HIST410 All Weeks Discussions Latest 2019 January Question # 00597502 Subject: Education Due on: 01/31/2019 Posted On: 01/31/2019 04:47 AM Tutorials: 1 Rating: 4.9/5

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.

https://csis.org/files/publication/twq08autumnhachigian.pdf
(Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.