trouble, consequently showing that the Reichstag Fire was a turning point. After all the propaganda, violent intimidation in which most rival political meetings were banned or broken up, the Nazis still failed to achieve an overall majority in the elections. They used the conservative Nationalist coalition partners to get over the 50% barrier. The fact the Nazi Party did not achieve a majority of the German people s votes shows that the Reichstag Fire did not have an immediate impact on the party. The main aim of the election was to give Hitler enough votes in the Reichstag to put an end to parliamentary democracy. The device Hitler used to create a one-party dictatorship was called the Law for the Alleviation and Distress of people and Reich (the Enabling Act). On 23 March 1933, members of the Reichstag (except those in the Communist Party who were not allowed to take their seats) were asked to turn all lawmaking powers over to Hitler. The venue for the death of German democracy was the Kroll Opera House in Berlin. Only Social Democrats had the courage to vote against the Enabling Act, which passed with 441 for and 84 against. Hitler addressed the Social Democrats You are no longer needed. I do not even want you to vote for the Enabling Act. Germany shall become free but not through you. Do not mistake us for the bourgeoise. The star of Germany is in the ascendant, yours is about to disappear. Your death knell has sounded. The passing of the Enabling Act freed Hitler from any legal restraint from the Reichstag, the president and the voters. It was a significant move on the road towards dictatorship. The Social Democrats were reluctant to co-operate with a party whose deviousness they rightly feared. Parliamentary organisations fought hard against the Nazis in the streets. However, they were no match for the army that supported Hitler. By February the Storm Troopers were 750,000 men strong. The Social Democrats wanted to avoid bloodshed and stayed true to their law-abiding traditions. The Communists did not rise up as they believed Nazism was the last gasp of a declining capitalist system that would collapse and open the way to a proletarian revolution. A general strike was extremely unlikely because unemployment was high at 35% and striking workers would have been replaced by desperate unemployed people wanting to rescue themselves and their families from poverty. the Nazis had created a dependency cycle where the German people had to conform in order to survive. This shows that democracy had died. To conclude, the rise of Nazism could be explained by the quote The Reichstag Fire Decree and the Enabling Act were used to dismiss supposed enemies of the state, meaning enemies of the Nazis. This shows that the Reichstag Fire was a tipping point in the rise to Nazi power as they manipulated the situation. However, other historians have suggested that the turning point in Hitler s fortunes came with the Depression. Others have said it was the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles. This would make the Reichstag Fire insignificant in relation to the rise of the Nazis. Historians are mainly concerned as to whether Van der Lubbe acted alone or whether the arson was planned and ordered by the Nazis, rather than the impact on the German country words Cambridge IGCSE History CTH 29

8 5.3 Accreditation sample B Was Al Capone an important figure in American history? In this essay I am going to explain ways in which Al Capone was an important figure in American history but I will also explain that there are ways in which he is not that important. I think overall he was not all that important and I will be trying to show why this is the case. Al Capone was a gangster in Chicago during Prohibition in the 1920s where he was involved in bootlegging alcohol when it was illegal. He ended up controlling large parts of the Chicago underworld. His gang was responsible for a massive increase in crime including murder, prostitution and rigging elections. This was at the time of Prohibition a ban on the manufacture, transportation and sale of all intoxicating liquor. Al Capone created a huge illegal liquor trade and many new methods to trade alcohol were introduced such as bootlegging, smuggling and the speakeasies. There were more speakeasies than there had been saloon bars in 1919 before Prohibition. So Al Capone s impact is clear. There were also ways in which he helped people. In 1929 after the Wall Street Crash he opened soup kitchens for the poor and made shopkeepers give the poor clothes and food. So he was a bit of a Robin Hood figure. So in all kinds of ways he was having an important effect on people s lives. However, Al Capone did not invent gangsters in America. There were gangs before him and in other American cities such as the Philadelphia Mafia. Many of them originated from the Italian Mafia. Prohibition and the illegal alcohol trade that it caused led to gangsters and in many of the major cities in the USA Al Capone did not create gangsters by himself. In fact he started out by working for Johnny Torrio in his Five Points Gang and helped him take over the criminal empire of Big Jim Colosimo. So there were already plenty of other gangs. But Al Capone took it all to new heights. Frederick Lewis Allen said in 1931 that Al Capone had discovered that there was big money in the newly outlawed liquor business. Capone was at his most important during Prohibition when his activities led to an enormous increase in crime. Paul Sann has said that his authority was so great it could not be measured. This is one reason why Al Capone is significant because he was crucial to the rise of organised crime and violence during Prohibition. He controlled speakeasies, gambling houses, brothels, horse and race-tracks, nightclubs, bookies, distilleries and breweries and controlled many of the important politicians in Chicago. At one time he was earning $100,000,000 a year. In these ways he was having an influence on the lives of many people. In 1928 there were twice as many murders in Chicago than in New York so this shows you his impact. Capone brought other gangsters under his control by murdering rival gangsters like in the St Valentine Day s Massacre in After this he became Public Enemy Number 1 in Chicago, showing his importance. The massacre shows Al Capone s importance in other ways. He was an important factor in increasing opposition to Prohibition. The photographs of the murdered men lying on top of each other were published in America. The brutality of the attack highlighted how Prohibition had led to an increase in crime and increased gang activity. This made Americans aware of the need to repeal Prohibition and increased support leading to its final repeal in Al Capone was also important because he completely controlled Cicero which was part of Chicago. He had his own mayor appointed and he could do what he wanted. Al Capone s murders and illegal activities went unstopped because of intimidation of witnesses and the fact that gangsters would not testify against each other. Al Capone was also able to bribe trade union leaders, police, lawyers, judges and Senators. This shows how much power he had. Elmer Gertz, a lawyer in Chicago, said in the 1920s, Prohibition taught America disrespect for the law. This supports the argument that Al Capone was important in causing the repeal of Prohibition. The illegal trade in alcohol that Al Capone set up, and the gangs and the crime that followed it, convinced people that Prohibition was not working and that it should be repealed. Al Capone also caused much corruption in American society. He spent over $75 million on bribing prohibition agents, policemen and judges and 30 Cambridge IGCSE History CTH

9 had Bill Thompson, the mayor of Chicago in his pocket. A journalist wrote at the time that Ten years ago a dishonest policemen was a rarity. Now the honest ones are pointed out as rarities. This shows Al Capone s impact on American society and also shows why people wanted to end Prohibition to end corruption. When Hoover increased the spending on agents to try and reduce bribery, a Democrat Senator, Robert Wagner, said Why heap more sacrifice on the altar of hopelessness? This shows that Prohibition was repealed because of the corruption caused by Al Capone. However, it could be argued that Al Capone was not so important because there were other reasons why Prohibition was repealed. The main reason for this was the Depression. This followed the Wall Street Crash in October There were economic problems all over the country, firms went bankrupt, lots of people lost their savings and millions of people became unemployed. In million people were unemployed. This was 25% of America s labour force. This shows that new jobs were desperately needed and this was a strong reason for the repeal of Prohibition. Legalising alcohol would create jobs in the manufacture, production, sale and transportation of alcohol. Legalising alcohol would also provide the government with a huge income from taxation. Prohibition had lead to a huge loss of money for the government because it was all going into illegal hands. During Prohibition $2,000 million worth of business was transferred from the brewing industry and bars to bootleggers and gangsters and the government was losing tax on all of this. The Government was in desperate need of money and repealing Prohibition would lead to jobs for people and taxes for the government at a time when they were both badly needed because of the Depression. So Al Capone was not all that important in bringing about the end of Prohibition because there were other reasons for it. There are other reasons for arguing that Al Capone was not all that important and powerful. When the corrupt mayor of Chicago, William Big Bill Hale Thompson, decided that Capone was bad for his political image he had Capone run out of town. When this happened Capone found that he was very unpopular and he had trouble in finding somewhere else to live. He ended up having to buy somewhere in Florida because there were so many places that would not have him. This shows that his power was not all that great. In 1931 he was found guilty of tax evasion and was in prison until While he was in prison his influence quickly died away. When he was in Alcatraz his contact with his men outside was cut off. Security was tight and he had no contact at all with the outside world. This meant that he was no longer able to run his criminal organisation and so his importance declined. This was made worse in 1934 after Prohibition was repealed. This meant that his illegal activities could no longer make money. All of this soon destroyed his wealth and his power in Chicago. He also became an ideal prisoner because he wanted to earn time off for good behavior and this did not do much for his reputation as a major criminal. All this shows that his importance was not that great because it did not last long after he was imprisoned. If he had been a very important and powerful figure his influence might have carried on despite him being in prison but America moved on and forgot him. When he came out of prison he was a broken man and he had no power at all. But there is another reason for arguing that he was important. This is because he has lived on in films and books. Alexander Bakshy wrote in 1931 that Gangsters and racketeers play so prominent a part in the American life of today that it would be little short of a miracle if their exploits were ignored by the movies. He was right. Al Capone is now known as one of the most famous criminals of American history and he has been used as the model for gangsters in lots of films. They are all based on how he dressed and acted. He has been the main character in famous films like The Untouchables and The St Valentine s Day Massacre. This had made him an important part of American culture. When people think of America in the 1920s, they often think of Al Capone. In this way he has become a symbol of America at that time. So his influence has lived on after his death and this makes him very important indeed. In conclusion I think there is a good case for arguing that Al Capone was not a very important figure in American history. He did change the lives of many American people in the 1920s through his activities running speakeasies, brothels and breweries and he increased the amount of crime and violence in Chicago enormously. He was also involved in the politics of the city. However, there were other gangsters Cambridge IGCSE History CTH 31

10 and Al Capone did not cause it all. It was all caused by the introduction of Prohibition and if it had not been Al Capone it would have been another gangster running things in Chicago. He didn t even start the gangsterism as he started working for Johnny Torrio and his gang. Al Capone did not actually introduce any thing new or cause any new developments. It is also important to remember that Al Capone s power quickly disappeared when he went into prison. When he was in Alcatraz he quickly lost control of his criminal organisation and became a nobody. This shows that his importance did not last very long. He was not the reason why Prohibition failed. This was repealed because of the Depression and the unemployment. However, there is one way that he did stay important for a long time and that is through books and films. Films are still made about him today and in 1987 the film The Untouchables, starring Robert De Niro, made $76 million dollars in America. This shows that Al Capone has lived on long after his death and is one way in which he is still important. Overall, Al Capone s importance was not very deep and did not last long apart from in books and films words 32 Cambridge IGCSE History CTH