395 final

To drum roll accompaniment, the final exam for the Great War:

H395/455—World War I
Final exam
Spring ’07


Directions question I(100%) Prepare all three questions, making use as usual of videos, lectures, outside reading, guest speakers, inside reading and reflection. You will do ONE of them on test day, but you do not know WHICH one, so be ready for anything. There are NO identifications because you will cover all of them in doing these questions.

1. The Great War is generally regarded as a transformative event, an event that fundamentally changed the world. Those are fine-sounding words. Now, tell me what they mean. Make a list of all the changes you can think of and identify three(3) that you judge most important. Then develop and explain each one in an essay which you will conclude by indicating which was most significant long-term, and WHY. Be specific…

2. l9l7 was a year of fateful exits and entries. Discuss briefly the reasons behind EITHER the U.S. entry into the war OR the Russian exit from the war in l9l7 and evaluate the impact of the entry/exit on the outcome of the war.

3. Write an essay in which you identify and discuss some of the challenges faced by the makers of the peace treaties that ended the World War. To what extent did the final product(s) reflect the outline sketched by President Wilson in the Fourteen Points?

4. My late, great graduate adviser used to say that November ll, l9l8 and the peace treaties that followed solved none of the problems that caused this war. What problems might she have been referring to, and do you agree or disagree with her assessment?

Congratulations! You now know far more than 99.9% of your fellow citizens about the most important event of the last century. There's virtue in that for you, stars in your crown.