Exam 386...

With much fanfare, the exam for 386:

History 386
World War II in Europe
Midterm exam…for Wednesday, November 2

An all-you-can-eat challenge, a smorgasboard of tasks, one might say…


Directions part I(20%): Objective questions. You will either answer two or three objective questions and/or look at a map from a period just prior to or during the early months of World War II and answer a couple questions based on that map. This part will hit the highlights—it’s not intended as a “gotcha” exercise.

Directions part II(30%): Document analysis. Each person will receive a document or memoir excerpt covering some aspect of the European war to the summer of l941, and then compose a brief answer to a question on it. Here again, the document will not come from outer space. It will be similar to the other documents you have seen up to this time.

Directions part III(50%): Essay. Prepare the following questions, bringing as much relevant and specific evidence as you can in formulating your answer. You will do ONE on test day, but you won’t know WHICH one, so prepare them all unless you are clairvoyant. Feel free to work with others, just make sure that the essay you write is in your own words.


A)Much of the recent scholarship on Nazi Germany in World War II has focused on two words: “race and space.” Write an essay in which you discuss the role these concepts played in the planning and launch of the second global conflict 20 years after the conclusion of the first, the war to "end all wars(!)." You do not need to address anything beyond the invasion of the Soviet Union in this question.


B)After years and years of fulminating against Soviet Russia as a nest of Jewish/Communist menace—and stating his intent to invade that country—Hitler changed his tune in l939 and signed the infamous Nazi-Soviet pact with his fellow tyrant, Joseph Stalin. Why did the two dictators decide on this apparently unlikely step, and what advantages accrued to both men prior to June 22, 1941?


C)The “Holocaust by bullets,” or “Holocaust before the Holocaust” is one of the lesser-known aspects of the Second World War. Explain briefly what is meant by this term, then write an essay in which you make clear how it became possible, some of the consequences for participants and bystanders and its role in the “real” Holocaust of the death camps.

Clarification!! Please Read!!

The 425 exam will be WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER l9, not l7th...I typed the l7th and meant l9th. exam is WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY!!!

Links! for 425

The Triangle Shirtwaist fire link is here. Let's see if this works...okay, it apparently did, so moving on, Triangle Fire PBS is here. And going for batting average .1000 and the win, the American Experience New York Center of the World site, here.

Triangle fire link...

I can't seem to link to the Cornell University Triangle Fire site, or the PBS American Experience--Blogger is not cooperating with me this morning--so the best thing is to Google both of these, as follows: Cornell University Triangle Fire site, and PBS American Experience Triangle Fire site. That should take you directly to the relevant sites.

425 midterm

Without further ado, the fall 2011 425 midterm...



History 425
Midterm exam
For October 17, 2011


Directions part I(50%): Prepare BOTH of the following questions, using material gleaned from lectures, videos and any outside reading you have done. Be careful to structure your essay in an organized way and provide specific names, dates, facts, etc., to support the points you make. You are encouraged to work together in formulating answers, but each person should be sure the essay he/she writes is his/her own work. You will do ONE of these, but you won’t know WHICH one until test day, so prepare both unless you are clairvoyant!



a)It is often said of great cities that geography is destiny. Write an essay in which you discuss the impact of geography on the development of New York from its inception to the present day. Be sure to be specific and take into account man-made geographical features as well as natural ones.



b) Immediately after the September 11 attacks, New Yorkers mourned the demise of the World Trade Center towers as if they had always been a beloved part of the city’s landscape. The reality is more complicated. Why were they built, and who was for and against them? Why? What accounted for their “catching on” in the difficult years after their construction? Finally, what made them a tempting target for 21st century extremists?



Directions part II(50%) Mystery question. Here you will answer a question based on David von Drehle’s book on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. I will NOT ask you about the contents of page 225 or anything like that—it will be something with which you should have no trouble if you know the background of the fire generally and are familiar with the major players in the book.