Long Answer Questions
(assignment 19)

(1) assignments appear in the syllabus on the day assigned, not the day due

(2) You must submit your written work by blackboard

(3) BE SURE TO FOLLOW THE FILE-NAMING CONVENTIONS FOR THIS COURSE (5% penalty if you do not).

All files should be saved on your computer as: your last name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the first two letters of your first name, followed by an underscore ("_"), followed by the assignment number. So if a student named Saddam Hussein were to submit assignment number 19, the file name would be:

hussein_sa_19.doc

THIS IS ASSIGNMENT 19

Question Ferguson Video, "The War of the World" Episode 1: The Clash of Empires

(each question will likely require 4-6 sentences to answer; rememer to be specific and provide examples. MOREOVER, IT WILL BE DIFFICULT TO DO THE FINAL ESSAY UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS. IT MAKES SENSE, ACCORDINGLY, TO DO THESE QUESTIONS WITH CARE.)

1) Into what regions did Russia expand in the late 19th century and how did that expansion encourage European’s sense of both racial superiority and a brewing “race war” ? (think about what was so significant for Russians about the attack on Port Arthur). BE SURE TO USE YOUR OWN WORDS -- IF YOU DO NOT YOU WILL RECEIVE NO CREDIT FOR YOUR RESPONSE.

2) In the video, Ferguson uses the rise of anti-Semitism in Russia after 1905 as evidence that new political ideologies attacking inherited power and wealth reinforced an emphasis on the notion of inherited human qualities. Explain how and why. BE SPECIFIC.

3) In the video, Ferguson uses the treatment of German and British prisoners of war as evidence of emerging racial hatred between those nations. Explain how and why.

4) (70% of the points for this assignment)

In the video, Ferguson uses the transformation of the Ottoman Empire into a nation-state in the wake of World War I as an example of the ways in which nationalism, in effect, both created minorities and led to the unprecedented racial violence against them. Explain how and why. Be sure your discussion includes a detailed discussion of the events in the city of Smyrna that explains how that episode provides evidence for Ferguson's point. In other words, detail for me the WARRANT for the EVIDENCE Ferguson presents when discussing Smyrna. Think about why, according to Ferguson, there had been so little violence against minorities in the Ottoman Empire, but so much violence as the Empire became a nation-state.

(The nation-state is a country that self-identifies as receiving its political legitimacy from serving as the government for a country as a geographical place. The state is a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation-state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and this distinguishes the nation state from the other types of governments, which historically came before it.)