To connect a world event to local life, trace three links: the event, the policy or change it caused, and the effect on a named group of people. Each link needs a reason, or the chain falls apart.
This lesson is part of world conflict and occupation. The order of events is set out in sequencing the major conflicts.
What is the three-link chain?
The chain has three parts, and each one answers a short question.
- World event: what happened abroad or at national level?
- Policy or change: what did authorities do, or what changed, because of it?
- Daily effect: who was affected, and how?
Write one sentence per link, and join them with “so” or “as a result”.
Worked example: the Pacific War and Malaya
Japan’s attacks began in the last hours of 7 December 1941 and continued into the dawn of 8 December, striking Hawaii, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya and Siam 1. That is the world event. After the occupation began, the Japanese authorities issued a new currency.
In Singapore this currency, informally called banana money, lost its value through hyperinflation until almost nothing could be bought with it 2.
The chain reads: “The Pacific War reached Malaya in December 1941, so the occupation authorities issued a new currency, and as a result its value collapsed and families could buy almost nothing with their money.” Each link has a reason, and the last one names who was affected.
The mistake of the vague link
The common slip is to jump from the event to a general feeling. “The war affected the people of Malaya, and they suffered a lot.”
The answer has a world event and a result, but no middle link and no named group. A marker cannot see the reasoning. Rewrite it with the chain above and name the group affected, such as families whose money lost its value.
Check yourself
Write the three-link chain for the currency policy in one sentence.
Answer
A good answer: “The Pacific War brought a Japanese occupation, so the authorities issued a new currency, and as a result its value collapsed and families could buy almost nothing with it 2.”
Check that the sentence has the event, the policy and a named group with a daily effect.
What to study next
Local effects become sharper when you compare two policies that affected the same people. Continue with comparing policies and their documented effects, then test the skill in the practice set.
The evidence-to-explanation planner lays out the claim, evidence and reason steps for you. For a teacher to read your link sentences, see online one-to-one Sejarah tuition.