North-south divide
What North-south divide means in History A-Level, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of North-south divide
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain North-south divide in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
A stark division in which the industrialising north benefited from unity while the agrarian south suffered from heavy taxation, conscription and limited political representation.
The divide was marked by differences in income, infrastructure and landownership, with high illiteracy in the south recorded by the 1911 census.
Topics that use North-south divide
- Paper 2, Option 2D.1: The unification of Italy, c1830–70 - 4 Consolidating the Kingdom of Italy, 1861–70 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- The liberal state, c1911–18 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- constitutional monarchy
- Economic and social problems
- Foreign policy
- Franco-Prussian War
- Great-power diplomacy and alliances
- Intervention and the collapse of Liberal consensus
- Italy as a great power
- Mass politics and the limits of transformism
Using North-south divide in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise History questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge