History 102: Western Civilization

Essays for Test 2


 

1. Where and when did the Industrial Revolution begin? Why did it begin there? What were the social effects of the Industrial Revolution? What happened to working class familes?

2. Discuss the rise of the "isms" of the early 19th century. What was Romanticism? Who were its adherents? Conservatism and its adherents? Liberalism and Radicalism and Socialism and their adherents?

3. Discuss the Congress of Vienna and its accomplishments. Did it manage to stave off further revolutions? Discuss the revolutions of 1848? What were the goals of the revolutionaries? Why did they fail? How was Britain able to avoid revolution?

4. Discuss the theories of Charles Darwin and their impact on science, society, and religion. Discuss the theories of Karl Marx. What was Marx's view of society and history?

5. Discuss nationalism and the unification of Italy and Germany after 1848. What was realpolitik and how did the policies of Cavour and Bismarck illustrate realpolitik? Discuss extreme nationalism and its dangers. What was "volkish thought"?

6. Discuss the "second industrial revolution." What new products and methods of business arose during the late 19th and early 20th centuries? How did governments respond? How did labor respond? What were the political issues in late 19th, early 20th century Britain? France? Germany?

7. Discuss the "new imperialism of the late 19th century. How did it differ from earlier imperialism? What were its causes? Discuss the European "scramble for Africa." What were the effects of colonialism on the European powers?

8. Discuss the irrational in late 19th century thought. How did the works of Nietzsche, Dosteovski, and Freud contribute to our understanding of irrational thought? Discuss "modernism" in art and science. Who were some of the modernist painters and scientists? How would you characterize their work?

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