HISTORY 357: FINAL EXAM

                                              STUDY QUESTIONS

1. How did Hitler’s “dual track” approach to foreign policy cause a diplomatic revolution in Europe between 1933 and 1936? What were the stages of that revolution? How was the European balance of power in 1936 different from what it had been in 1933?

2. What was the logic behind Germany’s progression toward war in 1937-39? Why were Britain and France unwilling or unable to stop it? On what considerations was the policy of appeasement based?

3. Why was Germany so successful militarily in 1939-40? Why was France so unsuccessful? What was the significance of the Battle of Britain, and of Churchill’s leadership?

4. What were the stages in Germany’s anti-Jewish policy between 1933 and 1945? Why did that policy radicalize and escalate in 1941-42? Could anything have been done to save the Jews of Europe? Explain.

5. How and why was Japan transformed from a parliamentary state in the 1920s to a militarist regime in the 1930s? How and why did Japan invade Manchuria in 1931 and China in 1937? Why did Japan expand the war in 1941 by attacking the British and Americans?

6. Describe and discuss the connections and conflicts between the Nationalists and Communists in China from 1921 to 1941. How did Maoist Communism differ from orthodox Marxism? Why were the Communists more effective than the Nationalists in fighting the Japanese?

7. Explain the dual nature of Soviet foreign policy from 1921 to 1939. Describe and discuss Soviet attitudes and behavior with respect to "escape from isolation" (1920s), "collective security" (1930s), the Sudetenland crisis (1938), and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939).

8. How and why did Stalin seek to avoid war with Hitler from 1939 to 1941? Why did the Soviets fare so poorly in the first several months of the German invasion of June 1941? What factors account for the successful Soviet resistance at Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad? Explain.

9. Compare and contrast the impact of World War II on Africa and Latin America.

10. Discuss the interaction of operations BAGRATI0N and 0VERL0RD in 1944, and explain how that interaction of eastern and western fronts continued until Germany surrendered in 1945.

11. Describe and explain the Japanese offensive of 1941-1942, and the American counteroffensive of 1941-1945. What factors and decisions led to the destruction and surrender of Japan?