MMW5 Professor Gershon Shafir

Summer 2000

MIDTERM STUDY QUESTIONS

1. It is generally agreed that the French Revolution carries a universal significance for the modern era. There is disagreement, however, whether this significance is found in the victory of democracy over tyranny, the victory of capitalism over feudalism, or the victory of the modern state over Absolutism. Explain an compare the these different interpretations and then assess their respective validity.

2. Imagine that it is 1848 and you are a book critique for the Times of London. You have been strongly influenced by either Enlightenment thinking or Romantic nationalist writings. Your editor asked you to review the Communist Manifesto, which just reached his desk. Make sure to give a fair recounting of its main ideas and then critique it from your own perspective.

3. "If I have to live through a revolution I would rather make it than suffer from it. "What did Bismarck mean by this statement and what was the character of the revolution he helped make?

4. What factors facilitated the modernization of Japanese society during the Meiji era? What were the accomplishments and limits of the restoration?

5. Present the promises and contradictions of the Enlightenment and Romanticism and explain the relationship between them. Could you use Hegel's perspective to explain their relationship?

6. In the 19^th century, a new term emerged to describe profound change - "revolution." Why were the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution so revolutionary? Give examples from your readings to illustrate your answer.

7. Compare the dynamic of revolution from below and from above (in specific countries) and explain the connection between the two types of revolutions.

8. Enlightenment ideas were basic to the political, social, and cultural developments of the early 19^th century. As the century progressed, other cultural and political movements arose to extend, revise or reject Enlightenment thinking. Discuss and compare two of the following: Romanticism, nationalism, feminism, socialism, as responses to the Enlightenment. What causes these "isms" to emerge? How did they differ from Enlightenment ideas? In your view, how much of a challenge did these new ways of thinking pose to the Enlightenment?

9. Was the Meiji restoration a "revolution from above" or from below. Why? Why is this distinction important?

10. Explain the causes and circumstances of the rise of the nation-state and nationalism in the 19^th century.

Divide your map of Europe and the Near East into the three regions where states, principalities, and Empires predominated. Draw in the approximate boundaries and write in the names of three major states, two major principalities, and three Empires as they were in 1848. Finally, locate approximatly and write in the names of the capitals of the eight political entities you chose.