History
answer TWO of the choices listed below, ONE from each section. Think before you write and read the question carefully to make sure you understand what it is asking. Use material drawn from class lectures, readings and from the textbook where necessary. Each answer is worth 50 points so please give them the proper amount of attention. This test should take you about 2 hours to answer, so please keep that in mind.
Section One: Please answer ONE of the following questions.
Sec 1, Q1: The Communist Manifesto was published in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels to discuss the impact of their new economic and political ideology on the future of Europe in the midst of the revolutions of 1848. Discuss in your essay what communism is, why Marx and Engels proposed their ideas in 1848, and what lasting impact the ideology had on Europe? What do you think communism has ultimately failed as a long-term political ideology on which to build a country?
Sec 1, Q2: Romanticism was the beginning of the rejection of the Enlightenment ideas and beliefs, finally throwing away the rational mind for that of emotion. By the late 19th century, political thinkers, scientists and artists continued this earlier transformation in new ways. In your essay discuss the role of poetry and literature, philosophy, scientific thought and art in creating an alternative worldview that grabbed the imaginations of many in the 19th century. Discuss the important roles Romanticism, Impressionism and Irrationalism had in furthering the break from the 18th century’s Enlightenment. How did they compliment each other and create the modern world?
Section Two: Please answer ONE of the following questions.
Sec 2, Q1: What might European diplomats have done differently between 1880 and 1914 to avoid the Great War? What were the causes of the First World War, and which, in your opinion, was the most important? Give examples to prove your point. Conclude your discussion with a review of the more immediate causes of the war between 1912-1914.
Sec 2, Q2: The 1920s and the 1930s saw the rise of totalitarian governments in Europe, transforming politics and society while paving the way for the Second World War. In your essay, discuss the similarities and differences between the totalitarian governments created in Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union before 1939. In what ways did these governments deal with “internal problems” and threats to their rule? Why do you think there was so little resistance by the citizens of these three countries to the actions of their governments?
