The First Total War
The First Total War
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 2, 4
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
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 the consequence of a number of forces amidst a disruption of the tenuous balance of power in Europe.
For the initial post, select and address one of the following:
Option 1: Identify two forces that lead to WWI. Examine how they contributed to the outbreak of war.
Option 2: Select a major battle such as Verdun, Marne, Ypres, or the Somme and chronicle that battle. Add further details about the battles.
What was the main strategy? What were they trying to accomplish?
How did leaders influence and mobilize troops?
What were the main consequences of the result?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 2 Discussion
The Rise of Communism and Fascism
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 4, 5, 6
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, select and address one of the following:
Option 1: Examine Marx’s writings on communism and socialism and compare them to how they manifested in reality? What worked and what didn’t? What misconceptions do we have about his original intent based on what we see in past or current governments?
Option 2: Compare and contrast communism and fascism. Select one example for each to examine the origins of the governments, their accomplishments, and their failures. What accounts for the fact that the masses mobilized to support these movements? Elaborate.
Option 3: Examine Depression-Era social programs (select one or more to examine in detail). Were the fears of a communist take-over based on the implementation of these programs grounded in reality? Why or why not? How do they compare to social programs in place today?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 3 Discussion
Failure of Democracy and the Rise of Totalitarianism
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 4, 5
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
During the 1930s, much of the world seemed to give up on their hope for a democratic solution to their problems and instead turned to totalitarianism, both in Europe and in Asia.
For the initial post, select and address one of the following:
Germany/Hitler
USSR/Stalin
Japan/Tojo
Address the following questions for your selection:
What effects did the history, politics, and economies of those areas play in their decisions to turn to totalitarianism?
What role did the Great Depression in the United States play in their plight?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 4 Discussion
World War II
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 5, 6
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Initial Post Instructions
For the initial post, select and respond to one of the following options:
Option 1: Examine one or more major battles, including both the Axis and Allies strategies, the outcome of the battles, and the subsequent effects of the victory/defeat. Include an examination of the technologies that were crucial factors in the battle.
Option 2: Examine the Nazi ideology in wiping out an entire ethnic group.
How could any modern and so-called advanced and evolved nation like Germany go along so willingly with the mass murder of at least 11 million civilians?
How were the Germans able to construct the facilities they built for their “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” so as to commit genocide on an industrial scale?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 5 Discussion
The Cold War
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 7
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
Select one of the following smaller nations:
Korea
Vietnam
Cambodia
Cuba
Another smaller nation of your choice with instructor approval
For the initial post, address the following in relation to your selection:
Examine how Cold War policy by the main players affected the smaller nation.
Examine why democracy was not successful in that nation.
Describe the loss of personal liberties that were a result of democracy failing.
Has the nation’s political system changed since the Cold War? Explain.
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 6 Discussion
Epic Changes in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 14, 15
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
For the initial post, address one of the following:
Option 1: Middle East
Examine the origins of the Arab-Israeli conflict from its beginnings some 4000 years ago and how it has evolved/devolved over the centuries to the current time? Analyze the role of the Balfour Declaration on Israel’s rebirth in 1948 and its effectiveness in helping Jewish people in their quest to reclaim their ancient homeland.
Option 2: African Nation State Development
Examine some of the main (internal or external) reasons why the African people were to develop into nation states later than most experts feel was appropriate/normal. Examine the role of European imperial powers in African nation state development.
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 7 Discussion
Cold War and Communism
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 9, 10
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Option 1: Examine the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1980s. Include the following in your discussion:
What were the main reasons for the collapse?
What role did the constant state of militarism and the costs of keeping up with the U.S. military buildup have on the Soviet economy?
What role did uprisings and rebellions in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and East Germany (among others) have on the sudden collapse of the USSR?
Option 2: Examine communism and socialism.
We hear so often today that socialism and communism are the same thing. Examine the similarities and differences between the two.
Why do so many Americans seem to hate even the word “socialism”?
We already employ some socialism in this country today (and for the past several decades). Examples include libraries, police departments, public education, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, public parks, roads/highways, and so on. How do these services factor into arguments for or against socialism?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 8 Discussion
Brave New World
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 13, 14
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Introduction
The Cold War ended over a decade before the 21st century began. What was supposed to be a “Brave New World” free of the threat of nuclear conflict and a long period of peace and prosperity has been less than what was expected. Yes, communism as a threat to the world and to the dominance of the United States and capitalism has come to pass, but even though the threat of war from the USSR never materialized (thankfully) a new threat did rise up to challenge the U.S. and the West for control. The rise of radical Islamic groups bent on destroying those they call infidels, especially the United States and Western Europe have caused more than a little death, destruction, and despair to a world hoping those threats had ended.
Instructions
For the initial post, address one of the following:
Option 1: Why wasn’t the U.S. and its vastly superior intelligence and military able to stop these attacks? How effective are current measures in dealing with attack prevention? Have we really learned from past mistakes?
Option 2: What new problems did the Iraqi War cause for the U.S. and its allies around the world? What effects has it had on the U.S. economy?
Option 3: How much more difficult is it to battle an idea or faith, even a violent one, skewed and brutal than to defeat a nation in war like the U.S. and its allies did during World War II? Consider the role technology plays in the dissemination of faith.
Option 4: Compare European imperialism to current globalism. How has each changed society, both in industrialized nations and developing nations? Is the claim that globalism is a form of imperialism valid?
Option 5: Where do we go from here? Who will the best friends and the worst enemies of the United States be in the coming decades? Will we really, finally achieve that peace and prosperity we all hoped would come to pass?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 1 Assignment
Case Study – Imperialism and Genocide
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 2, 4
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
See additional required resources within the option instructions.
Instructions
For this assignment, select one of the following options:
Option 1: Imperialism
The exploitation of colonial resources and indigenous labor was one of the key elements in the success of imperialism. Such exploitation was a result of the prevalent ethnocentrism of the time and was justified by the unscientific concept of social Darwinism, which praised the characteristics of white Europeans and inaccurately ascribed negative characteristics to indigenous peoples. A famous poem of the time by Rudyard Kipling, “White Man’s Burden,” called on imperial powers, and particularly the U.S., at whom the poem was directed, to take up the mission of civilizing these “savage” peoples.
Read the poem at the following link:
Link (website): White Man’s Burden (Links to an external site.) (Rudyard Kipling)
After reading the poem, address the following in a case study analysis:
Select a specific part of the world (a country), and examine imperialism in that country. What was the relationship between the invading country and the native people? You can select from these examples or choose your own:
Belgium & Africa
Britain & India
Germany & Africa
France & Africa
Apply social Darwinism to this specific case.
Analyze the motivations of the invading country?
How did ethnocentrism manifest in their interactions?
How does Kipling’s poem apply to your specific example? You can quote lines for comparison.
Option 2: The Armenian Genocide
Ethnic hatred is not new to the human race and ethnic hatred also goes hand in hand with some of the causes of World War 1 that we have discussed this week, namely nationalism and imperialism. In nationalism, the people not only believe their countrymen (those who look, talk, sound, and believe like them) are not only “better” than people of certain other countries but they also have the right and possibly even the responsibility to conquer areas with those inferior to them and take whatever resources they feel they need. Add to this the need for the leader of a country to be able to blame a certain ethnic group within that country for their problems. Such was the case in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Turks launched a winter offensive into the mountains of southern Russia early in the war and suffered a severe defeat, both at the hands of the Russian army and the terrible weather they encountered. The Sultan needed a scapegoat to blame the loss on, so he picked an unpopular ethnic minority, the Armenians. Since the people seemed to believe the story, the Ottoman military rounded up as many Armenians as they could and marched them away to their fate.
Watch the following videos on the Armenian genocide:
Link (video): Armenian Diaspora (Links to an external site.) (32: 43)
Link (video): Battle over History (Links to an external site.) (12:04)
After viewing the videos, conduct research on the topic and develop a case study based on the following questions:
How did the Armenian genocide play on the root causes of World War I, including nationalism, imperialism, social Darwinism, ethnic hatred, and the gullibility of the Turkish people who allowed this to happen and often even supported it.
What were the main motivations of the Ottoman rulers who decided to try and eliminate an entire ethnic minority within their country?
What was the process the Ottomans went through to round up the Armenians and march them to their deaths? Describe the process of the march and eventual genocide of the Armenians.
Why do terrible crimes against humanity always seem to happen during a war?
How do foreign governments recognize and deal with this event in their relationship with Turkey?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 2 Assignment
Essay – Video Analysis
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 4, 5, 6
Lesson
Link (video): Benito Mussolini (Links to an external site.) (53:48)
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
Watch the entire video on Benito Mussolini (noted in the Required Resources). Identify and describe 3 aspects of the video you found most interesting that align with each of the following:
Foreign policy.
Violent and/or non-violent movements for social, economic, and political change
Governmental authority/loss of personal liberties
Conduct additional research to provide an analysis of those 3 aspects. What information did you find that the video left out? How did the video enhance your understanding of those aspects?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 3 Assignment
Case Study – Mobilizing the Masses
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 4, 5
Lesson
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
For this assignment, select one of the following options.
Option 1: Chronicle Adolf Hitler’s rise from failed art student to political speaker to eventually gain control over Germany.
Option 2: Describe Benito Mussolini’s revival of European Imperialism in North Africa and how he came to be Adolf Hitler’s ally.
Option 3: Chronicle the rise of extreme militarism in Japan and how it led them to conquer huge chunks of land in Asia and so many islands in the western Pacific basin, and how this led to their conflict with Great Britain and the United States
Option 4: Describe Joseph Stalin’s rise to total power in the USSR and how his paranoia and desire for total control led to the terrible purges of the 1930s.
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 4 Assignment
Essay – The Holocaust
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 5, 6
Lesson
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
For this assignment, select one of the following options.
Option 1: Poetry
Select any 2 poems about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list of poets/poems or conduct additional research on Holocaust poetry. Make sure to get approval from your instructor if you are selecting something not on the list. Click on the link to see the list:
Link: List of Poets/Poems
Write an analysis of each poem, including the following information:
Explain the background on the author, especially in relation to the Holocaust.
Explain the content of the poem – what story or message is it trying to tell?
How does the poem relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
How effective is the poem in relating the Holocaust to readers?
Option 2: Art
Select any 2 of works of art about the Holocaust. You can select from the following list or conduct additional research on Holocaust art. Make sure to get approval from your instructor if you are selecting something not on the list. Click on the link to see the list:
Link: List of Artists/Artworks
Write an analysis of each artwork, including the following information:
Identify the title, artist, date completed, and medium used.
Explain the content of the artwork – what do the images show?
How does the artwork relate to the bigger picture of the Holocaust?
How effective is the artwork in relating the Holocaust to viewers?
Option 3: Video
Watch the following video:
Link (video): The Holocaust (Links to an external site.) (35:00)
Write a paper on what you learned about peoples’ experiences and intentions during the Holocaust:
What were the Nazis thinking of when they made these decisions?
What were the otherwise good people of Germany thinking when they allowed it to go on?
What were the victims of this genocide thinking and feeling as they went through this terrible process?
Describe at least one part of the video that had the greatest impact on you.
How effective are the writings/images in the video in relating the Holocaust to viewers?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 7 Assignment
Case Study – Space Race
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 9, 10
Lesson
Minimum of 2 scholarly sources (in addition to the textbook)
Instructions
For this assignment, analyze the space race.
What did it mean for the U.S. and USSR during the Cold War?
Is the space program still relevant?
Is it worth the cost, considering the growing debt?
How does the space program benefit the U.S. national economy in general?
How does it benefit the world?
Is space exploration the domain of the world’s leading nations?
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 3 Course Project
Required Resources
No specific resources are required for this activity. Conduct general research and/or skim the textbook to help you select a topic.
Introduction
You will work on a research project for the duration of this course that you will deliver as a presentation in Week 8. For this project, select a person whom you believe had significant influence (positive or negative) on a movement for social, economic, and/or political change in the 20th and 21st centuries. Explore and address the following in your project:
Summarize the person’s ideas.
How did the ideas or changes affect the establishment and status quo?
What was the context in which this person proposed ideas/change?
How did the government or the people respond to the ideas/change?
What sort of following or support did he/she have?
How have the ideas/actions of the person influenced contemporary cultures and ideas?
For the final presentation, make sure to go beyond the surface information and go into depth about the person you are researching.
Here is a brief breakdown of the project so that you can plan your time in the course:
Week
Task
Week 3 Topic Selection
Week 5 Annotated Bibliography
Week 6 Script
Week 8 Presentation
Instructions
For the assignment this week, address the following:
State the topic.
For the stated issue, identify at least three (3) aspects of the issue that you think you will likely develop in your presentation. Briefly state why you have chosen each aspect.
You are not confined to three aspects only, but you must develop at least three. As you develop your presentation, you may find other aspects that you deem more relevant, and you may add or substitute those.
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 5 Course Project
Annotated Bibliography
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Minimum of 8 scholarly resources
Introduction
You will work on a research project for the duration of this course that you will deliver as a presentation. Here is a brief breakdown of the project so that you can plan your time in the course:
Week
Task
Week 3 Topic Selection
Week 5 Annotated Bibliography
Week 6 Script
Week 8 Presentation
Instructions
Now that you have selected a topic for your final presentation, this week you will need to construct your annotated bibliography using APA style. For this assignment, you need to select a minimum of 8 sources that you plan on using for your presentation and then construct the annotations for each source. The concept of constructing a bibliography is certainly not new for most students, but you may not be as comfortable adding annotations to the bibliography entries.
After you select a source and reference it in APA format, construct the annotation for the source. The annotation is really just answering a few questions about the sources itself and once you answer these questions this part of the assignment almost creates itself. Answer the following 6 questions for each source:
Main purpose of the source
Intended audience for the source
Relevance to your topic (or explain why it was not relevant to your topic)
Author’s background and credibility
Author’s conclusions or observations
Your conclusions or observations
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 6 Course Project
Presentation Script
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Minimum of 8 scholarly resources (These are from the Week 4 Annotated Bibliography. Conduct additional research as needed.)
Introduction
You will work on a research project for the duration of this course that you will deliver as a presentation. Here is a brief breakdown of the project so that you can plan your time in the course:
Week
Task
Week 3 Topic Selection
Week 5 Annotated Bibliography
Week 6 Script
Week 8 Presentation
Instructions
The next step in the course project is to develop a script that you will use to record the narration for your presentation. Include headings for the slide number. Your final presentation should have 5-8 slides (not including title slide, conclusion slide, or references slide). Here are a few tips:
Address all requirements for the content.
Balance the amount of content for each slide. If there is too much content on one slide, try to break it up into two slides or consider where you can be more concise with your wording.
Include citations where needed (e.g., quoted material and paraphrased/summarized ideas from a source that are not common knowledge). Note: When you get to the recording phase – you will need to read your in-text citations aloud, but you do not need to read your references slide.
Looking Ahead
Practice reading their script now so that you will be ready to record by Week 8. You may use PowerPoint or another method (mp4 file) approved by your instructor.
HIST410N Contemporary History
Week 8 Course Project
Narrated Presentation
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Link (website):?Narrated PowerPoint Tutorial??
Minimum of 8 scholarly resources (These are from the Week 4 Annotated Bibliography. Conduct additional research as needed.)
Introduction
For this project, select a person whom you believe had significant influence (positive or negative) on a movement for social, economic, and/or political change in the 20th and 21st centuries. Explore and address the following in your project:
Summarize the person’s ideas.
How did the ideas or changes affect the establishment and status quo?
What was the context in which this person proposed ideas/change?
How did the government or the people respond to the ideas/change?
What sort of following or support did he/she have?
How have the ideas/actions of the person influenced contemporary cultures and ideas?
For the final presentation, make sure to go beyond the surface information and go into depth about the person you are researching.
Here is a brief breakdown of the project so that you can plan your time in the course:
Week Task
Week 3 Topic Selection
Week 5 Annotated Bibliography
Week 6 Script
Week 8 Presentation
Instructions
The final step in the course project is to develop the presentation with audio narration.
You may use PowerPoint or another method (mp4 file) approved by your instructor.
Deliver the presentation in a professional and engaging manner.
Include parenthetical in-text citations support observations made in the presentation. Make sure to read the citations when recording your narration. Do not read the references slide.
Presentation Requirements
Length: 4-6 minutes narrated presentation
Slide length: 5-8 slides (not including title slide, conclusion slide, or references slide)
Title slide
Conclusion slide
References slide (minimum of 8 scholarly sources cited in APA format; not narrated)
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