Study Guide – Final Exam

The following Study Guide should help you focus your studying for the final exam.  There will be a matching section with 10 definitions and 15 terms – you will be given the definition and expected to match it with the term.   There will also be two essay questions, one focusing on the themes discussed in the book Tales of Two Cities, and the other a choice between two questions about the time period 1870-1992.

The Study Guide is divided into terms and study questions.  For the terms, you should be able to identify each term.  For the questions, you should be able to discuss each question at length, as these questions will form the basis of the essay questions on the exam.  Be sure to think of specific examples and be able to explain how those examples illustrate your answer to the question.  Remember on the exam that your answers should be clear, precise and explanatory.
 

Terms:
 
ahimsa
apartheid
Balfour Declaration
Boer War
The Cultural Revolution
Blaise Diagne
W.E.B. Dubois
Mao Zedong
Mahatma Ghandi
githaka
The Great Trek
Chiang Kaishek
Kashmir
Jomo Kenyatta
Ruholla Khomenhi
Henry Kissinger
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
mfecane
mujahadeen
Pan African Congress perestroika
quinine
SALT  I
Anastasio Somoza
Shaka Zulu
Josef Stalin
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Truman Doctrine
Versailles Treaty
zaibatsu
 

Study Questions:

What were the origins of the Cold War?  How did the events of the Second World War contribute to the Cold War?  How did the Cold War proceed?  How and why did it end?

Communism – How did Communism develop as a historical theory?  What were the variations of Communism that developed out of the Russian and Chinese Revolutions?  What were the consequences of these revolutions?  What did they have in common?  How were they different?  What philosophies developed out of these revolutions?

Imperialism – How did the “new imperialism” of the late nineteenth century start?  What were the causes?  What was the role of technology?  What was the role of capitalism?  How did empires differ?  How did imperialism and colonialism end?

Decolonization – Why was decolonization delayed for so long after 1945?  What were the different approaches taken to address decolonization by the colonial powers?  By the subject peoples?  How did mandates play a role in decolonization?  What were the assumptions on the part of Europeans towards the desire for independence among colonial peoples?

Development of the Nation-State – Compare the development of the nation-state in Europe with the developments that took place in the rest of the world.  How were the developments similar?  How were they different?  How did this process proceed in Africa, Asia, and the Americas?  What was the role of nationalism?  What was the role of capitalism?

Industrialization – What historical factors lead to Britain becoming the first industrialized nation?  What has been the path of other nations to industrialization?  Why were some states more successful than others?  What cultural beliefs promoted or inhibited industrialization?

Themes to consider for Tales of Two Cities:
- how nationalism developed in Iran
- the relationship between nationalism and Islam in Iran
- the nature of dissent in a totalitarian regime
- the role of Shi’ism in Iranian culture
- the viability (or not) of Marxism as a model for revolution in the Middle East
- perceptions of the United States (and the West) in the Middle East