From Ruins to Unification: Modern Europe
Unit 8, AP Euro Reading Assignments
Dec 9
Dec 10
Dec 11
Dec 14
Dec 15
Dec 16
May 18
The Cold War Text: pp. 897-907
Assignment 1
Document: The Iron Curtain by Winston Churchill p. 901
Rebuilding Europe Text: 907-916, The Welfare State, Women, Immigration Text:
916-925
Assignment 2-3
Document: The Second Sex by Simone de Bouvoir DB p. 298
Survival in Auschwitz due. Class discussion and writing.
Fall of the Wall Text: pp. 929-944
Assignment 4 RQ A1-4
Document: Perestroika by Mikhail Gorbachev DB p. 311
Ethnic Tensions and Balkanization, Europe today Text: 944-949, 949-961
Assignment 5-6
Document: Report on the Fall of Srebrenica by Kofi Annan DB p. 334
Document: Report to the Communist Party Congress by Nikita Khrushchev DB p. 307
Prepare for Final Exam.
4th Final Exam
Key Concepts and Standards
Key Concept 4.2: The stressed of economic collapse and total war engendered internal
conflicts within European states and created conflicting conceptions of the relationship
between the individual and the state, as demonstrated in the ideological battle among
liberal democracy, communism, and fascism.
I.
Postwar economic growth supported an increase in welfare benefits; however,
subsequent economic stagnation led to criticism and limitation of the welfare state.
a. “economic Miracle”- Marshall Plan funds from US financed reconstruction of
industry and infrastructure which increased economic and cultural importance
of consumerism
b. Expansion of cradle-to-grave welfare became a contentious political issue
II. Eastern European nations were defined by their relationships with the Soviet Union,
which oscillated between repression and limited reform, until Mikhail Gorbachev’s
policies led to the collapse of communist governments in Eastern Europe and the
fall of the Soviet Union.
a.
Nations within soviet bloc followed economic model based on central planning,
extensive social welfare, and specialized production
b. Khrushchev’s De-Stalinization policies failed to meet economic goals which
prompted revolts
c. Gorbachev’s reforms of perestroika and glasnost failed to stop the Soviet
collapse
d. Rise of new nationalisms brought peaceful revolutions in most countries, but
war and genocide in the Balkans
Key Concept 4.3: During the 20th century, diverse intellectual and cultural movements
questioned the existence of objective knowledge, the ability of reason to arrive at truth,
and the role of religion in determining moral standards.
a. Existentialism and post-modernism
II. Science and technology yielded impressive material benefits but also caused immense
destruction and posed challenges to objective knowledge.
a. Development of nuclear weapons and power
b. Medical theories and technologies extended life but posed social and moral
questions
c. Military technologies made possible industrialized warfare, genocide, nuclear
proliferation, and the risk of global nuclear war
III. Organized religion continued to play a role in European social and cultural life, despite
the challenges of military and ideological conflict, modern secularism, and rapid
social changes.
a. Totalitarianism and communism brought mixed responses from the church
b. Reform in the Catholic church found expression in the 2nd Vatican Council
c. Increased immigration into Europe altered religious makeup
IV. During the 20th century, the arts were defined by experimentation, self-expression,
subjectivity, and the increasing influence of the US in both elite and popular culture.
a. New movements in the arts demolished existing aesthetic standards, explored
subconscious and subjective states, and satirized Western society and its values
b. Writers challenged traditional literary conventions, questioned western values,
and addressed controversial social and political issues
c. Increased imports of US technology and pop culture after WW2 generated
enthusiasm and criticism
Key Concept 4.4: Demographic changes, economic growth, total war, disruptions of
traditional social patterns, and competing definitions of freedom and justice altered the
experiences of everyday life.
I.
The 20th century was characterized by large scale suffering brought on by warfare and
genocide as well as tremendous improvements in the standard of living.
a. WW2 decimated a generation of Russian and German men, virtually destroyed
European Jewry, forced large-scale ethnic migrations, and undermined prewar
class hierarchies
b. Mass production, new food technologies, and industrial efficiency created a
consumer culture where disposable income increased
c. New communication and transportation technologies multiplied connections
across space and time
II. The lives of women were defined by family and work responsibilities, economic changes,
and feminism.
a. During world wars, women became more involved in economic production
b. Women gained right to vote, greater educational opportunities, and access to
professional careers
c. Baby boom
d. New modes of marriage, partnership, motherhood, divorce, and reproduction
gave women more options in their personal lives
e. Women attained high political office and increased their representation in
legislative bodies in many nations
III. New voices gained prominence in political, intellectual, and social discourse.
a. Green parties challenged consumerism, urged sustainable development, and
cautioned again globalization
b. Gay and lesbian movements worked for expanded rights
c. Intellectuals and youth reacted against perceived bourgeois materialism and
decadence
d. Many immigrants moved to western and central Europe during economic
growth in 1950s and 1960s but became targets for anti-immigration in 1970s
http://chnm.gmu.edu/1989/ Overview of the fall of communism in 1989 in Eastern Europe
Chapter 29: The Cold War and Postwar Economic Recovery: 1945-1970
Assignment 1
Define/Identify: Cold War, iron curtain, Winston Churchill, occupation zones, Berlin Blockade, Konrad
Adenauer, West Germany (Federal Republic of Germany, East Germany (German Democratic Republic),
buffer zone, containment, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), Warsaw Pact, nuclear club, United
Nations, decolonization, third world, Nikita Khrushchev, Ho Chi Minh, domino theory
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Read the Section on The Visual Record: Europe in Ruins. Why was Warsaw considered a
“vanished city”? What did architects and planners consult to rebuild the city? By what year was
Warsaw considered rebuilt?
Read the Map Discovery on p. 900 and answer the questions.
What countries did the USSR annex after the war? What was the purpose of the annexation of
these countries? What 6 countries were considered “behind” the iron curtain?
What was the American approach to post-war Germany? What was the Soviet Union’s approach
to a post-war Germany? What four countries split Germany?
Why did the Soviets blockade Berlin in 1948? How did the US respond?
How did East and West Germany differ?
What was the purpose of NATO? Why did the French withdraw in 1966?
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
What was the purpose of the Warsaw Pact?
When did the USSR explode its first nuclear weapon?
By 1974, what countries had nuclear weapons?
How did Soviet foreign policy change following the death of Joseph Stalin?
When did Great Britain give India its independence?
What country owned most of Indochina (Vietnam) prior to 1954? How and why did the US get
involved?
14. What did British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan mean when he spoke of “winds of change” in
Africa?
15. Why did the French seek to keep Algeria? What was the result?
16. How were Cold War tensions expressed in the Middle East? Latin America? Cuba?
BPQ: Why did the Cold War emerge in Europe following WWII?
ASSIGNMENT 2
Define/Identify: Marshall Plan, European Recovery Act, John Maynard Keynes, “priming the pump”,
OEEC (Office of European Economic, Cooperation), Benelux, Schuman Plan, European Coal and
Steel Community (ECSC), European Economic Community (EEC), Common Market, Comecon,
Nikita Khrushchev, de-Stalinization, Imre Nagy, Wladislaw Gomulka, Alexander Dubcek, Prague
Spring, “socialism with a human face”, Marshall Tito
1. What advantages did the US have over Europe and the USSR following WW2?
2. What problems faced Europe in the years immediately following WW2?
3. What two countries did the Soviets aspire to control but were rebuffed by the US?
4. What two conditions had to be met in order to gain aid from the Marshall Plan?
5. Was the USSR eligible for aid? What happened?
6. How much aid was pumped into western Europe?
7. Was the Marshall Plan successful? How did the Soviets see it?
8. What kids of social programs were introduced in Western Europe to prevent the economic problems
of the 1930s?
9. How should governments regulate economics and inflation according to Keynes?
10. How were the formation of Benelux and the Schuman Plan important first steps to European
cooperation?
11. What was the purpose of the EEC? What six countries were the original members? When did
Great Britain join?
12. What was the purpose of Comecon? How was it similar and different to the Marshall Plan? Who
benefited the most from it?
13. Why did Stalin seek satellite states around the USSR? What was the state of the Soviet economy
at the death of Stalin?
14. How did Khrushchev portray Stalin at the 20 th Party Congress?
15. How did Eastern Europe respond to de-Stalinization? How did the Soviets respond?
16. What was the experience of Soviet women after the war?
17. What impact did the prosperity of West Berlin have on East Berlin? How did the Soviets respond
in 1961?
18. Make a chart of the de-Stalinization movements in Poland, E. Germany, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia. Identify their goals and objectives and how the Soviets responded.
BPQ: How and why did the West and the Soviets respond to the major problems and issues facing
Europe in the 20 years following WWII?
ASSIGNMENT 3
Define/Identify: Welfare State, Pronatalism, The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir, The Feminine
Mystique, Betty Friedan, generation gap, sexual revolution,
1. How did the idea and implementation of the Welfare State differ in France, Germany, and Great
Britain? What about the rest of Europe?
2. How did consumption patterns change in the 1950s? Why? What were the new popular
consumption items?
3. What impact did the welfare state have on women?
4. How and why did family size change following WW2? What new technologies made it easier?
5. Why did countries seek to encourage larger families?
6. Why were there such a large number of immigrants from Southern Europe?
7. What new issues influenced the Women’s movements of the 1960s?
8. Read the document, The Second Sex on p. 920 and answer the Focus questions.
9. What issues were the main concern of young people in the 1960s?
10. What was the Sexual Revolution? How did it fit the values and ideas of the time?
11. The student protests of the 1960s and 1970s were mainly about what issue? What social class was
behind most of these protests?
12. Read the document “Subterranean Homesick Blues” on p. 923 and answer the Focus Questions.
13. Why did the French students protest in 1968? What were the main issues? What was the result?
BPQ: What led to the development of the Welfare State and how did it affect common life?
CHAPTER 30: THE END OF THE COLD WAR….1970 TO PRESENT.
ASSIGNMENT 4
Define/Identify: Brezhnev Doctrine, détente, Leonid Brezhnev, Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
(SALT I), Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) (Star Wars), samizdat, Andrei Sakharov, Alexander
Solzhenitsyn, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, The Gulag Archipelago, Mikhail Gorbachev,
glasnost, perestroika, Boris Yeltsin, Solidarity, Lech Walesa, Vaclav Havel, velvet revolution, Nicolae
Ceaucescu, nationalities problem, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
1. Read the section on “The Berlin Wall Comes Down”. How many East Germans migrated to the
West in the 1950s? When did the East German government open the WALL?
2. Why did the US refuse to sign SALT II?
3. What contributions did Sakharov, Solzhenitsyn, and Medvedev make to the dissent movement in
the USSR?
4. What problems plagued the Soviet economy in the 1980s? What was the typical experience when
purchasing food or basic supplies?
5. What role did the black market play in the Soviet economy.
6. What role did the Brezhnev Doctrine play in Eastern Europe in 1989?
7. Make a chart of the Fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Countries are Poland, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, East Germany. What were the main issues that led to the end of communist
rule? Who led the revolution? What was the end result of the revolution?
8. How were East and West Germany supposed to be treated in matters related to trade?
9. When was Germany fully re-unified? What fears did other countries have? What about Germans?
10. Read the section on Televisions. What impact did it have “behind” the wall? What role does it
play in mass politics?
11. Read the document, Career Advancement, Communist Style and answer the Focus questions.
12. How did communism erode in the USSR? What events led Yeltsin to replace Gorbachev?
13. What economic issues faced the new government in Russia? What ethnic issues faced the new
government?
14. What countries joined the CIS? When did the USSR end?
15. What new issues faced the CIS?
BPQ: Why did the soviet/communist governments in Eastern Europe fall?
ASSIGNMENT 5
Define/Identify: Ethnic Cleansing, Chechnya, Balkans, Balkanization, Bosnia, Marshall Tito, Serbia,
Kosovo, moujahedeen, Dayton Accords, Croatia, Albania
1.
2.
3.
What economic role did Chechnya play for the Russians?
Read the document about the woman reporter in Chechnya and answer the focus questions.
What were the three largest republics in Yugoslavia? Why did these ethnic groups have such
dislike for each other?
4. What group did the Serbs target for ethnic cleansing?
5. Describe the economic situation in Albania?
BPQ: How did ethnic tensions cause more bloodshed and problems in Eastern Europe?
ASSIGNMENT 6
Define/Identify: OPEC, European Community, EFTA European Free Trade Association, Euro, European
Union, Maastricht Treaty (1991), Red Army Faction, Red Brigades, jihad,
1.
2.
What was the purpose of the EEC?
Trace the emergence of the European Union through the series of acts and agreements that
ultimately led to the Maastricht Treaty in 1991.
3. What member country in the EU has been most resistant to the movements to integration? Why?
4. What 10 new states were added to the EU in 2004?
5. What is the EU’s flag and anthem?
6. Why were immigrants coming into Europe in the last ¼ of the 20 th century? What role did they
serve?
7. What is meant by the term “myth of return”?
8. What problems do those immigrants face?
9. Read the document on the “Return of Fascism” and answer the focus questions.
10. What did the French government do in the name of religious freedom that upset many Muslims?
11. What rights did women gain in the 1970s? What issues still are unresolved?
12. What was the situation in the USSR for women?
13. How did terrorism become a tool of mass politics?
BPQ: Why did Europe see a need to eliminate political, economic, and cultural boundaries?
FINISHED!!