Foundations of the Modern Age
Winter Semester 2002

Study Questions for the Second Exam


1. What were the origins of the French Revolution? Why did the Revolution radicalize from 1789 to 1792? What justification did Robespierre provide for the Terror?

2. Compare the ideals of Liberals (as expressed in the Declaration of Independence and Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen) with the ideals of Conservatives (as reflected in Metternich's Political Confession of Faith). In what ways would Liberals and Conservatives criticize the theories of Marx and Engels and in what ways would Marx and Engels criticize the ideals of Liberals and Conservatives?

3. What were the origins of the American Civil War? In what ways and to what extent did the Civil War reflect "nationalist" aspirations? Your answer should include a consideration of the perceptions and arguments of South Carolina's Address to the Slave-Holding States and Lincoln's Second Inaugural.

4. Reconstruct the arguments of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels in The Communist Manifesto. You should include a consideration of their ideas about (1) historical change (dialectical materialism); (2) the origins and historical role of the bourgeoisie; (3) the (predicted) origins of the proletariat revolution; (4) and rationale for abolishing bourgeois private property.

5. Reconstruct the spectrum of political ideologies in late 19th century and early 20th century Europe, focusing especially on the changes in Socialism (as represented by Bernstein and Webb, Liberalism (as represented by Green), and Conservtism (as represented by Bismarck).




Return to the syllabus.
Return to History Department