How do I structure a history essay?

When structuring a history essay, it is important to make sure your structure reflects both the question and the argument you intend to make. Applying the same structure to every essay, for example political/social/economic, will be unlikely to give you a high mark, unless this structure fits the question and the argument you intend to make. A structure specific to the question which reflects the argument you intend to make is likely to prevent you from straying from the question, and will make your essay clearer and your argument stronger. There is no one right way to structure an essay, but if you are constantly thing about how each paragraph relates to and answers the question, your essay will be more convincing.

For example, consider the question 'To what extent did the social and political tensions that existed within the Second Reich increase during the First World War?' This question is asking you to do two things. To analyse both the social and political tensions in the Second Reich. It might be helpful then, to use this to guide the structuring of your essay, by splitting it into two sections, one on social tensions and one on political tensions. Analysing them separately allows you to compare and contrast the two different types of tensions, which could inform your argument, e.g. you could argue that increased social tensions caused by shortages during the war exacerbated political tensions. To tighten your structure further, you need to think about how you will divide these two sections into paragraphs. This is where your argument will become more part of your structure. For example, if you wanted to argue that both social and political tensions of the Second Reich were relieved at the beginning of the First World War, due to a heightened spirit of nationalism, but later on these tensions were exacerbated due to lack of success in the war and worsening wartime conditions, you could use this to structure your answer. You could divide both sections (political and social) into two paragraphs, one on how tensions were released at the beginning of the war, and a second on how these tensions were exacerbated later on. This essay structure reflects the argument that social and political tensions were relieved at the beginning of the war and increased towards the end, which answers the question to what extent did these tensions increase during the First World War. The one issue with a slightly chronological structure is that it could become a descriptive/narrative essay, but as long as you consistently explain your evidence and at the end of each paragraph make a link back to your argument and the question, your essay should be analytically sound.