HISTORY F100X-F03 MODERN WORLD HISTORY Fall 2013

First Midterm Exam Study Guide

You will be asked to answer a number of questions (or combinations of questions) under each topic heading below. In most cases, you will be required to write 2-4 sentence type answers to adequately address the question. This exam will be worth a total of 50 points. Benedict Andersons book Imagined Communities
1) How does Anderson define the nation-state?

Anderson defines the nation-state as an imagined political community and imagined as both inherently limited and soverign.
2) What are three defining characteristics of the nation-state?

a)limited, b)sovereign, and c)a community

3) What are three defining characteristics of an empire?

4) What two things were absolutely necessary to have occurred before one could even

conceive of the idea of the nation-state? The two cultural concepts that had to lose their axiomatic grip on mens minds for the nation-state to arise were the decline of the sacred language and religion in politics, and the idea of an alternate system of government had to arise as people lose faith in the old system.
5) Can you explain the processes taking place in Western Europe that led to the nation-state?

Cite several key examples of this. European countries began the process of transformation into nation-states first through the exploration of the non-Western world, the demotion of the sacred language through the rise of the printing press and the Protestant revolt, and the period known as the Enlightenment, where other ideas of government such as democracy were revived from ancient culture.
6) With regard to the Latin American independence movement, what did Simn Bolvar and

fellow-liberator Joe de Saint Martn decree in 1821?

7) What does Anderson mean by official nationalism?

Official Nationalism is the willed merger of nation and the dynastic empire.

8) Why is the Constitution of the Empire of Japan a good example of Andersons official

nationalism? Explain. The Constitution of the Empire of Japan is a good example of official nationalism because Japan had a parliament which was chosen by the infallible emperor but was responsible for anything that went wrong because the emperor couldnt be wrong. Primary powers of government were held by the emperor and the parliament was only able to pass laws and make military decisions with his favor.
9) How did the Thai monarchs manage to defend themselves against Western colonialism?

Cite two examples.

Scientific and Industrial Revolutions

1) How did James B. Conant define science? (how might you define science ? Science can be defined as an interconnected series of concepts and conceptual schemes developed on the basis of experimentation and observation and useful for further experimentation and observation. )

2) How did scientific thinking change mans fundamental attitude with regard to the

processes of nature? Explain. Man became concerned more with the knowing why and how of things than simply accepting everything as Gods work, i.e. scientific-based research and thinking as opposed to religious-based thinking.
3) Why did the Industrial Revolution break out in Great Britain rather than in another part of

the world? Cite several examples. Industrial Revolution broke out in Great Britain for a number of factors including agricultural improvements which created a surplus of food and available laborers, more disposable income, the rapid increase in national wealth due to expanded trade and available resources, foreign markets available for selling their products, and technological innovations which allowed for faster and cheaper production of products.
4) What new class of people did the industrial revolution produce? Explain.

The Industrial Revolution created the middle class. This group consisted of doctors, lawyers, civil servants, industrialists, and merchants. These people filled the gap in society between the working class and the rich aristocracy, providing much needed services, functions, and creating jobs for working class individuals.

5) How did the role of women in society change as a result of the industrial revolution?

Women were allowed to join the industrial working force, slowly were granted the right to vote in many places, and were allowed into more professions and granted more rights.
6) What factors led to the birth of labor unions in Europe and America and the national

organization, the American Federation of Labor?

7) How can one account for the rise of the socialist movement in the 19th century? (Marxism was able to rise in the 19th century as a reaction to the poor conditions experienced by the working class. As empires began to crumble, in some places a power vacuum was created by a lack of a strong democratic legislature. This vacuum allowed for communist factions to take control.)

High Tide of Imperialism: Africa and Asia in an Era of Western Dominance

1) Broadly speaking, what were the two types of colonial policies? Explain.

Assimilation, where the colonizing power works to transform the colonial society into the western image. For Association, the colonizing power collaborates with the local elites while leaving local traditions alone.
2) How did British control over India evolve? Briefly explain.

The British East India Company first started trading with the indigenous people of India. Over time, they gained the authority from Britain to slowly take over the country through functionaries. Eventually the British Crown took control, making the area a colony. Both association and assimilation processes were used in the colonization of India.
3) What was Thomas Babington Macaulays educational philosophy towards British

subjects in India? Macaulays education philosophy towards British subjects in India was to teach Indians to be as much like British as possible, making them British in all but blood taste, opinion, morals, and intellect. He felt that through this indoctrination, Hindus would eventually adopt Christianity as well.
4) How did Thailand manage to avoid European colonial rule?

Siam ( Thialand) managed to avoid European colonial rule by introducing Western learning and maintaining relations with major European powers while maintaining internal stability. Eventually they offered to remain a buffer zone between the British and the French, preserving their sovereignty.
5) What two colonial powers ruled the Philippine Islands?

6) What were the origins of the slave trade in Africa?

Initially, slaves were Africans that were taken in raids by warring African tribes.
7) How did the Europeans acquire African slaves?

They were sold to Portuguese first at the Gold Coast and then eventually to other nations who came trading.

Western Powers in East Asia in the Nineteenth Century

1) Was the Qing Dynasty a Chinese dynasty? And, from where did the Chinese emperor

get his legitimacy to rule the empire? The Qing dynasty was not Chinese, they were Manchurian. The Chinese emperor gained his legitimacy to rule the empire through the Tian.
2) What was the cause of the Opium War of 1839-1842? Explain.

The cause of the Opium War was a humiliating refusal and embargo of British ships by the Chinese. Opium was the only product that the Chinese wanted that the British had. To protect their investments and to retaliate, the British declared war on China, soundly defeating them.
3) Who started the Taiping Rebellion and what was the significance of this rebellion in

terms of the eventual collapse of the dynasty? The Taiping Rebellion was started by Hong Xuquan. This rebellion cost the lives of millions of Chinese people and served to create a destabilizing front internally while the dynasty was attempting to deal with external factors (French and British).
4) What was the formula for self-strengthening the Qing Dynasty?

The formula for self-strengthening the Qing Dynasty was to employ Western technology and Confucian technology.
5) Who was Sun Yat-sen and what were the Three Peoples Principles?

Sun Yat-sen was a was a radical who formed the Revive China Society which later led to the 1911 Revolution. The Three Peoples Principles were Nationalism, Democracy, Peoples Livelihood.
6) Can you explain why the Chinese state disintegrated after the failure of the 1911

Revolution? The Chinese state disintegrated after the failure of the 1911 Revolution in part due to a lack of a strong sense of nationalism to fuel a proper democracy, because the chosen leader was in fact an imperial sympathizer, a lack of a strong ideology to hold the nation together, and no strong movement from the bottom of society which was predominantly family-based instead of nation-based.
7) Was traditional Japanese civilization similar to traditional Chinese civilization? Explain

with examples.

Traditional Japanese civilization was not similar to traditional Chinese civilization. Japan had a military aristocracy, a decentralized feudal system, and a land based economy with a belief system based on spiritual reverence of ancestors. China was ruled by an absolute monarch with a highly centralized government, a heavy tradebased economy, and a spiritual system based in Confucianism.
8) Why did the Japanese first fight the Qing Dynasty in 1894-1895, and then the Russian

Empire in 1904-1905? The Japanese first fought the Qing Dynasty in 1894-1895 and then the Russian Empire in 1904-1905 because they were attempting to become an imperialist country through capturing land from China during an internal rebellion in Korea and then later recaptured Korea from Russia after defeating the vastly larger Russian fleet.