On
the Exam and how to prepare:
I will choose ONE of the three questions below to ask you on the mid-term exam. The best way to prepare for the exam is to work out answers to ALL of these questions. Then, prepare short outlines for each answer.
During the exam, I will let you use one (1) typed or hand-written page of notes (one side of page only)—you will turn this page of notes in with your exam. Consider using that page of notes for your outlines (to write down outlines with some key words or phrases to guide you in writing the essay).
Each of these questions requires that you think about ideas and examples from the lectures and from the Coffin textbook (and from the film shown on 22 November). Be sure that you understand exactly what the question is asking. Then review your notes on the lectures and on the readings to organize an answer for each question.
Remember that an essay MUST have:
1) An introduction that tells the reader what you are writing about and what your main point (thesis) will be.
2) Clearly organized paragraphs in the body of the essay:
---Each paragraph must be devoted to explaining a single issue or idea.
---Each body paragraph must have evidence or examples.
---You must explain how the examples connect to (demonstrate,
illustrate) the idea in the paragraph.
3) A conclusion that sums up your main point (thesis).
OK—here are the questions!
1) In the course lectures on the Revolutions of 1848, I emphasized two critical issues: social class conflict and nationalism. Explain the role that social class conflict played in shaping political attitudes and events between the outbreak of the revolution in France (in February 1848) and Louis Napoleon Bonaparte's "coup d'etat" of December 1851. To do this, you must use specific evidence from the course lecture (including documents discussed in the lecture); you also must use evidence from the Coffin textbook (including but not limited to the documents on pages 801-802).
2) In the lectures on politics in Europe in the late 1800s, I noted that the government of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in the French "Second Empire" followed a series of policies that were similar to policies later implemented in Imperial Germany.
A. Based on the lecture, what specific types of policies did both governments follow in common and why? What common problems were both governments facing and how (according to the lecture) were the "common" policies supposed to "solve" these problems?
B.
Does the discussion of the policies of Louis Napoleon and Bismarck in the
Coffin textbook support or refute the argument made in the course lecture?
Explain.
3) The period from 1914 to 1945 has often been described as an age of "Total War." The term total war refers not only to soldiers and weapons, but to the mobilization of entire societies for war (including civilians). Based upon the lecture notes, the Coffin textbook, and the film 1941-1945: Civilians at War, explain in detail how World War One and World War Two affected the lives of civilians.
A) Be sure to compare and contrast the impact of these two wars. In other words, you must discuss the effect of BOTH wars and you must give examples from both conflicts.
B) Be sure to discuss a number of issues, such as (but not limited to) the impact on the economy, the impact on gender relations, the impact on political attitudes, and (of course) war-time civilian deaths.
Remember, prepare outlines for ALL THREE questions. Don’t try to guess which question will be asked! I will pick the question by drawing a number out of a hat, so the choice will be completely random. (Each individual question has only a 33.3 percent chance of being picked. In other words, if you guess that one question will be asked and concentrate on that question only, you have an 66.6 percent chance of guessing wrong. To be 100 percent prepared, be ready to answer all three questions!)