2008 National History Day – History Fair theme:
“Conlict & Compromise in History”
 The theme Conflict and Compromise in History is complex and
asks students to view history through multiple perspectives. In
some cases, the conflicts existed without compromise. In others,
compromise was reached before major conflicts ensued. In the
end some conflicts were averted with compromises, like treaties.
However, more often, events in history reflect both conflict and
compromise. Students may choose to focus on a conflict or a
compromise, but if the topic includes one as well as the other,
the student needs to address both sides of the theme.
To understand the historical importance
of their topics, students must ask
questions of time and place, cause and
effect, change over time, and impact
and significance. They must ask not only
when did events happen, but why did
they happen? What factors contributed
to their development? What was the
lasting influence in history? How did this
topic change the course of events? What effect did the event
have on the community, society, nation and world?
There are hundreds of topics related to World War II. The war
effort at home and abroad provides rich research possibilities
that students might investigate. For example, students might
analyze FDR’s lend-lease policy as a compromise that enabled
him to help the allies without actually entering the war. Or a
student may wish to investigate how African American troops
were compromised in segregated units and the conflict they felt
serving their country abroad while suffering discrimination and
segregation at home. Or a study might examine the conflict over
women in the military and the conflicts and compromises to
which they were subjected as they tried to serve their country.
Students might be interested in examining the conflicts that led
to wars or the compromises that ended the conflicts. A paper
might be written on the Treaty of Versailles at the end of World
War I. What conflicts existed among its creators? Was the treaty
a series of compromises? Did the treaty lead to World War II? Or
students might create a performance that analyzes the conflicts
and compromises among the Allied leaders at Yalta or Tehran.
Battles fought in wartime seem like the ultimate conflicts.
Whether students choose to study a battle from World War II,
the Crimean War, the Six Day War, or
from any other war, they should be
careful to ask questions about the
significance of the battle and the
overall conflict involved. Which political
conflict does the battle represent? How
have strategies used by the contenders
involved compromises to terrain,
troop morale, supply lines or civilian
pressures? How was the battle a significant event in the war?
Efforts at conflict resolution and the promotion of peace make
very interesting topics for study. Why was the United Nations
created and what role has it played in resolving international
conflicts? Have United Nations peace-keeping missions been
successful? Why or why not? Explain the ongoing problem
of the resolution of disputes in the Middle East. Has outside
intervention been successful in establishing peace in the area?
What role has religion played in the conflicts? Has economics
played a role in the inability to reach resolution or compromise?
Religious history is rich in conflicts and compromises. Conflicts
have occurred between differing sects of the same religion and
between people of different religious faiths. Often religious conflicts have been closely tied to or been instigated by political
conflicts, or the clash of scientific or secular ideas and religious
doctrines. How did the conflicts in the Reformation result in a
permanent split between Protestants and Catholics? Did Galileo
or the Church compromise over his scientific discoveries? What
happened to the divine right of French kings or the belief in the
divinity of the Japanese emperor?
Economic growth and change often involve conflicts. A student
might write a paper on the reaction of Greek city-states to
the growing trade empire of Athens or the conflicts over
Mediterranean trade routes that led some nations to seek
alternative passage to the Indies. A student could create a project
that examines how workers and employers compromised their
conflicts over wages and working conditions or produce a media
presentation about the conflict between western farmers and
eastern railroad companies in the late nineteenth century.
The theme lends itself to a number of topics related to the
history of the Constitution since its ratification: conflicts that led
to incorporating the Bill of Rights; conflicts and compromises
over constitutional guarantees of civil liberties during wartime;
and new interpretations to meet the needs of industrial growth.
Convention delegates had conflicts over how states should be
represented in a national government and what powers states
should retain or entrust to the national government.
Students who are interested in cultural history might want to
examine what happened to native customs and values when
western countries imposed their rule in Africa, America and Asia or on the Pacific Islands. Did natives resist and/or accommodate
to new practices? Anti-colonial movements often led to conflicts,
but also to compromises after World War II. Students might
develop a web site presentation that examines the anti-colonial
efforts that led to United States involvement in Vietnam.
Some of the most harsh and agonizing conflicts in history
encompass social conflict and compromise. Have the roles of
women and minorities in American society changed as a result
of conflicts over ideas? What kind of conflicts and compromises
resulted when women and minorities asserted their civil rights?
How has the status of women and minorities changed in other
societies? A paper might be researched that analyzes the conflict
over Reconstruction and its impact on the rise of the Ku Klux
Klan; a performance might be created that examines the conflicts
and compromises faced by immigrants as they attempted to
settle a new land; or a documentary might be produced that
interprets the tension between Irish immigrants and African
Americans that resulted in the New York City draft riot of 1863.
Whatever topics are chosen, students should be careful to place
their topics into historical perspective, examine the significance
of their topics in history and show development over time.
Studies should include an investigation into available primary
and secondary research, as well as an analysis of the material,
and thus should clearly explain the relationship of the topic to
the theme, Conflict and Compromise in History. Then, students
may develop papers, performances, exhibits, web sites and
documentary presentations and projects for entry into National
History Day competitions.
For more information, contact:
National History Day, Inc.
0119 Cecil Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742
301.314.9739
info@nhd.org
www.nhd.org
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