History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett
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History Courses For Dr. Christopher C. Lovett |
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Updated as of 2 October 05 Today in History: On October 2, 1780, Major John André, a British spy associated with Benedict Arnold, was executed on this day in history. Quote of the Day: "In my view we are much worse off now than when we went into Iraq. This is not a partisan position. I voted for these guys." A senior figure at a military-sponsored think tank as told to James Fallows in "Bush's Lost Year" in The Atlantic Monthly (Oct. 2004) Take the Ann Coulter Quiz Where are you politically? Take the Neocon Quiz and find out. "History is Far too Important to be left to History Professors" Teaching isn't such a novel idea
Bibliography:
History of Disease Contemporary Terrorist Organizations Map of Islamic Terrorist Cells in the U.S.A.
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First Midterm Directions: Answer one of the following questions. You may use your notes or any other sources that may help you answer the question successfully; however, you must use footnotes or endnotes denoting where you obtained the information. Although this is a take-home examination, it should be answered as if you are writing a short term paper. The midterm will be due March 25, 2010. 1. Following World War II it was in vogue to argue that Second World War rested solely with Adolph Hitler. Then in 1960 along came the British historian, A. J. P. Taylor, who argued that not only was Hitler a traditional European diplomat, but that there was plenty of blame to go around. From your readings and lectures, who was to blame for World War II? Could the war have happened if it were not for the rise of Hitler? How did Hitler exploit European fears to not only rearm Germany, but also embark on a foreign policy that would contribute to the coming of World War II? 2. In the late1930s Great Britain under Neville Chamberlain adopted appeasement as a foreign policy objective. Why did Chamberlain follow that course of action? What was his rationale? Who supported Chamberlain and his conservative government and who opposed him as Germany became more of military threat to the Western Democracies? Explain. 3. What was at the heart of the tensions that emerged in Asia between China and Japan? Why did the Japanese take such a bellicose attitude toward the Nationalist government in Nanking? 4. Many Americans have never heard of Unit 731 and the leading Japanese advocate of biological warfare, Shiro Ishii. What was Unit 731? Why was it created and what did it do in World War II? Why do you think so few people know anything about the Japanese BW program? How did the United States become associated with Ishii and the Japanese BW effort? Explain.
5. Following the collapse of Poland journalists referred to the situation on the western front as the "Phony War." Was that claim accurate? What was happening that made a mockery of that moniker? Was Hitler serious about reaching a settlement of the war before it really got going? 6. Once could argue that the Allies let Poland down during the initial phase of the war. How did Britain and France respond to the German invasion of Poland? Why did they refuse to act? 7. In the period immediately before the German offensive in the West in 1940, how did both the Allies and the Germans plan for the next phase of the conflict? What strategic plans did both sides adopt? How were those plans modified by the Western Democracies and Hitler? Explain. 8. The evacuation of Dunkirk has been called the "miracle" of Dunkirk and the heroism of the RAF pilots kept the Luftwaffe at bay. The raw courage of those men insured that Hitler and the OKW would not try to invade England in 1940. But was it possible for Germany to actually invade England at that time? Could SEA LION have worked? If so, how could of it have been done? |
