Western CivILIZATION

Answer one of the following essay questions for 160 points. This is an open-book exam, which means I expect you to use your books and lecture notes to answer the following questions. I do not, however, expect you to use Wikipedia or other Internet shortcuts, including sites such as Chegg, Course Hero, etc. If you choose to do that and do not acknowledge your sources, you will receive a 0 for this exam. That included basing your work on someone else’s without acknowledging it. As always, using the pimary sources to support your analysis will improve your score. You should use footnotes to identify the sources you use and do your best to demonstrate that you have in fact read and understood the books by answering these questions in your own words. These essays, if well argued and written, need not exceed three to four pages.
1.) In the eyes of many historians, the nineteenth century began and ended with violent upheavals. For them, this “long nineteenth century” began with the French Revolution in 1789 and ended with the Russian Revolution in 1917. What did these revolutions have in common and how were they different? (What were the leaders of each trying to achieve, and who opposed their goals?) In what ways do these movements define the beginning and end of a century? (If this is the beginning and end of some sort of period or era, what made it one? What was different in a political or cultural sense about the centuries that preceded and followed it?) Which of these revolutions, in your opinion, had greater historical consequences and why?
Note: Using information effectively from the Lualdi readings to support your argument will improve your essay.
2,) Some historians have argued that the years from 1914 to 1945 define a period that was essentially a second Thirty Years’ War. (Please note that you don’t have to say much at all–if anything– about the Thirty Years’ War of 1618-1648 to answer this question.) In what ways, in your opinion, does it make sense to describe this period as one of constant warfare? In what ways doesn’t it? What were some of the key political and social problems that remained unresolved during this period? If religious tension was one of the driving forces durind the first Thirty Years’ War, what was its equivalent during the second one? What forces, ideologies or conditions produced these tensions? (To answer these questions, you should consider how the World Wars were related and how they were similar and different.)
Note: Using information effectively from the Lualdi readings to support your argument will improve your essay.
3.) Not long after the national unification of Italy and Germany, the nation-states of Europe began to project their power outward, colonizing new territories around the globe. We read excerpts of documents that both supported and criticized the “new imperialism” that began in the late nineteenth century. Which countries dominated this expansion? What sorts of arguments did imperialism’s opponents or proponents use to sway opinion? Whom were they attempting to convince? What consequences or effects did these ideas and arguments have in Europe and the colonies? How was life in the societies of the imperial powers and their new overseas possessions changed as a result of this process?
Note: Using information effectively from the Lualdi readings to support your argument will improve your essay.
Short Answer Section: (4x 10= 40 Points).
1.) In what ways was late-nineteenth century imperialism related to industrialization in Europe? Was industrialization the only factor driving “new”imperialism? When did the empires created during the nineteenth century break apart and why?
2.) Describe three of the main “causes” of World War I. Why was this war a pivotal moment for many Europeans? How did it change the map of Europe?
3.) Why was the Russian Revolution so important in twentieth-century history? What changed as a result? Why did the Revolution occur when and where it did? How did the Soviet system change under Stalin?
4.) What factors led to the emergence of Fascism, Nazism and Communism in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s? How were the programs and goals of the Nazis, Fascists, and Communists similar or different?

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