Russian Revolution Assignment

Download the assessment options and Russian Revolution + French Revolution comparison table here.  

In class: Fri., Apr. 27 (4 days until next class because of Labor Day Tuesday)

Read the Russia/USSR to 1945 packet (page numbers below)and fill out the comparison chart with details. You'll use these for your seminar, plus your editorial.

1. In Class: Intro/U1: Tsarist Russia to 1914, 3-31

HW: 
Unit 2: WWI to 1917 February Revolution, 32-46

• Complete the French-Russian comparison chart up to that page.

Mon.: Causes and Effects of WW I

In Class:
Reading + Seminar:
1. Reading #1 here: The causes and effects of World War I.

• UNDERSTANDING THE MAIN IDEAS: (20 min.)
• Outline it, indented, by
• MAIN SECTION (you have to identify when new main sections occur)
• Main Topic of Each Paragraph
• Supporting details of paragraph
• Do this for each main section of the entire reading. Use shorthand, not full sentences.

2. Reading #2 here: Four main causes of World War I. 

• EVALUATING THEORIES: (15 min.)
• Chart strengths of each of the four short theories--historians really do disagree about which are most important.
• Choose the two theories that seem most credible to you
• List talking points for your seminar under the following headings:
• Why do you feel the school of thought you have selected is most credible? 
• Why are the others less convincing?

3. Panel Seminar (20 points):

In groups, lead discussion on your choice.
Audience asks questions.

Rubric:

• Quality of specific historical evidence to support arguments.
• Active participation.
• Quality of discussion in stimulating interest and thought.
• Ability to think on your feet.
• Ability to give insightful answers to others' questions. 

Tue: POV and 1900-1950 Overview

In Class:
POV from WWI to the end of WWII: New Imperialist-Capitalists, Aspiring Imperialists, Socialists, and Colonized Peoples.

Timeline: Overview: WW I, Russian Revolution, Mandate System in Middle East, Depression and Stalinist USSR, Japanese Expansion, WW II, Indian Indpendence

HW: NONE.

OPTIONAL FUN: South Park [no it's not! Michael Moore imitated the South Park guys--and ticked them off--in his movie!] does US History.

Friday: Nationalism (Cont'd), Research Paper conferences

Western Imperialism is fun! Gee, thanks,Disney!

In Class:
Download this packet and note how imperialism, religion, and nationalism interact in:

1. Turkey (if not finished with that)
1. "Is Turkey part of Europe?" We--and they--are still confused about that today. Understanding how Europe affected the Ottoman Empire will help you understand tensions in Turkey today--traditionalist v. "modern".
2. India
1. You'll learn how Gandhi fits into history here. You'll also start to understand the Pakistan-India history that in news headlines all the time today. It all starts here.
3. Britain (in Kipling's poems)
1. Kipling is famous for the Disney "Jungle Book" movie. You'll see his darker side here.
4. European Jewry
1. All the Arab-Israeli conflicts you see between Israel and the Palestinians and other Arab states starts here. Now's your chance to learn what these headlines today are all about.

I will check your notebooks for completed answers to the discussion questions for ALL readings. (5 points each.)

HW: Read and do the Venn Diagrams on how imperialism affected nationalist identities in Japan and Egypt. Japan is especially important--you'll see the beginnings of Japan's domination of Asia because of European imperialism, and begin to understand both how Japan did this, and why. You'll also understand why so many Asian nations still have bad feelings for Japan because of this history--because this will create dominoes that fall in World War I, World War II, and beyond.

Optional: The Costs of Nationalism after the US "Liberated" Iraq from Saddam Hussein's

From

What Did It Cost To Oust Saddam?

by Andrew Sullivan

 

A sobering reminder:

[D]ocumented civilian deaths in Iraq since Bush’s 2003 invasion—noncombatants killed by military or paramilitary acts or because of the breakdown in civil society—have numbered nearly 120,000. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, some 4.7 million Iraqis have been displaced by the chaos unleashed by Bush’s war. This number includes 2.4 million internal refugees, some half a million of them living as squatters in slums. Another 2.3 million have fled the country altogether and have not returned. This is a civic catastrophe that gets little attention in America. By way of illustration, a proportional civilian death toll in the United States would be nearly 1.2 million. The proportional refugee total would be 45 million [Emphasis added].

Nationalism 2: Ottoman Empire and British India

In Class:
Nationalism in the Ottoman Empire and India, 1850-1914.

Essential Question:
How and why did nationalism develop in the Ottoman Empire and Europe between 1850 and 1914? What are the main similarities and differences?

Task:
In groups of 3 or 4, create two timelines, then present on similarities and differences of nationalism in Ottoman Empire and India.

Monday April 9: Short and Sweet: Nationalism

HW: A1, read, annotate Handout 1-2, and be able to explain which cases are, and are not, examples of nationalism.

In class, I hope you can all (A1 and A4) explain how the French Revolution / Enlightenment ideas logically create the problem of defining who "we" are if "we" want a democratic, "self-ruled" government. Can you do it?