Aim for FiveEuropean History

Short-answer question (SAQ)

Goya's The Third of May 1808

  • Unit 5
  • 3 points
  • About 13 minutes

You read one source and answer three short parts (A, B and C) about it, each in a few sentences. Each part asks you to describe or explain something about the source or the history around it. On the exam: 3 required questions in 40 minutes (Section I, Part B), 20% of the score. Starting May 2027 every SAQ has a source: question 1 a secondary text, question 2 a primary text, question 3 a non-text source such as an image, map or chart.

The question and its sources

Use the image described below to answer all parts of the question that follows. On the exam you would see the image itself; here it is described in words.

Image

A large oil painting of a nighttime execution on a dark hillside. On the right, a tight line of French soldiers aims rifles with fixed bayonets at close range. The soldiers are seen from behind, so their faces are hidden; their bodies, tall hats and level rifles form a stiff, repeated pattern.

On the left, a group of Spanish civilians faces the guns. A large square lantern on the ground between the two groups lights up the central figure, a man in a white shirt and yellow trousers who kneels with his arms raised wide. Beside him, other prisoners cover their faces or clasp their hands; one, kneeling in prayer, is a monk. Bodies lie in pools of blood in the lower left, and more prisoners wait in line behind. A dark town with a church tower is in the background.

Source: Francisco Goya, Spanish court painter, The Third of May 1808 (also called The Executions of the Third of May), oil on canvas, painted in 1814. Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Suggested time: 13 minutes

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Part (a)

1 point

Describe the historical situation depicted in the painting.

0 / 2,500 characters

Part (b)

1 point

Explain ONE way the painting reflects the characteristics of Romanticism.

0 / 2,500 characters

Part (c)

1 point

Explain ONE way that resistance to Napoleon's rule in Europe outside Spain contributed to his defeat OR to the growth of nationalism in the period 1806–1815.

0 / 2,500 characters

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