UCSB Hist 2C, Fall 2009
World History, 1700-present (course homepage)

Prof. Marcuse
Dec. 5, 2009

2009 Hist 2c
Final Exam Study Guide
 (pdf for printing -updated 12/7/09 version)

The final exam is on Friday, Dec. 11, 8-11am. The guideline time is two hours, but you will have the full three hours. The final examination counts for 20% of your final grade (100 points as noted below).

  1. Identify and define the significance (30 minutes total, 3 @ 15 points each)
    On the exam itself, you will be given 9 of the following terms, from which you will select three. You should identify each one (including an approximate date), situating it correctly in a period and region of world history. Then take special care to EXPLAIN WHY THE TERM IS SIGNIFICANT in the context of world history. Ask yourself: Would history have taken a different course without this event or person? Or: Is this person or term an example of some important principle that played a role in the course of world history?

Apartheid

Fascism

Nationalism, Islamic

Balfour Declaration

Gandhi, Mohandas

Nkrumah, Kwame

Cárdenas, Lázaro

Globalization

Opium Wars

Castro, Fidel

Haitian Revolution

Perestroika

Cold War

Imperialism

Proxy Wars

Critical history (uses & abuses)

Kemal, Mustafa

Socialism
Decolonization Liberalism (20th c.) Versailles Treaty
Descamisados Mossadegh, Mohammed White Man's Burden

Export-oriented development

Nasser, Gamal

Zionism

II. Post-midterm essay question: On the exam you will have to compose an essay answering one of the following questions. (45 minutes and 25 points)(back to top)

  1. What were the origins, ideals and accomplishments of the nationalist movements emerging after both World Wars I and II in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia? Describe how they differed from one another, and explain why that was.
  2. Why did the Cold War expand into a global confrontation? Why did the USSR aid anticolonial movements and former European colonies? Why did such aid often fail to advance the spread of communism? How were each of the major Asian nations affected by the rivalry between communism and capitalism during the Cold War? Include Latin America in your discussion.

III. Comprehensive essay question: On the exam you will have to compose an essay answering one of the following questions. (45 minutes and 30 points) (back to top)

  1. We have discussed many factors that have caused world-historical events. For three examples, with one each from the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s, and coming from three different regions of the globe, discuss the factors that brought about that event. In each case, be sure to consider what role the world-historical and cultural contexts played. In each case, argue why some factors were more important to that development than others.
  2. Compare the effects of technology, ideology, leadership and international contacts on political and social structures of sample countries in three regions of the globe during the 19th and 20th centuries. How did traditional family and gender roles change? How did the organization of the political system change over the 200-year period?

Study Tips (back to top)

  • See Rampolla, Pocket Guide, pages 40f  for some advice on answering ID questions.
  • Essay Grading: The following criteria will be used to assign grades to the essay questions:
    1. a basic command of facts relating to the events in question ("C")
    2. a thesis statement (B-/C+)
    3. arguments using specific cases or examples supporting that thesis (A- - B-)
    4. whether counterarguments and counterevidence are addressed ("A").
page created by H. Marcuse, Dec. 7, 2009, updated:/ 09
back to top, to UCSB Hist 2c homepage; (2003 study guide; 2006 study guide; 2008 study guide)