War-s-Aftermath-discussion-review-history-homework-help

CHOOSE ONE TOPIC PLEASE

Please review the Week 3 Learning Resources, the Course Resource “War’s Aftermath,” and my lectures, then participate in this discussion.  You need to post a direct response (i.e., Start a New Thread) to one of the topic questions by Friday, June 17.  Note: Prof. Merriman’s lectures and the other materials on Fascists and Stalinism will be more relevant for next week’s discussion.  One of those materials is Hitler’s Mein Kampf.  I encourage you to read as much of the 500+ pages that you can stomach but recommend focusing on the first 5 chapters of Vol. II, pp. 309 – 380. 

Paris Peace Conference

Fascism in Context

Eastern Europe in the 1920s

1.  Paris Peace Conference

The conduct of the victorious allies at the Paris Peace Conference has been the target of harsh retrospective criticism, but I would like for you to ask yourselves, how could it have gone differently (keeping in mind the political realities of the era)? In answering this question, please refer to the main issues discussed and decided at Paris (and try not to get too far ahead of yourself in discussing the 1920s and 1930s).

2.  The Troubled Twenties

I would like you to think seriously about what are the prime moving forces in history by asking yourselves what were the most important obstacles to stability in Europe in 1920s.  Here is a brief summary of possibilities, to which you are free to add your own:

·  The psychological impact of the War

·  The economic impact of the war’s physical destruction, coupled with the loss of manpower owing to the war and the great flu epidemic;

·  The political and cultural impact of the sudden disappearance of monarchy;

·  Fundamentally bad decisions by Europe’s political leaders;

·  Cultural upheaval (cf. the Course Resource “War’s Aftermath,” which refer to the 1920s as the “Crazy Years.”);

·  Diplomatic upheaval, i.e., the Treaty of Versailles’s unfinished business coupled with the establishment of so many newly independent states.

Feel free to refer to the Learning Resources on the social atmosphere of the period.

3.  Fascism

The word “fascist” is often thrown around rather loosely (and inaccurately) as a pejorative to describe an archconservative. We will discuss Nazi Germany in more depth next week.  This week we can tart off by discussing the birthplace of fascism, as an idea and practice, Italy.  What were the core principles of Italian fascism?  To what extent was fascism a bi-product of the general problems facing Europe in the 1920s, and to what extent did uniquely Italian factors contribute?