Hist 20 Essay ?'s

Front 1

Construct an argument that evaluates the importance of ideology in shaping 20 -century societies, institutions, and conflicts. You may find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions: what were the major conflicts of the 20th century; how did ideology influence or contribute to those conflicts; and how did ideology guide the construction of and/or challenges to national and international institutions? Use specific examples to illustrate your points, and support those examples by referring to at least three but no more than five authors. Be sure not to limit your discussion to one half of the course (e.g. the Cold War), but discuss development over time.

Back 1

Major events= Colonialism (Rudyard Kipling, American domination ideology and also Monroe Doctrine by James Monroe), WWII (entered and pretty much won by the US after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, nationalism), Cold War (capitalist v. communist ideology, Marshall in Marshall plan)

Front 2

This quarter, we have talked about three periods of upheaval that profoundly shaped global developments afterwards. Construct an argument that discusses the patterns of global development in light of these three periods of upheaval and response. You may find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions: what were the three periods of upheaval; what were the main forces of global development in the twentieth century; and how did the responses to upheaval shape those forces? Though you are free to focus mainly on one or two of these upheavals, you should at least mention all three. Use specific examples to illustrate your points, and support those examples by referring to at least three but no more than five authors.

Back 2

WWI: After WWI, many people, particularly in Europe, were in a daze. The changes in war technology had made WWI a deadlier war than many had imagined possible. Partitions of Germany after the war cleared the way for the next period of upheavel. uring this time, many world powers still colonized others
KIPLING= White man’s burden

WWII: After WWII, there was widespread devastation throughout Europe. Because of Europe’s weakened economic stance, American imperial domination was not challenged. However, this created tensions between the American capitalist system and the Russian communist system.
-MARSHALL DOCTRINE= Aiding Europe

Fall of Soviet Union: The Soviet Union finally fell to US forces following widespread protests led by Gorbachov. This had been brought on by the ideology mainly of Karl Marx (Communist Manifesto) After this, there were very few communist countries left.

Front 3

One of the themes that has framed this course is the dynamic of imperialism and decolonization. Construct an argument that evaluates the importance of imperialism and decolonization to the emergence of a global world.
You may find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions: what were the main features of imperialism; what were the main features of decolonization; what factors contributed to the collapse of imperialism and the rise of decolonization and how did those factors impede or contribute to the emergence of a global world; and what factors impeded the progress of decolonization and how did those factors impede or contribute to the emergence of a global world? Use examples from the readings to illustrate your points; you should refer to at least three but no more than five authors.

Back 3

Imperialism= cultural, political, etc. domination of one culture/country by another.
Decolonization= rarely peaceful or easy, almost always violent. Even after independence, a tie remained with the host country.
Kipling, White man’s Burden= Reasoning for colonization
Monroe, Monroe doctrine= Shows American imperialism and also possibly the beginning of the end of direct colonization in many places
Fanon, Wretched of the Earth= shows horrors of decolonization

Front 4

Construct an argument about how the development of a global economy after World War II affected the contours of the Cold War and influenced development in at least two specific regions (East Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Asia, Europe, Africa, and/or Latin America). You may find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions: what were the most important international economic institutions after the war; under whose direction did they develop; how did leaders in the superpowers relate to these institutions; what did leaders in the regions you’ve chosen think about the emerging global economy and (sometimes) its relation to imperialism?

Back 4

GATT and IMF were global economy developments, led pretty much entirely by the US after WWII.
-Marshall Doctrine/Europe: Europe was able to rebuild and become powerful again because of this change in economy.
-Guevera/Latin America: His speech in Algeria. Wanted to reject the international economic institutions because he viewed the US and other colonizing countries as gaining their riches from keeping the other countries in poverty. Viewed this as another form of imperialism.

Front 5

Construct an argument about the relationship between the Cold War and decolonization after World War II using examples from at least one postwar conflict. You may find it helpful to ask yourself the following questions: which of the major trends that shaped the postwar world were most important in the region(s) you’ve chosen to discuss; how did these trends contribute to the genesis of the conflict(s); how did local conditions effect the development of those trends; and how did the conflict(s) you’ve chosen contribute to or alter the most important postwar trends?
Be sure to discuss both the local details and the broader issues of global relevance. Use examples from the readings to illustrate your points; you should refer to at least two different authors, selection of which depends on the conflict(s) you’ve chosen.

Back 5

Latin America? In particularly Cuba
Guevera= speech in Algeria, viewed the US and other colonizing countries as getting their riches from exploiting the less wealthy nations. Viewed the decolonization of one country as a victory for them all.
Monroe Doctrine= barred further colonization in Latin America by Europeans