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The Johns Hopkins University
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Comp I - Bologna
January 2011
EUROPEAN STUDIES COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY AND IDEAS
TIME ALLOWED: FOUR (4) HOURS
SECTION I: Identify and explain the significance of TEN (10) of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
London Economic Conference
of 1933
Boer War
Locarno Agreement of 1925
Robert Steward, Viscount
Castlereagh
Jean-Baptiste Colbert
Maximilien Robespierre
Agostino Depretis
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Triple Alliance
Potsdam Conference
Maxim Litvinov
The Duke of Marlborough
The siege of Vienna (1683)
Émile Ollivier
Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
Eduard Benes
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. What were the main features and rational for European mercantilism in
the 17th and 18th centuries?
2. What were the causes and consequences of the Seven Years War?
3. How did the French Revolution contribute to the transition of states to
“nation states?”
SECTION III
1. What were the main issues raised by Joseph Chamberlain in the British
imperialist and tariff policy?
2. How did the Concert of powers affect the European state system after
1815?
3. What were the consequences of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire for
Europe and the global system generally?
SECTION IV
1. What was the impact of decolonization of the European nation states
and the process of European integration after 1945?
2. What were the arguments of John Maynard Keynes opposing Winston
Churchill’s decision to return Britain to the Gold Standard in 1925?
3. What was the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 on the
European state system in the 1920s and 1930s?
4. Why, according to Joseph Schumpeter, does “creative destruction” lead
to socialism?
The Johns Hopkins University
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Comp I - Bologna
May 2011
EUROPEAN STUDIES COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY AND IDEAS
TIME ALLOWED: FOUR (4) HOURS
SECTION I: Identify and explain the significance of TEN (10) of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Cardinal Mazarin
Albrecht von Wallenstein
William III
Frederick the Great
Karl Philipp Schwartzenberg
Friedrich Engels
Louis Philippe
Wilhelm II
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Sun Yat Sen
Russo-Japanese War
Boer War
Gustav Stresemann
Leon Gambetta
Giovanni Giolitti
Giuseppe Verdi
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. What were the main features of and rationale for European mercantilism
in the 17th and 18th centuries?
2. How did England’s “Glorious Revolution” affect the European balance of
power?
3. What did the French Revolution have to do with the transition from
states into “nation states?”
SECTION III
1. “The English Reform Bill of 1832 was a conservative revolution.”
Discuss.
2. Discuss the political evolution of France under the Third Republic, until
World War I.
3. “No sooner did Bismarck make an alliance with Austria-Hungary than
he tried to escape its consequences.” Discuss.
SECTION IV
1. What were the consequences of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire for
Europe and the global system generally?
2. What was the impact of decolonization on the European nation states
and their integration after World War II?
3. Discuss the significance of the Russian front in World War II.
4. What was Keynes’ response to “Say’s Law”?
The Johns Hopkins University
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Comp I - Bologna
September 2011
EUROPEAN STUDIES COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY AND IDEAS
TIME ALLOWED: FOUR (4) HOURS
SECTION I: Identify and explain the significance of TEN (10) of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Blitzkrieg
Battle of Stalingrad
The “Winter King”
Charles I
Louis XV
Poor Law Reform, 1834
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Count Segei Witte
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Sino-Japanese War
Franz Joseph
Dino Grandi
Pierre Laval
Walther Rathenau
Dawes Plan
Winston Churchill
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. Compare the strengths and weaknesses of English and French
colonialism in the 17th and 18th centuries.
2. “The Habsburgs failed to transform the Holy Roman Empire into a
modern state.” Discuss.
3. “Napoleon was more ‘modern’ than his opponents.” Discuss.
SECTION III
1. Discuss the foreign policy of Napoleon III.
2. In what respects did the foreign policy of Gladstone differ from that of
Disraeli?
3. How did Bismarck unite Germany?
SECTION IV
1.
2.
3.
4.
“Everyone lost World War I.” Discuss.
Analyze the foreign and domestic policy of Neville Chamberlain.
“Thanks to Roosevelt, Stalin won World War II.” Discuss.
How did Lenin explain World War I? Does he provide a “Marxist theory
of international relations”?
The Johns Hopkins University
Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies
Comp I - Washington
January 2011
EUROPEAN STUDIES COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORY AND IDEAS
TIME ALLOWED: FOUR (4) HOURS
SECTION I: Identify and explain the significance of TEN (10) of the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Blitzkrieg
Battle of Stalingrad
Hugo de Grote
Charles I
Louis XV
Richard Cobden
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Edmund Burke
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Sino-Japanese War
Congress of Vienna
Georges Jacques Danton
Pierre Laval
Walther Rathenau
Dawes Plan
Winston Churchill
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. How did monarchies consolidate power in 17th and 18th Century
Europe?
2. “The Habsburgs failed to transform the Holy Roman Empire into a
modern state.” Discuss.
3. What was the rationale for European mercantilism in the 17th and 18th
Centuries?
SECTION III
1. Why was it so difficult to “modernize” the Czarist regime?
2. In what respects did the foreign policy of Gladstone differ from that of
Disraeli?
3. What was the significance of the Eastern Question to European
diplomacy in the 19th Century?
SECTION IV
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why did European states decolonize?
Analyze the foreign and domestic policy of Neville Chamberlain.
Discuss the significance of the “Eastern Front” in World War II.
What was Keynes’ response to “Say’s Law”?
Spring 2011 COMP I
Time Allowed: Four (4) hours:
Section I (Required): Identify and explain the significance of ten (10) of the following:
1. Fascism
9. Egyptian Campaign
2. Spanish Civil War
10. Treaty of Tilsit
3. Verdun
11. Creditanstalt
4.Talleyrand
12. Brest-Litovsk
5. Opium Wars
13. Brussels Pact
6. Alexander II
14. Helsinki Accords
7. Dien Bien Phu
15. Tennis Court Oath
8. Attaturk
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. Assess France’s policy in the Seven Years War.
2. Did the American Revolution cause the French Revolution?
3. What was Louis XIV’s greatest achievement?
SECTION III
1. What caused the revolutions of 1848?
2. Why did the European powers fail to resolve the Eastern problem in the 19th century?
3. How effective was Bismarck’s foreign policy?
SECTION IV
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explain America’s policy toward the United Nations.
What were the main links between the Great Depression and World War I?
Why couldn’t Germany pay reparations?
How did Ricardo’s thinking influence Marx’s?
Fall 2011 Comp I
Time Allowed: Four (4) hours:
Section I (Required): Identify and explain the significance of ten (10) of the following:
1. Kellog-Briand Pact
9. Diplomatic Revolution of the 18th century
2. Coudenhove-Kalergi
10. Pact of Steel
3. Operation Torch
11. Jacques Rueff
4. Metternich
12. Minister Colbert
5. Trafalgar
13. Robert Schuman
6. Alexander I
14. Corn Laws
7. Battle of Algiers
15. Sobieski
8. Cecil Rhodes
ANSWER ONE (1) QUESTION FROM EACH OF THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
SECTION II
1. Who won the Seven Years War and why?
2. What was the basis of Peter the Great’s foreign policy?
3. Why was the French Revolution so violent?
SECTION III
1. Who was a better statesman, Metternich or Talleyrand?
2. What were the causes and consequences of the Great Depression of the 1870s?
3. What was the effect of the scramble for Africa?
SECTION IV
1.
2.
3.
4.
Explain America’s strategy in World War II.
Why did Churchill revalue the pound in 1925?
Why did the Schlieffen plan fail?
What was Hayek’s critique of centralized planning?