Download Topics List

Richview Collegiate Institute: World History; The West and the World
SUMMATIVE TOPICS
1) Was Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938 an “enlightened” leader, or did he represent western
cultural imperialism in Turkey?
2) How did early feminist (first wave) movements affect western social and cultural norms, values
and laws? Choose specific examples.
3) How did the Russian Revolution(s) affect the role and status of women in Russia? How did they
compare to their counterparts in western Europe?
4) What was “revolutionary” (if anything) about Revolutionary art in Russia?
5) Was collectivization “good” for Russia in the 1930s?
6) How did the political culture (the structure of the government as well as the attitudes towards it
among Germans) of Weimar Germany affect the rise to power of the Nazis?
7) How did European culture (you may deal with art, poetry, entertainment, attitudes, whatever you
like) of the 1920s and 1930s reflect the experience of the Great War?
8) Paris 1919 in retrospect: Did the League of Nations succeed in exercising its mandate in the
1920s? Was the diplomacy of collective security effective?
9) What was the relationship between the global depression of the 1930s and the rise of aggressive
militaristic states in Europe? (careful – simplistic answers won’t do!)
10) In historical context – what was the significance of Guernica, the painting and the Spanish
village? How was the Spanish civil war a microcosm of the political struggles of Europe in the
1930s?
11) What accounts for the political success of Benito Mussolini in Italy?
13) What was the 19th century historical and philosophical basis (genesis) of Fascism and Nazism?
14) Use primary source analysis to determine who burned down the Reichstag building in 1933.
15) How did Nazism in the 1930s seek to transform German culture? Look at art, architecture,
education, social class system, etc.
16) Were anti-war movements and protests partially responsible for the Second World War?
17) The Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal was a watershed in the way we understand international
justice. However, they are not without controversy. To what extent were the trials successful in
prosecuting “war crimes” rather than just prosecuting the crimes committed by the losers?
18) Assess the importance of Marxism in post WWII 20th century western European history.
19) What was the nature of Indian nationalism in the early 20th century and how did it contribute to
the end of British colonialism in India?
20) Compare and contrast French and American motivations for their involvement in Vietnam in
the 1950s and 1960s.
Richview Collegiate Institute: World History; The West and the World
21) How was the Cultural Revolution in China a rejection of Westernism?
22) Were the Hungarian uprisings of 1956 and the Prague Spring of 1968 similar to the Revolutions
of 1948? (think of causes and effects)
23) Many people liked to say in the 1960s that the Cuban Missile Crisis had taught leaders
important lessons about the “new” diplomacy of the nuclear age. What were those lessons and were
they significantly different from those of eras past (like WWI)?
24) How did “second wave” feminism challenge and change the relationship between men and
women in the West? (or related question/issue)
25) Is NATO the last great Western Alliance? Is it still relevant?
26) Why would Mikhail Gorbachev support glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring)?
What was his view of "progress" within the context of Soviet history?
27) What is the 20th and 21st century history of “terrorism” and how has the term, its usage, and the
responses to it by states changed over the century?
28) How can Protestant religious idealism be linked to apartheid in South Africa?
29) The Paris Riots of 2005; How did (does) the conditions of second and third generation Muslims
in France compare with the conditions of Muslims in other Western countries?
30) In what ways might the creation of the European Union be regarded as an example of the
contemporary expression of enlightened values? Does the recent Euro-zone crisis spell an end to it?
31) Is materialism a core Western value? Is it in any way “enlightened”? Examine this issue with
regard to social and economic change after WWII.
32) What are the goals and character of contemporary anarchism?
33) What were the main contributions to western thought and culture of one of the following:
Sigmund Freud, Bertrand Russell, Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus.
34) Historians often debate whether great leaders determine the course of history, or whether they
ride successfully the major forces of their time. Which view of history is supported by Margaret
Thatcher’s achievements?
35) Despite the demise of many monarchial forms of government throughout the course of modern
western civilization (1500-present day), there are still several which have maintained a reigning
constitutional or parliamentary monarchy; evaluate the impact and influence of these royals upon
the modern Western world.
36) Investigate the nature of genocide in the 20th and 21st centuries; evaluate whether vivid
historical “memories” (museums, literature, guest speakers, forums etc.) of such events helps to
prevent future genocides from occurring.
37) A topic/thesis of your own choice that is approved by your teacher (approx 1870s -2013).