Chapters 24-32 Short Answer Questions Flashcards
Describe the role and nature of the Samurai. Use three specific points for full credit.
- Samurai were not supposed to deal with mundane affairs such as shopping and handling money (but somer lower samurai had to).
- Hierarchy of the time (ordered from highest to lowest): samurai, farmers, artisans, merchants, outcasts.
- They were military leaders.
List 3 forces that undermined the power of the Qing dynasty in the 19th century.
Corruption.
- The inability of Manchu and Chinese elites to find an adequate response to rising external pressure.
- The opium trade resulted in an Opium War.
- The Qing Empire’s lack of dynamic leadership culminated in imperial support for the Boxer rebels.
What advantages did the North have during the Civil War? What advantages did the South have?
The North: had a clear superiority in industry infrastructure–railroads for moving men and material, iron foundries to produce guns and munitions, and textile factories to produce uniforms.
The South: had superior military leadership and soldiers who believed deeply in their cause and were fighting to defend their homes.
Discuss what the people from the Yucatan, the Black Hills, and Manitoba had in common.
They all rose up to defend their cultures against intrusion. In all three places, indigenous and imported ideas had already merged:
- Maya beliefs and Catholicism,
- Sioux traditions with horse-based buffalo hunting,
- French and First Nations cultures in the days of the fur trade.
These adaptations took place in a preindustrial age.
What was New Imperialism? What were the causes or motives for New Imperialism?
The New Imperialism was an increase in European imperial activity during the late nineteenth century, caused primarily by
- increased competition between industrial states for raw materials and markets and
- by the rise of a unified Germany as a threat to the British Empire.
- Personal ambition and religious conviction were other motives.
How did Ethiopia and Siam retain their independence in the face of New Imperialism?
- Chulalongkom made revisions/modifications in the legal system.
- Menelik had the “qualifications” as a Christian, and was thought that he could give protection over the Egyptian frontier and have European traders access to his kingdom.
- Assaults on Ethiopia came from the weakest of imperials workers: Italy.
What is the difference between Menshevik Marxism and Lenin’s communism?
Mensheviks adhered to the traditional Marxist belief that socialism could only be built on the foundation of capitalism.
Lenin favored the idea of a “revolutionary vanguard”, which was a small, dedicated group of professional revolutionists, which could represent the interests of the industrial proletariat. Rather than waiting for Russia’s industrial workers to increase in numbers and in political consciousness, the Bolshevik vanguard could seize power and rule in the name of the working class.
Why, in retrospect, did the settlements reached at the Paris Peace Conference seem wrongheaded?
Each country was trying to place blame and guilt on the other countries.
- United States and Russia didn’t participate in the League of Nations.
- The French really wanted to punish Germany.
- There weren’t coherent states in eastern Europe.
What were some of the causes for WWI as discussed in class or from the chapter?
- The assassination of Archduke Ferdinand.
- Imperialism: the powerful countries at the time were fighting for expansion and were “upset” with some of the controversies involved within the other countries.
- Arms race between the countries, where they were competing with each other to have the most advanced weapons and bullets.
Explain some of the causes of the Great Depression and elements that made the situation worse.
Two factors clearly stand out: the speculative excesses of the American stock market and the international debt structure that emerged after the First World War. The problem was magnified by a sharp division between the poor and rich.
Discuss the reasons that Japan felt they could not avoid conflict with the United States.
Tension between the two was growing in the summer of 1941.
- The United States beefed up command in the Philippines, put a freeze on Japanese assets on the United States, and cut off petroleum and steel exports.
- The Japanese fleet was dependent on U.S. oil, so they had to get oil from another place. In order to get more oil, they had to get the Philippines from the U.S., so they launched a surprise attack.
Explain the Truman Doctrine.
- The Truman Doctrine expressed America’s intention to contain communism.
- This doctrine declared that the U.S. would help any country who was threatened by communism.
- However, the U.S. never really took action against the Soviet Union on Czechoslovakia, but they did install missiles in Turkey to deter the Soviet Union from heading south.
Describe the “red” and “experts” factions within Mao’s China.
- The Reds emphasized social willpower over technical ability. They would help China catch up with the world’s dominant powers.
- The experts were in charge of agricultural collectivization and industrial development. They became an elite cut from the masses.
Discuss how the Cold War division began to decrease. What are some of the reasons tension between the US and the Soviet Union decreased in the 1960s and 1970s?
- Domestic challenges (US -Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War opposition; Soviet - poor living standards/domestic economy)
- Difficulty controlling respective blocs (Moscow/Beijing tension,
- Treaty of Rome, Euro economic independence)
- Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
In your opinion, after reading this chapter, do wealthy, Western nations have a duty to inspire reform in the Third World and the Middle East?
I think it is our duty to help countries that aren’t as well-off as us. We should provide countries with resources, such as good education and information on how to strengthen their job market. That being said, we shouldn’t become a country’s crutch. It is up to the country to get back on their feet, we should just be there to help them up.
