Select one of the following topics and prepare a research paper on it. The topics are open-ended and require a thesis, supported by evidence. Narrative is not enough. There are 5 stages in this project
· You must hand in an annotated data collection. This will
consist of all your research notes, appropriately highlighted, with notes
in a different colour, in the margins, indicating how you are going
to use the highlighted information in your paper.
· You must hand in a point-form outline. This is a summary
of your thesis, followed by the points you are going to raise in developing
it. These points should be followed by notes of the evidence you
are going to use to support them. A point-form outline is more than
a table of contents. Imagine that you had already written your paper,
and someone else had summarized it in note form - that’s what your point-form
outline should look like.
· You must then, at the designated date, hand in a first draft
of your paper, together with the data collection/outline.
· You must be prepared to give a brief oral report to the class,
summarizing your thesis and the evidence you have for it.
· Lastly, on the appointed day, you must write out the final
paper, under test conditions, from memory, without notes.
On each piece of work that you hand in I will write suggestions, and I will compare each stage with the previous one to see if you have taken my suggestions into account. If I see no improvement from one draft to the next, you will get a lower mark than you did on the first one. The marks for each stage will be combined in the second term and will be given a weight of 10% of the term.
The first draft should be written in the APA format, with proper references and bibliography. You should use as wide a range of sources as you can, including, where possible, reference to primary sources. Your sources should include print sources as well as Internet sources. In order to demonstrate mastery of the APA format, you must have at least one short quotation (< 40 words), one long quotation (> 40 words) and several citations (references to your sources).
Remember, this is a history paper, and your thesis should be supported with historical information, drawn from as wide a period of the 20th century as is relevant for your topic. Some of the topics are quite general, and you may be tempted to answer in broad philosophical terms. Do no do this. Historical arguments and evidence are essential.
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Plagiarism will result in an automatic zero
on the whole assignment and other disciplinary action.
TOPICS
4. How important was code-breaking to the Allied
victory in the Second World War?
5. Evaluate John F. Kennedy’s handling of the
Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.
8. Why do the British seem to be incapable of solving their problems
in Northern Ireland?
Don't be tempted to go back to the William the Conqueror with this
one. There is enough material in the 20th century, starting with
the Unionist movement and its strength in the British parliament, and its
vehement rejection of Home Rule for Northern Ireland, then on to the Easter
Rising of 1916, subsequent partition of Ireland and the civil war etc.
Be sure that you give adequate consideration to the increase in acts of
terrorism after 1969 and the British government's heavy crackdown on it.
Consider also the importance of personalities in this problem, such as
the role of people like the Reverend Ian Paisley, a Protestant hard-liner.
9. Why is the Palestinian problem so extremely difficult to solve?
Start by looking at the emrgence of the Zionist movement in Europe
in the late 19th century, then the contradictory undertakings made by Britain
during and after the First World War: the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the McMahon
Pledge to the Arabs and the Balfour Declaration to the Jews. Then
examine the politics of oil in the Middle East, and the role of the Jewish
lobby in US politics, and the effect on these of increasing Jewish emigration
to Palestine before the Second World War. The Holocaust and its aftermath,
the giving up of the Palestine mandate by the British, the Israeli declaration
of independence, the 4 Arab-Israeli wars and the Palestinian refugee problem
all need examination.
10. What is the truth about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy?
Is the finding of the Warren Commission, that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone,
a satisfactory explanation?
Lots of material about this one, but the big danger is being too
impressed by the theories of people like Oliver Stone. Hollywood
movies are not serious history, nor are the theories of Jim Garrison, the
New Orleans attorney. However, there are plenty of reputable sources
which question the Warren Commission's findings. Be sure to look
up the House Committee on Assassinations report of 1974(?), which discounts
the lone gunman theory and suggests that there were at least two.
11. To what extent were Western intelligence services penetrated by
the Soviet intelligence organization, the KGB, during the Cold War?
As far as the British secret service is concerned, 2 authors to
look for are Chapman Pincher (Their Trade is Treachery) and Nigel
West. Some of the spies whose names are relevant are Philby, Burgess,
Maclean, Bluntand Cairncross. There is debate as to whether Sir Roger
Hollis, head of MI5, was also a Soviet agent. Peter Wright, in his book
Spycatcher,
maintains that he was, but Wright had a chip on his shoulder and so has
to be treated with caution. For the USA, Hiss, Whittaker Chambers,
the Rosenbergs, and more recently, Aldrich Ames, are names you should look
for.
12. Why has terrorism become so widespread in the last 50 years?
You have to look at this in the context of the century of total
war. Some people argue that terrorism is simply the poor man's total
war, and that if the bombing of innocent civilians by nations is OK, then
it's OK for "freedom fighters" too. You also have to pay attention
to the influence of the mass media, especially TV, which means that acts
of terrorism now get global coverage - in PR terms they are effective.
Also look at the element of hypocrisy. The great powers fought wars
in the name of democracy and freedom, but were then perceived as denying
it to others. The collapse of the European empired bred a lot of
armed conflict of all types. Don't get hung up on moral judgements.
This paper is meant to explain why something happened, not whether it was
good or bad.
13. To what extent has the music of the 20th century reflected the changing
times? You may wish to support your thesis by performing excerpts
if you wish.
I suggest you organize this by decades and look at the type of music
which was popular at the time. What sort of sociaety was it that
produced the music, and to what extent does the music reflect the society.
To take one example, the "Roaring 20s" were years of pleasure-seeking and
excess which were partly the reaction to the blood-letting of the First
World War and partly the result of prosperity. Contrast them to the
escapism of the "Dirty Thirties". In the post-1945 period your are
looking at a baby-boom and an economic boom which were both unprecedented.
The music changed radically too. Why was that?
14. To what extent has the literature of the 20th century reflected
the changing times? You may wish to narrow this to one particular
form, e.g. poetry, novels, drama etc.
As above for #13.
15. Assess the degree to which Russia/USSR has influenced world affairs
throughout the 20th century.
Don't overlook the fact that even when the USSR was being isolationist
during the 20s and 30s it exerted influence as a possible alternative system
which looked to some as if it might be better that capitalism. Also,
examine the reaction of others to the existence of Communism. Fascism
was in part a reaction to Communism, so the existence of Soviet Russia
produced effects far beyond those intended by the Soviet leaders.
You will also have to look at the role of the Soviet Union in World War
II and the Cold War .
_______________________
Revolutionary change in the 20th century has resulted more from the demand for material progress than for freedom
16. Evaluate this statement.
Deal with all the obvious revolutions, such as the Russian and the
Chinese, but don't forget that the phrase "revolutionary change" may have
a wider meaning than political change. Think of other types of revolutionary
change, but don't neglect the conventional type.
______________________
When the passions of war are aroused it becomes . . . easy to attribute
the catastrophe solely to the ambitions and arrogance of a small group
of men.
17. To what extent has conflict in the 20th century been the result
of the actions of a "small group of men"?
This is an essay on the "Great Man" theory of history. You
have to look at the role of individuals in the origins of wars, but then
you have to look at the other reasons for wars. The statement implies
that while it is easy to blame individuals for wars, the real reasons are
deeper than that.
__________________
In the 20th century, relations between countries have been based on national interest, not ideology.
18. Evaluate this statement.
___________________
19. Compare an contrast the ability of democratic and totalitarian regimes to adapt to changing conditions.
20. Compare and contrast the role of the European powers in world affairs
before 1945 to that of the superpowers after 1945.
The European powers before 1945 were basically Britain, France,
Germany and Russia/the USSR. The superpowers after 1945 were the
USA and the USSR. On the American aspect, Stephen Ambrose's The
Rise to Globalism is useful. Paul Johnson's History of the
Modern World gives a very vivid, but very right-wing view of the collapse
of the European empires after 1945.
__________________________
There is no difference between totalitarian states. It doesn’t matter what you call them: Nazi, Communist or Fascist, they’re all the same.
21. Evaluate this statement.
___________________________
22. Assess the degree to which the USA has influenced world affairs
during the 20th century.
___________________________
Every conflict in the 20th century has been fought to free people from some sort of tyranny.
23. Evaluate this statement.
Beware of unqualified generalizations like this. Every conflict?
Tough to prove. But there are two sides to every conflict, and at
least one of them ususally claims to be fighting against tyranny.
The question is, were they really?
_______________________________
It can be argued that war, not peace, provides the greater impetus for progress.
24. Evaluate this statement.
You have to be careful how you define progress. War has provided
the impetus for a great many technological advances, but can they be described
as progress? Also, be careful about the term impetus. Many
inventions have been made in peacetime, only to be taken up and developed
more fully during a war. Radar is an example. Which was the
greater impetus, the invention or the development?
_______________________________
There is no right or wrong in history, only winners and losers.
25. Evaluate this statement
_________________________________
There is often a sharp contrast between the theory of a political ideology and its application.
26. Evaluate this statement.
________________________
Wealth, not ideology, has enabled the United States to play a dominant role in the 20th century.
27. Evaluate this statement.
_______________________________
"Power comes from the barrel of a gun." Mao Zedong
28. Evaluate this statement.
There is more to this than meets the eye. Mao led the Communists
to victory in the Chinese Civil War and imposed his rule on China by means
of force, so he clearly believed this. But is force ("the barrel
of a gun") the only type of power? What about, for example, Gandhi's
campaigns of non-violence in India, or the Civil Rights Movement in the
USA? And couldn't you argue that the real power lies with the people
who have the money to buy the guns, rather than from the guns themselves?
________________________________
The 20th century marked the beginning of the end for Europe.
29. Evaluate this statement.
________________________________
Revolutionary regimes are seldom better than the ones they replace.
30. Evaluate this statement.
________________________________
1945 marked the turning point in the use of war as a means of achieving a nation’s goals.
31. Evaluate this statement.
__________________________________
32. How valid is psychohistory, the explanation of past events by reference
to the psychology of the dominant personalities involved? Choose
one dominant personality of the 20th century about whom psychohistorians
have written, and evaluate the validity of their interpretation.
33. The 20th century has been called the "terrible twentieth".
Is this description justified? Compare the good and evil aspects
of the century in order to reach a conclusion.
This one requires you to compare the good and bad aspects of the
20th century and reach some kind of balanced conclusion. There are
all the obvious wars and atrocities on the bad side, but on the good side
there has been material prosperity for many, technological progress, advances
in agriculture, medical progress, the end of many empires and the spread
of democracy. Here is one website with some material on 20th century
progress :
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97sep/century.htm
34. Women have still not achieved full equality with men even in the western democracies. Explain the historical reasons for this continued inequality.
35. According to the pundits, we now live in a global economy. Examine and explain the development of globalization of the world economy in the 20th century.
36. Compare and contrast the anti-Communist witch-hunts in the USA and Canada in the early 1950s.
37. Technological developments have occurred on a scale and at a pace never before experienced. Examine the extent to which these changes affected society and shaped the destiny of the world during the 20th century.
38. Genocide is a term which has come into use during the 20th century.
Examine at least four episodes which have been labelled genocidal, covering
the early, middle and late periods of the century, to determine whether
this phenomenon is becoming more common.
_______________________________
The first casualty of war is the truth.
39. Evaluate this statement with reference to the wars of the 20th century.
Philip Knightley's The First Casualty is useful, but be sure
to look at the role of the media in more recent wars, such as Vietnam and
the Gulf War as well.
_________________________________
40. Evaluate the extent to which Switzerland collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
41. How successful has the United Nations been in achieving its objectives? Evaluate the performance of the UN from 1945 to the present.
42. Examine the historical reasons for the collapse of the USSR.
43. Compare and contrast the attitudes and policies of Britain and France to their colonial empires after the Second World War.
44. How true is it that totalitarian regimes have failed to inspire great art?
45. Robert Kaplan has put forward the view that democracy may just be
a temporary phenomenon, whereas Gwynn Dyer maintains that it is stronger
than ever, and spreading. Whose view does the history of the 20th
century tend to support?
Kaplan wrote a piece in Atlantic Monthly on this, so check
their website. Dyer has written articles too, at least one in the
Globe
& Mail. Mark Mazower has just written Dark Continent:
Europe's Twentieth Century, in which he argues that democracy is an
aberration, agreeing with Kaplan. But there are more democracies
in the world now than ever before.
46. Examine the ways in which the visual arts have changed over the
course of the 20th century and explain why these changes have taken place.
_________________________
Vain, boastful and blundering, his ambitions far exceeded his ability to realize them.
47. Evaluate this judgement of Mussolini.
Dennis Mack Smith's biography of Mussolini is very good.
_____________________________
History Conference Topics
48. The 2 solitudes: an analysis of the differences in high school texts in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
49. 1984: fact or fiction? An analysis of the historical roots
of Orwell’s novel.
Orwell based his novel on Stalin's Russia. How accurate were
his parallels? They go right back to the Russian Revolution of 1917.
50. Erasing the past: Societies which have attempted to change history. (Examples might include Mao’s China, Kampuchea, the 3rd Reich, Stalin’s Russia etc.)
51. The battle of the texts: the historiography of school texts in Japan.
52. Irving vs. Lipstadt: Holocaust historiography on trial.
Check on the website of the Irving vs. Lipstadt trial and follow
the trail from there.
53. Hollywood history: an analysis of the way moviemakers distort history.
Past Imperfect is useful on this topic, but don't rely solely
on it.
54. The historical novel in the twentieth century: how the history of the century appears through the prism of the novelist.
55. If music be the food of love . . . : how music in the 20th century has reflected events.
56. The present state of historical awareness in Canadian society, and
its implications for the future.
Jack Granatstein's Who Killed Canadian History? is a good
starting point, but don't get enmeshed in current affairs. You need to
analyse the relevance of the past to today, so make it historical.
57. The dangers of deconstructionism: Has postmodern thought made the writing of history as it used to be understood impossible?
58. The sins of the fathers . . . Should people or governments now be liable to pay compensation for past wrongs?
59. How reliable can oral history be? Examine the reliability of the oral tradition as a means of preserving the historical record.
60. History is, more or less, bunk. (Henry Ford). Evaluate Henry
Ford’s opinion.
Same comment as # 56 applies. You have to look at the written
record of the C20 to see if Ford was right. Does the existence of
many competing versions of the past mean that it is all bunk, or is it
possible to have different, but legitimate, interpretations existing side
by side?