UCSB Hist 133C, Spring 2007
Germany since 1945 (class homepage)
marcuse.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/classes/133c

Prof. Marcuse (homepage)
HSSB 4221, 893-2635
marcuse@history.ucsb.edu

This final exam is a word-limited take-home, due in my office, 4221 HSSB, at the end of the regular exam time: Thu, June 14, 3pm. If you submit earlier and I am not there, slide your exam under my door, do NOT leave it in the envelope.
All answers must be typed, and a word count inserted in brackets at the end of each ID and of the essay (see example at end of this paragraph). In Microsoft Word, highlight each ID or the essay answer, then use the Tools > Word Count command.
The exam is worth 25% of the final grade. [102 words]

1. Identify and define the significance (3 @ 15 points each=45% of the exam grade)
   Identify and define the significance of three of the following six terms. Your identification should include an approximate date, which should situate the event correctly in relation to other important events. Take special care to explain why the term is significant in the context of post-1945 German history. (Without the significance for post-45: 10 pts max.)
   Each ID should be about 200-250 words long; 300 absolute maximum.
   

   Three founding myths	Grand Coalition	Willy Brandt
   Spiegel Affair	Prague Spring	October 9, 1989

2. Essay question : Answer the following question. (55% of the exam)
   The essay should be about 1200-1500 words long; 1800 absolute maximum.

   For the six events listed below, discuss the causes and consequences of each. For the causes, you should weigh the relative importance of the various factors:
   • Economic considerations,
   • International situation,
   • Elites & leaders (and how their historical experience affected them),
   • Ideology & available information (e.g. role of the media),
   • Individuals acting in mass/popular movements (perhaps motivated by common generational experiences), and
   • The established cultural traditions and institutions of that country and time period (including the political party system).
   When you discuss consequences, consider the short-term, medium, and long-range effects of that event. Conclude your essay giving reasons why you think one of them is the most significant event for understanding politics in Germany today.
   Events:
   1. post-1945 transition to democracy (think: the Ds & Rs)
   2. Berlin Blockade (1948-49)
   3. June 1953 Uprising
   4. Construction of the Berlin Wall
   5. Opposition movements in the West (e.g. anti-rearmament, APO, peace, Greens)
   6. Fall of East Germany.