HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 1 Discussion
The First Total War
World War I is
different from most other wars in that it was not a direct result of aggression
by one entity towards another, notwithstanding the assassination of Austrian
Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serbian elements. Instead, it was a consequence of
a number of forces amidst a disruption of the tenuous balance of power in
Europe. What were these forces and how did they contribute to the outbreak of
WWI?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 2 Discussion
DQ1 The Rise of
Communism and Fascism
Compare and contrast
the two types of authoritarian governments that arose after 1917, that is,
communism and fascism. What were the origins of these governments, their
accomplishments, and their failures? What accounts for the fact that the masses
mobilized to support these movements? Elaborate.
DQ2 Nationalism and
the Treaty of Versailles
What were reasons that
led to the ultimate failure of the Treaty of Versailles? What were the
challenges facing the newly-formed League of Nations, and why was it so
difficult to form a lasting agreement that would prevent another war?
Elaborate.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 3 Discussion
The Rise of Fascism,
World War II and the Holocaust
Analyze Adolph
Hitler's rise to power and the policies he used to rule Germany. The following
statement was taken from a contemporary account of Germany in 1939:
"Though the
Fuhrer's anti-Semitic program furnished the National Socialist party in the
first instances with a nucleus and a rallying-cry, it was swept into office by
two things with which the 'Jewish Problem' did not have the slightest
connection. On the one side was economic distress and the revulsion against
Versailles: on the other, chicanery and intrigue...Hitler and his party
promised the unhappy Germans a new heaven and a new earth, coupled with the
persecution of the Jews. Unfortunately, a new heaven and earth cannot be
manufactured to order. But a persecution of the Jews can..."
How do you interpret
this contemporary account of the persecution of people who are Jewish?
Elaborate.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 4 Discussion
The Cold War: Who Shot
First?
The United States
accused the Soviet Union of breaking all its wartime pledges and holding
Eastern Europe hostage while trying to subvert governments in the West. The
Soviet Union accused the US and its allies of trying to surround, and
ultimately destroy it. War of words? Or was somebody telling the truth? And
where do our 'isms' fit in? In particular nationalism?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 5 Discussion
Cold War and the End
of Empires
What accounts for the
rather late emergence of African countries as independent nation-states? Is
there something peculiar about Africa that delayed its drive for independence?
Why has the Arab-Israeli conflict been so persistent? What religious and
cultural factors have contributed to the persistent state of unrest in the
Middle East and, in particular, in what some people refer to as the Holy Land?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 6 Discussion
DQ1 The End of the
Cold War
What impact did
Mikhail Gorbachev's ideas of glasnost (openness), perestroika (restructuring)
and demokratizatsiia (democratization) have on Communist society? Were these
principles compatible with collectivization and a command economy? Did
Communist leaders favor these principles, or did they feel that their hands
were tied once they were introduced into Communist society?
DQ2 Communism vs.
Capitalism
It would be easy to
dismiss the Cold War simply as proof that Capitalism was a better theory than
Communism. Easy, but not the whole story. In order for Communism to be
relegated to the dustbin of history, it first had to be proven that its
struggle against Capitalism was unnecessary and thus irrelevant. How did the US
and the USSR close the gap in the last quarter of the 20th Century to allow
Communism to go out with a whimper and not a bang?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 7 Discussion
Brave New World
The Cold War is over.
Time to do a victory lap and celebrate the primacy of American power. But the
celebration seemed short-lived, as there were plenty of other concerns. Nothing
is as it should be. Our adversaries are now our allies, and our allies are now
competitors. The end of the Cold War knocked down the Iron Curtain, but it also
destroyed conventional economic patterns. Is the end of the Cold War proving to
be good for world peace, but not so good for world business?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 8 Discussion
Looking Ahead
Read the article
entitled “Strategic Collaboration: How the United States Can Thrive as Other
Powers Rise.” Do you agree with the
authors’ assertions that the United States needs to engage certain powers to
remain safe from present-day dangers?
Elaborate.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 2Quiz
Question 1(CO 3)
Identify three developments of industrialization in the West in the areas of
science, the economy, and the law. Describe how the legal system and the
government fostered industrialization. What is the relationship between
industrialization and imperialism?
Question 2 (CO5)
Explain how Italy's experience with WWI and post-WWI conditions provide an
environment for the rise of fascism. Identify the techniques Mussolini used to
solidify his control of Italy and how these stood in contrast to the principles
of liberal democracy.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 6Quiz
Question 1(CO9)
Contrast the methods of the Chinese Nationalist government under Jiang and the
Communists under Mao Zedong to rebuild China after war with Japan and analyze
why the efforts of the former failed. Examine the efforts of the US and the
USSR to create peace and stability in China and analyze why these efforts
failed.
Question 2(CO4)
Analyze the decline and fall of communism in the USSR. Discuss domestic
conditions in the USSR and why the communist government was unable to meet the
challenges posed by these conditions. Describe one of the reforms attempted by
the communist government and its outcome.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 1Case Study Imperialism and Exploitation
Introduction
The exploitation of
colonial resources and indigenous labor was one of the key elements in the
success of imperialism. Such exploitation was a result of the prevalent
ethnocentrism of the time and was justified by the unscientific concept of
social Darwinism, which praised the characteristics of white Europeans and
inaccurately ascribed negative characteristics to indigenous peoples. A famous
poem of the time by Rudyard Kipling, White Man's Burden, called on imperial
powers, and particularly the U.S., which the poem was directed at, to take up
the mission of civilizing these "savage" peoples.
Instructions
Read the poem at the
following link:
Link (website): White
Man’s Burden (Rudyard Kipling) (Links to an external site.)
After reading the
poem, address the following in a case study analysis:
Define social
Darwinism in your own words.
Analyze the
motivations and consequences that Kipling presents for undertaking the
"White Man's Burden."
What specific examples
of ethnocentrism can you identify?
Were the
"Half-devil and half-child" peoples truly uncivilized?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 3 Case Study Mobilizing the Masses
Introduction
Adolph Hitler was a
charismatic figure with remarkable oratory skills that he was able to use to
unify the German people under his leadership by appealing to their sense of
grievance over the outcome of WWI and the resulting conditions in Germany in
the intervening period as well as to their pride in their nation and its
history.
Instructions
Read Hitler’s speech
at the following link:
Link (website):
Berlin: Proclamation to the German Nation (Links to an external site.)
Address the following
in a case study analysis:
What factors, both
internal and external, does Hitler blame Germany's problems on?
In what ways does he
appeal to the nationalism of the German people?
What actions does he
suggest that portend the measures that Germany will take in the coming decade,
resulting in WWII and the Holocaust?
As a German, not
knowing the measures that Germany will take and suffering from the conditions
Hitler describes, how would you respond to this speech?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 5 Case Study The Creation of Israel and Israeli Settlement in
Palestine
Introduction
The nation of Israel
was officially created on November 29, 1947 as a result of UN Resolution 181 to
provide a homeland for the Jewish people in a region with strong historical
significance to people of Jewish faith (as well as Muslim and Christian
faiths). This was accomplished by partitioning Palestine, an Arab nation, into
two nations, creating animosity among the Arab peoples in the region,
particularly the Palestinians, and resulting in decades of conflict between
them and the nation of Israel. In the intervening years, Israel has engaged in
the practice of expanding its territory into Palestine by creating Israeli
settlements there. One of the recent incidents of this practice was address by
Dr. HananAshrawi, Executive Committee member of the Palestinian Liberation
Organization.
Instructions
Review the following
resources:
Link (website): UN
Resolution 181 (Links to an external site.)
Link (website):
Statement of Dr. HananAshrawi in Regard to Jewish Settlements (Links to an
external site.)
Address the following
in a case study analysis:
According to UN
Resolution 181, what are the rights of Arabs in Israel and what are the rights
of Jews in Palestine?
Are the resulting
conflicts religious, economic, territorial, or a combination of these? Support
your assessment with evidence.
Is the practice of
creating Israeli settlements in Palestine illegal? Assess Dr. Ashrawi's
statement that "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is more committed
to settlement expansion than to peace."
What is the US
position on this practice and how has this affected international relations?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 7 Case Study Generation Kill A Conversation With Stanley McChrystal
Introduction
According to
Biography.com, "Stanley A. McChrystal led the Joint Special Operations
Command in Iraq during the Persian Gulf Wars and was top Commander of American
forces in Afghanistan" ("Stanley McChrystal Biography," n.d.).
In the following interview, he describes the challenges of fighting
terrorist/insurgent forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Link (library
article): Generation Kill A Conversation With Stanley McChrystal (Links to an
external site.)
Instructions
Address the following
in a case study analysis:
According to
McChrystal, how did the battle against terrorist organizations/insurgencies
change after 9/11 and from what factors do they draw their strength?
What technological
methods are used in Afghanistan and Iraq and how have they been used tactically
(i.e., what goals are they used to achieve)?
Have they been
successful?
What is the risk of
using technological capabilities against terrorists?
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 1 Journal Entry How I Earned an A in This Class
Learning is not like
the weather; it does not "just happen" to you. You must be actively
engaged in the learning process, devise strategies to maximize your learning,
reflect on the strategies that worked and those that didn't, and modify these
strategies moving forward. I want all of you to earn an A in this class!
For this journal
entry, I would like you to envision yourself having received an A at the end of
the class.
Imagine yourself
looking back over the class and describe the strategies you used to earn that A
in around 100 words. Here are some items to consider:
How often did you log
in to class?
What time management
techniques did you use?
How did you manage the
reading?
How did you study for
the exams?
What was your plan for
completing the research papers?
Complete your Journal
Entry in a Word document.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 5 Journal Entry Am I Going to Earn an A in This Class?
At the beginning of
class, you wrote a journal entry describing how you earned an A in this class.
For this journal
entry, you will discuss where you currently stand in the class and evaluate the
success of your strategies thus far in a response of about 100 words. Here are
some items to consider:
Have you been using
the strategies you described in your earlier post?
Have they been
successful?
What modifications do
you need to make, if any, to stay or get on track to earn an A?
Complete your Journal
Entry in a Word document.
HIST410 Contemporary History
Week 8 Journal Entry Advice to Incoming Students
For this assignment,
provide advice to the next group of students who will be taking this course.
What should incoming students be aware of regarding this class? What strategies
did you use that they may find useful? What advice can you provide to help them
earn an A?
There is no format or
word count requirement for this assignment. I will incorporate the best two or
three entries in this class next term.
Complete your
assignment in a Word document.
Submit your
assignment.