DeVry
HIST410 (Contemporary History) All Weeks Case Study
Devry
HIST410N Week 1 Case Study
Case Study # 1: Jules Ferry
Case Study # 1: Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry was Prime Minister of France as that nation launched its imperial expansion. In a debate with member of the French Parliament, Ferry Defends the decision to expand. Read his remarks and respond to the following questions:
1. According to Ferry, what recent developments in world trade have made it urgent for France to have colonies?
2. What arguments against imperialism have been raised by Ferry’s critics? How does he counter them?
3. What non-economic arguments does Ferry offer in favor of imperialism?
This 2-3 page assignment is to be submitted to the Week 1 Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these
Devry HIST410N Week 2 Case Study
Case Study #2: Versailles: The Allies’ “Last Horrible Triumph”
This week, you will read the comments of the German Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference on the conditions of the peace which ended World War 1. You will find that document in the webliography. Many have argued that it was the way World War 1 ended which made World War 2 inevitable. Read the document and answer the following questions:
1. According to the authors of Germany’s complaint, how will various provisions of the treaty hurt Germany’s economy?
2. In Germany’s view, how would the country have been treated differently if the principles they attribute to President Wilson had been applied?
3. To what higher “fundamental laws” does the document appeal to in order to strengthen German assertions?
4. Do you agree with the authors of the document that Germany was being poorly treated? What response to their complaints might defenders of the treaty have made?
http://college.cengage.com/history/primary_sources/world/conditions_of_peace.htm
Submit your assignment to the Week 2 Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these
Case Study: The Democrat and The Dictator
Franklin Roosevelt and Adolph Hitler both came to power in 1933. They found themselves in charge of nations still suffering from the consequences of World War 1 and the Great Depression. Unemployment in the US was nearly 25%, while nearly one-third of Germany’s workforce had been idled.
Americans and Germans had opted for new leadership in 1933 and were now looking to their new leaders for solutions, and perhaps a new vision of the future. Both FDR’s Inaugural address and Hitler’s first address as Chancellor of Germany have been analyzed for their similarities and differences. Now it’s our turn!
In 2-3 pages, do the following:
1. Read both speeches and give an assessment of what these two leaders thought was the cause of the problems their countries faced. Provide quotes to support your view.
2. Using quotes from both speeches, tell how each leader intended to deal with:
1. Unemployment
2. Banking, finance and in general, the economy
3. Agriculture
4. Foreign Policy
3. Finally, in a concluding statement, tell where think these leaders find common ground in terms of their proposed solutions, and what you think their vision is with regard to the power of their position.
Complete your Case Study in a Word document, approximately 300–400 words in length.
Submit your assignment to the Dropbox, located at the top of this page. For instructions on how to use the Dropbox, read these
See the Syllabus section “Due Dates for Assignments & Exams” for due date information.
Devry HIST410N Week 5 Case Study
Case Study: Winston Churchill’s Iron Curtain Speech
There are many ways to get a feel for the events of the 20th Century. One way is through the analysis of primary source documents. Few documents set the stage for the second half than Winston Churchill’s 1946 speech in Fulton, Missouri. Officially entitled “The Sinews of Peace”, it came to be known as “The Iron Curtain Speech”, in which Churchill laid out the challenges for the West in general, and the US and Britain in particular, regarding what would soon be known as the Cold War. Your assignment this week is to not just read Churchill’s speech, but read between the lines to answer the following questions in a well written 2-3 page document:
1. Churchill believes the Soviet Union “desires the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines.” How might those expansionist desires challenge the Western principle of national political self determination, a cause it championed during World War 2?
2. Churchill’s speech acknowledges “Russia’s need to be secure on her western borders,” but at the same time it raises concerns about Soviet actions in Eastern Europe. Is Churchill being inconsistent? Or does he provide concrete justifications for those concerns?
3. In his speech, Churchill asserts “There is nothing they (the Russians) admire so much as strength, and nothing for which they have less respect for than military weakness.” If he isn’t advocating a direct military confrontation with the Soviet Union, then what is he saying?
4. Churchill delivered this speech to an American audience, but after reading it one might conclude it could have been given in any western country. Why did he pick the US?
Devry HIST410N Week 6 Case Study
Case Study: Ho Chi Minh and Vietnamese Independence
Was Ho Chi Minh a Communist? To many Americans he was. But to many Vietnamese he was a nationalist hero, and to even a few Americans he was that as well, plus a friend, and ally and a comrade in arms during World War 2. It may be hard to paint Ho with any color other than gray, and now, nearly 50 years after his death and 40 years after the end of the American war in Vietnam, even that color has faded with time. What we do have are his words.
The link below will take you the speech Ho Chi Minh gave on September 2, 1945, in which he proclaimed Vietnam’s independence, and its arrival on the world stage. Your assignment will be to read the speech and provide answers to the following questions:
Complete your Case Study in a Word document, approximately 300-400 words in length.
Questions for exploration:
1. Ho’s speech proclaiming Vietnam’s independence contains a demand that the free world support that independence in part as payment for services rendered during World War 2. What ‘service’ did Vietnam render during that conflict?
2. Ho claims that Vietnam’s independence is consistent with the philosophical principles which the Allies claimed were paramount during World War 2. What principles was Ho referring to, and does he make references to occasions where those principles were reasserted?
3. In the speech, Ho mentions crimes committed by the French during their occupation of Vietnam. Which crimes, as you read them, were in your opinion most severe and justified Vietnamese independence?
Devry HIST410N Week 7 Case Study
Case Study: Mikhail Gorbachev’s 1988 UN Speech
If the pace of improving US-Soviet relations seemed rapid, Mikhail Gorbachev’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly would shift the process into overdrive. In this remarkable oration, which you can find by clicking on the link below,Gorbachev emphatically declared that all nations must have the freedom to choose their own destiny, that ideology had no place in foreign affairs, and that great powers should renounce the use of force in international relations. Review his speech and answer in essay form the following questions:
1. Why did Gorbachev choose the United Nations as his forum for this speech?
2. What did Gorbachev mean by “de-ideologizing relations among states? What implications did this have for superpower relations?
3. Why did he say that “force no longer can…be an instrument of foreign policy”? What implications did this have for the Soviet bloc?
4. What did he foresee as the future role of the superpowers in the world and the future relationship between them?
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