Essay Prompt :
The twentieth century witnessed three global wars - WWI, WWII and the Cold War. Are these wars connected in any way?
Please answer this question by, first, identifying and analyzing the causes of each conflict. For instance, which of the causes do you consider most important, and why. Second, based upon your analysis of these causes, explainwhich, if any, of these wars could have been avoided.
Your essay should take the form of a narrative that includes specific details rather than broad generalizations. Your goal is to effectively communicate a clear and coherent understanding of the causes of these wars to the reader.
1. Identification and Analysis of the Causes of:
World War I
World War II
Cold War
Explain whether any of these wars was avoidable .
Response to the following multiple choice questions:
1. Nation-state building in Latin America was complicated by:
a. resistance to centralization of authority by economic elites who favored federalism
b. resistance from slave-owning landowners opposed to foreign trade
c. resistance from traditional supporters of big government and a rigid social hierarchy
d. caudillos who supported the monarchy and the Catholic Church's liberal reforms
e. all of the above
2. The ‘labor theory of value' is based on:
a. the contribution of labor to the value of a manufactured product
b. the difference between wages and the value of labor in production
c. labor's contribution to the value of production that is seized by owners of capital
d. the value labor provides in the factory system of manufacturing
e. lowering the value and productivity of labor
3. As an ideology, market capitalism, or economic liberalism, claims that economic freedom and the pursuit of self-interest through competition in free markets:
a. promotes individual economic gains and profits.
b. results in economic efficiency and greater wealth for society.
c. promotes economic prosperity and greater economic equality.
d. a and b
e. all of the above
4. According to the Marxist theory of history, change over time occurs as a result of:
a. class warfare caused by irreconcilable differences between the economic interests of the exploiters and the exploited in society.
b. markets that create conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie over shrinking profits.
c. class conflict that occurs because of price competition between owners of labor and owners of capital.
d. the creation of social classes based on antagonistic ethnic and religious divisions.
e. changes in the material conditions of work that cause competition between the means of production.
5. Modern nationalism emerged as a potent historical phenomenon in the twentieth century because:
a. it mobilized national communities to seek sovereignty as political communities
b. of its success in mobilizing aspirations for self-determination among subject peoples of the Austrian Empire
c. of its role in inspiring independence movements among the colonized peoples of Africa and Asia
d. it contributed to European and Asian rivalries and aggression that resulted in two world wars
e. all of the above
6.The Treaty of Versailles can be judged a failure because:
a. it dictated a peace that did not create a framework for postwar European peace and stability
b. it led to greater U.S. intervention in European affairs
c. it did not punish Germany and Russia for starting the war
d. of U.S. unwillingness to compromise on the principle of self-determination
e. the Russians and Germans refused to participate in the negotiations that produced the treaty
7. Unlike 1914, in 1938-39:
a. Britain and France were reluctant to wage war to thwart rising German power
b. Germany did not fear a two-front war because of a non-aggression pact with Russia
c. Italy was a totalitarian state and war had broken out between Japan and China
d. Western liberal democracies were more concerned with domestic economic problems than the international situation
e. all of the above
8. By the late-nineteenth century, Western domination of several non-Western societies was made possible by Western:
a. military superiority
b. technological superiority
c. racial superiority
d. a and b
e. all of the above
9. The practice of New Imperialism led to European:
a. use of modern industrial technologies to dominate non-Western societies.
b. use of unequal treaties to open foreign markets to Western products.
c. conquest and colonization of India and most of Africa.
d. a and b
e. a and c
f. all of the above
10. Unlikethe moral justifications for imperialism, material justifications for the Imperialist Project emphasized:
a. the concept of "survival of the fittest" in a modernizing world.
b.the duty to engage in a"civilizing mission"to modernizebackward societies.
c. religioussuperiority. d. a and c e. a and b
11. Factors contributing to rising tensions among European powers on the eve of World War 1 included:
a. Russian support for Serbia b. mutually suspicious and hostile alliances
c. national rivalries and conflict over African territories
d. Germany's growing military strength and support for Austria
e. a and b
f. all of the above
12. Which of the following is false?
a. the requirements of total war meant that women were no longer able to work in factories on the home front.
b. the Mandate System was meant to satisfy the United States' demands that new colonies should not be established in lands liberated from Ottoman and German rule
c. the Berlin Conference of 1884 led to the European scramble to conquer, occupy and establish colonial rule in nearly all of Africa
d. the practice of European imperialism did not always lead to the conquest, occupation and settlement of foreign lands
e. Stalin's collectivization of agricultural production proved disastrous and resulted in famines
13. The outcomes of the ‘Imperialist Project' include:
a. racial discrimination against colonized peoples on the basis of Social Darwinism.
b. the colonial state as a modern method of organizing authority based on a racial hierarchy.
c. the use of ‘scientific racism' to justify the use of racial hierarchies and the practice of authoritarian rule in colonial societies.
d. the practice of coercive violence to maintain order and stability in colonial societies and claim legitimacy for colonial rule.
e. a and c
f. all of the above
14.The rise of the Nazis to power in 1933 can be explained by:
a. economic factors such as unemployment and a depressed agricultural sector
b. social factors that included the anxieties and fears of the middle class
c. political factors that included anger and resentment over the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles
d. b and c
e. all of the above
15. Which of the following statements is false?
a. World War II was a war of movement rather than position
b. many peasants resisted Stalin's collectivization of agriculture
c. while most of the world struggled with the Great Depression, Stalin's Five-Year Plans brought employment and industrialization to Russia
d. European nations refused to admit the U.S. into the League of Nations because of French opposition
e. Japan's seizure of Manchuria from China marked the beginning of a new phase of Japanese militarism
16. The effects of the Great Depression spread globally because:
a. of the rise of revolutionary socialism and the suppression of individual property rights
b. of greater government intervention in the economies of Western liberal democracies and the collapse of the Weimar Republic
c. U. S. banks stopped providing new credit and capital to the rest of the world
d. of protectionist trade policies that reduced the volume of trade
e. c and d
17. In the twentieth century:
a. nationalism emerged as a potent inspiration for colonial resistance to imperial rule.
b. liberal democracies faced a growing threat from totalitarian regimes.
c. the Soviet Union emerged as a leading industrial and military power.
d. technological innovations produced labor-saving devices for household production and freed more women to participate in market production.
e. all of the above
18. As an ideology,Totalitarianism:
a. emphasizes the preservation of the state over the protection of individual liberties.
b. inspired the methods Stalin used to consolidate his personal authority and industrialize the Soviet Union's economy.
c. relies on modern technologies to communicate and control the flow of information to define the collective will.
d. relies on the use of violence to mobilize people to serve the state and obey its authority.
e. a and d
f. all of the above
19. Which of the following is true?
a. Russia's decision to mobilize was triggered by Austria's invasion of Bosnia.
b. Typically, changes in material conditions do not result in cultural changes.
c. The Treaty of Versailles resulted in the creation of new Slavic nation-states with ethnic German minorities.
d. The Big Three that met in Yalta included France, Britain and the United States.
e. Under the Mandate System the League of Nations was created to administer the Arab territories of the former Ottoman Empire.
f. The Great Depression is an example of the tragedy of the commons.
20. The Zionist movement's aspirations for a Jewish homeland were:
a. satisfied by the Balfour Declaration.
b. thwarted by the Sykes-Picot Treaty.
c. included in the Treaty of Versailles that also created several new countries in Europe.
d. realized by the United Nation's partitioning of Palestine after World War II.
e. achieved under the Mandate System's creation of Israel as a British protectorate.
21. The causes of the stock market Crash of 1929 in the United States include:
a. the Smoot-Hawley tariff that raised protectionist barriers to trade.
b. higher levels of production and prices for agricultural commodities.
c. the growth of debt-financed speculation that resulted in overvalued share prices.
d. higher wages for workers that fueled a boom in consumer credit.
e. all of the above
22. Significant causes of the global economic contraction, also known as the Great Depression, include:
a. higher taxes that resulted in increased spending and rising unemployment rates around the world.
b. the sharp decline in lending by U.S. banks that led to falling rates of investment, production and spending around the world.
c. the use of tariffs and other protectionist trade policies to help increase exports of manufactured goods.
d. social and political upheaval in Germany, Japan and Italy whose governments refused to repay war debts.
e. a and b
f. b and c
g. a and c
h. a, c and d i. a, b and c
23. To avoid a future war and preserve peace, the Big Three inked a treaty at Versailles that:
a. offered self-determination to all people
b. attempted to militarily weaken Germany but preserve its territorial integrity
c. created the League of Nations as a means to collective security
d. suppressed nationalism and encouraged alliances to preserve the balance of power
e. b and c
24. World War I is described as a ‘total war' because:
a. warfare occurred on every continent except Antarctica, and colonial troops were central to the war effort.
b. war was no longer fought seasonally during the summer weather, but occurred throughout the year, including the crucial harvest time.
c. all of a nation's resources were harnessed to the war effort, blurring the lines between the home front and battlefield.
d. the chaos of war provided an opportunity to defeat not only foreign enemies but domestic threats to the traditional order.
e. a and c
f. all of the above
25. Horwitz argues that the economic growth produced by market capitalism has contributed to demographic changes such as:
a. smaller families because industrious adults did not have time for the household labor required to raise children
b. smaller families with fewer, better educated children
c. increased participation of women in the twentieth century workforce
d. b and c
e. a and c
f. a and b
g. all of the above
26. Which of the following is false?
a. Germany's decision to wage unrestricted submarine warfare against neutral shipping resulted in the United States' entry into WWI
b. World War II, unlike World War I, resulted in the military occupation of Germany
c. Stalin's harsh policies of collectivization helped make the Soviet Union one of the world's leading industrial powers
d. New Imperialism led to European expansion in Asian and African states that possessed strong centralized authority
e. By the late-twentieth century, the globalization of production posed a challenge to the nation-state system
27. Arguably, Anglo-French appeasement of Hitler was caused by:
a. France's confidence in the Maginot Line as a deterrent to German aggression
b. the perception that communism posed a greater threat to peace and stability in Europe
c. the desire to punish Poland for allying itself with the Soviet Union
d. the desire to fulfill promises in the Treaty of Versailles for eventual German unification and self-determination
e. b and d
28.World War II started earlier in Asia when Japan invaded ------, but it began in Europe when:
a. China; Germany invaded Poland
b. Korea; Germany invaded Belgium
c. Manchuria; Germany invaded Czechoslovakia
d. Russia; Germany invaded Russia
e. China; Russia invaded Poland and Germany invaded France
29. Which of the following is false?
a. New Imperialism involved the use of modern, industrial technologies to control overseas colonies
b. the postwar welfare state mobilized the masses to promote industrial recovery
c. the Mandate System was meant to satisfy the United States' demands that new colonies should not be established in lands liberated from Ottoman and German rule
d. the Berlin Conference of 1884 led to the European scramble to conquer, occupy and establish colonial rule in nearly all of Africa
e. in the post-WWII period, new conflicts erupted in Asia and Africa because of decolonization and its entanglement with the Cold War
30.Which of the following best describes Benjamin Barber's thesis in "Jihadvs. McWorld"?
a. the forces of universalism and parochialism will compete to promote the growth of democracy
b. globalization has resulted in producing the two competing forces of universalism and parochialism
c. the two competing forces of universalism and parochialism are unlikely to promote democracy
d. the market imperative, unlike ‘Lebanonization', will encourage the spread of democracy
e. ‘Jihad's' fundamentalism guarantees a lack of democratic rule
31.The Cold War can best be described as:
a. an ideological conflict between two rival and incompatible methods of organizing society and economy
b. an avoidable conflict between rival great powers
c. an inevitable war between nuclear-armed superpowers in Europe
d. originating in the collapse of the European "iron curtain" after WW II
e. a and c
32. The goal of the Truman Doctrine was:
a. rolling back communism in Europe
b. containing the global spread of communism
c. containing nationalism and decolonization in Asia
d. spreading democracy and providing financial aid for European economic recovery
e. all of the above
33. The victorious ‘Big Three' in WWII were ---------------, and they ---------------.
a. Britain, the U.S. and the Soviet Union; successfully defeated Germany and Japan in World War II
b. Britain, the U.S. and the Soviet Union; successfully stopped the spread of totalitarianism in Eastern Europe
c. Britain, the U.S. and France; stopped the spread of communism in Europe by building an "iron curtain"
d. Britain, the U.S. and France; forced the Soviets to hold free elections in Poland
34. The four imperatives of ‘McWorld' include:
a. market; democratic; resource
b. market; resource; ecological
c. market; information technology; religious
d. democratic; ecological; information technology
e. resource; market; bureaucratic
35. The origins of the Cold War include:
a. decolonization and the emergence of a non-aligned bloc of nations
b. the Cuban missile crisis
c. the installation of pro-Soviet communist governments in Eastern Europe
d. mutual suspicions and conflicts of interest between the U.S. and the Soviet Union
e. c and d
36.The policy of ‘Containment' was designed to ---------------- and it suffered a serious setback when --------------.
a. prevent the global spread of communism and Soviet influence; the Chinese civil war ended in victory for Mao Zedong
b. prevent the spread of communism in Asia; Afghanistan, Korea and Vietnam fell under communist rule
c. prevent nuclear proliferation; the U.S. and the Soviets began an arms race
d. liberate Eastern Europe from totalitarian dictatorships; the Soviet Union agreed to German reunification with Austria
37. As decolonization occurred, newly independent countries in Africa and Asia confronted challenges that included:
a. diplomatically dealing with the Cold War rivalry between the U. S. and the Soviet Union.
b. promoting economic growth and development to meet the aspirations of their peoples.
c. organizing political and social cohesion among diverse peoples.
d. establishing legitimate political authority.
e. all of the above
38. The ideological attributes of fascism, according to John McNeill, include:
a. the practice of holding rallies that served as a ritualistic observance of loyalty to theauthoritarian leader of the nation.
b. privileging racial or religious identity over more universal sources of identity.
c. privileging the nation and its preservation over individual rights and liberties.
d. state ownership and control of the means of production to benefit the people
e. a and b
f. all of the above
References:
The Industrial Revolution and the Convergence of Liberal Modernity: Market Capitalism and the Nation-State
• Canvas: Horwitz, "Capitalism and the Family"
Modern Industrial Imperialism
Antinomies of Western Modernity: Liberalism at Bay
A World Divided: The High Politics and Low Comedy of the Cold War, Decolonization and Globalization
• Canvas: Benjamin Barber, "Jihad vs. McWorld"