ISC Class 12 History Syllabus 2023-24 - ISC 12th History Syllabus Download PDF

Unit 1

Towards Independence and Partition: the Last Phase (1935-1947)

Unit 2

Establishment and development of Indian democracy (1947 – 1966)

Unit 3

Challenges to Indian Democracy (1964 – 1977)

Unit 4

Changing face of the Indian Democracy (1977 – 1986)

Unit 5

India’s Foreign Policy

Unit 7

Movements for Women’s Rights

Section B (World History)

Unit 8

World War II 

Unit 9

De-colonisation – in Asia (China) and Africa (Ghana & Kenya)  

Unit 10

Cold War 1945-91– origin, course, end and impact

Unit 11

Protest Movements

Unit 12

Middle East: Israeli-Palestine conflict (1916-1993)

1. Towards Independence and Partition: the Last Phase (1935-1947) 

(i) The Kisan Sabha movement's principal goals and expansion. 

(ii) The rise of communalism among Muslims and Hindus (1930s–1940s). 

(iii)Government of India Act, 1935. The key components of the 1935 Government of India Act. A review of the 1937 election. 

(iv).The August Offer and the Cripps Mission: The National Movement During the Second World War. Directly influencing the Quit India Resolution were the suggestions and the justifications for their rejection. 

(v) The INA and Subhash Chandra Bose. An overview of the INA's functioning, including Bose's organization of it, its final demise, and its significance.

(vi) Transfer of power (1945-1947): Reasons for change in the attitude of the British government after World War II. Cabinet Mission: its aims and major provisions. 

1947: Attlee’s Declaration of 20th February 1947; Mountbatten Plan – main features: reasons for acceptance of the Plan by major political parties. Modifications in the Indian Independence Act. 

2. Establishment of Indian Democracy

(i) Sardar Patel's contribution to the restructuring and unification of princely kingdoms. 

(ii) Problems of integrating Junagarh, Hyderabad and Kashmir. 

(iii)First general election (1952): problems of preparation and their solutions, process, result and impact of the elections. 

(iv) The linguistic reorganization of states: A discussion of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, with a focus on Punjab, Bombay, and Andhra Pradesh.

3.  Development of Indian Democracy (1964 – 1977)

(i) Lal Bahadur Shastri – his contributions as Prime Minister 

(ii) Importance of the election of 1967 

(iii)Main Opposition political parties and their ideologies 

(iv) Naxal Movement

(v) JP Movement (1974-75)

4. Changing face of the Indian Democracy (1977 – 1986)

(i) The Janata Government (1977 – 1979). the Janata Government's establishment, its policies and their execution, and the causes of its overthrow. 

Center-State relations 

(a) Punjab: The demands of the Akali Dal, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, the elections of 1977, the establishment of the Akali administration, and the ascent of Bhindranwale and his demands and strategies. Response from Center: Results and effects of Operation Bluestar. The 1985 Punjab Accord. 

(b) Assam: The Assam Accord, 1985, the Center's response, and the causes of Assamese discontent. 

(c) Nagaland: The Nagas' demands for their own state; the development of the agitation; the Shillong Accord of 1975. 

(d) Mizoram: The path and resolution of the Mizoram Movement (1959–1986). 

5. India’s Foreign Policy

(i) Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) 

The reasons for maintaining a non-aligned stance during the Cold War. 

Establishment of NAM at the Bandung and Belgrade conferences. 

(ii) Pakistan (1947-49, 1965, 1971) 

The causes, developments, and effects of the Indo-Pak Wars will be addressed separately.

(iii) Sino-Indian War 

Conflicts with the People's Republic of China over (a) the Tibetan question, including the Chinese occupation and the Dalai Lama's sanctuary in India; and (b) border issues. Chinese-Indian War (1962): causes and immediate repercussions.

The objectives, relevance, and suggestions of the Towards Equality Report from 1974. 

developments in the 1970s and 1980s regarding the fight against domestic abuse and the anti-dowry movement. 

Section B: World History

7. World War II

(i) The aggressive foreign policies of Germany, Italy, and Japan were factors that contributed to the War. 

(ii) The policy of Anglo-French appeasement. 

Appeasement: the rationale behind and implementation of Britain's and France's policies. 

(iii) The Axis countries' invasion campaign in Europe and Asia (1939–1941). 

(iii) The causes of the Axis Powers' loss.

8. De-colonisation – in Asia (China) and Africa (Ghana & Kenya)

(i) China: A brief overview of the issues the Communists faced in 1949 should include the gradual transition from land distribution to collective farms in agriculture and the Five Year Plan and Soviet assistance in industry. More information on the Great Leap Forward, particularly on the creation of communes and evaluation of the GLF, should be provided. 

(ii) Ghana: democracy and dictatorship (1957- 66). Brief background to independence, Nkrumah’s role, reasons for his overthrow. 

(iii) Kenya: conflict and independence (1947 – 1964). Conflict with whites over independence and role of Kenyatta.

9. Cold War 1945-91– origin, course, end and impact

(i) The Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences, the Molotov Plan, COMECON, and Cominform are some of the factors that contributed to the Cold War's beginnings. The gap grows as a result of Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe (1945–1948), which included the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia. 

(ii) The dissolution of the USSR and changes in Poland, Germany, and the USSR in Eastern Europe.

10. Protest Movements 

(i) Racial problems and civil rights in USA in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

(ii) Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa (1948-1994)

(iii) Second Wave Feminist Movement in USA (early 1960s – early 1980’s)

11. Middle East: Israeli-Palestine conflict (1916-1993)  

(i) Post War conflict in Palestine after World War I, till the formation of the state of Israel.

(ii) The Arab-Israeli Wars from 1948 to Camp David Accord (1979). 

(iii) Oslo Peace Accords (1993).