Long Essay Question answers periods 1 & 2 Question 1

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  The League of Nations failed to accomplish its main goals of avoiding and mediating international conflict.
  
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  The League of Nations succeeded in accomplishing its goals in the long-run for peace and stability in the world.
  
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  The League of Nations managed some important achievements which were overshadowed by the momentous failures leading to World War II.
  

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  The absence of major world powers, such as the United States, Soviet Union and Germany, deprived the League of Nations of its credibility and undermined its ability to impose any decisions upon the world community.
  
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  The League of Nations issued mandates for territories seized from Central Powers during World War I and effectively granted control of those territories in Asia and Africa to the British and French.
  
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    Native groups throughout Asia and Africa chafed under the mandates which granted colonial control to the British and French in opposition to the claim of nationalistic groups of the regions under the guise of locals not yet being ready for self-rule.
    
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    The mandate policy led to continued colonial unrest throughout Africa and Asia, particularly in the Middle East.
    
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  The history of the League of Nations is one example after another of its inability to intervene to prevent aggression by expansionistic states.
  
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    Under Mussolini, Italy seized Ethiopia and the League of Nations was powerless to stop the conflict.
    
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    The League of Nations condemned but could not prevent Japanese seizure of Manchuria nor invasion of China.
    
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    The League of Nations stood powerless as Hitler moved Germany towards war by remilitarizing the Rhineland, uniting with Austria, and seizing the Sudetenland.
    

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  The League of Nations was an important step in the development of international cooperation and conflict resolution.
  
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    The League gave lesser nations an avenue to air their grievances against more powerful states and to seek redress.
    
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    The League of Nations laid the groundwork for the type of international cooperation and consensus that would be essential for the United Nations to be more successful as an international agency in later decades.
    
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    The League of Nations, although powerless to oppose aggression on its own, provided the framework and voice to the condemnation of the actions of the Axis powers prior to World War II which led to the Alliance of the majority of nations against the Axis in World War II.
    
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  The Mandate System, although unpopular, provided a measure of stability to recently liberated territories rather than leaving them exposed to the territorial expansion of other powers or re-conquest by their previous overlords.
  

Students earn points by using the evidence offered in support of their argument to identify and illustrate continuity and change over time. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

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  The League of Nations was an important, if not terribly successful, step on the road to international cooperation and conflict resolution.
  
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    The League of Nations presaged the United Nations, but also other international organizations such as the European Union.
    

Students can earn the point for synthesis by crafting a persuasive and coherent essay. This can be accomplished by providing a conclusion that extends or modifies the analysis in the essay or by connecting to another historical period or context. Examples could include, but are not limited to, the following:

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  The League of Nations saw a globalization of political and diplomatic affairs in much the same way that commerce, industry and business became globalized throughout the 20^th century.
  

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  The Reformation brought dramatic changes to the lives and views of Europeans.
  
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  The Reformation changed some aspects of European society but had little impact on the majority of people and the majority of world views.
  
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  The Reformation had little significant impact upon the worldview of Europeans, simply substituting one set of beliefs that mirrored those they replaced.
  

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  The Reformation split Europe into different Christian factions; however, the vast majority of Europeans remained Christian and identified more closely with other Europeans than other groups from around the world as a result.
  
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  While the Reformation changed many people’s religious outlook, their political and ethnic perspectives remained unchanged.
  
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    Europeans remained distrusting of the Muslims of North Africa and the Middle East, while viewing the natives of the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa as almost sub-human.
    
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  In the wake of the Reformation, the political status of most of Europe remained unchanged. Monarchs and nobles continued to dominate politics and even, at times, dominated religious determination for a region.
  
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    As seen in the Holy Roman Empire after the Peace of Augsburg, nobles continued to dominate the lives of their subjects through their ability to dictate the religion of the region.
    

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  The ideas of Protestant reformers changed the way in which many Europeans viewed their roles in life and the path for a religious life.
  
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    Luther’s ideas about “Justification by Faith” removed the compulsion to do good works from the forefront of the actions of many people.
    
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    Calvin’s doctrine of predestination removed from the lives of the faithful the precept of having to earn a place in Heaven.
    
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    The role of the papacy as an institution worthy of loyalty and subservience was undercut by the positions of Luther, Calvin, Henry VIII and others.
    
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      The replacement of the Pope with various other religious or political leaders throughout different regions of Europe was a dramatic shift in the religious and political outlook of millions of Europeans.
      
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    Radical reformers, such as the Anabaptists, caused dramatic turmoil with their dismissal of many of the cornerstone beliefs of Christianity and society.
    
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  Although religious wars were nothing new to Europe, the concept of different Christian groups fighting one another for religious reasons was a new twist on an old concept.
  
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    Whereas the Muslims had been the traditional religious enemy from the Crusades, this religious zeal was now directed at non-conformist Christian groups within Europe.
    
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    The Wars of religion within France pitted Christian against Christian in addition to the traditional factional fighting within the same national/ethnic group as typically seen in civil war.
    
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  Differing religious affiliation became a new source of agitation for independence within European states and helped to split people from their loyalty to traditional dynastic authorities.
  
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    The various conflicts within the Holy Roman Empire, such as the Thirty Years’ War, were largely a result of a desire for religious freedom as much as political or constitutional disputes.
    
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    The push for Protestant Dutch independence from Catholic Spain was religious in nature rather than solely ethnic or cultural.
    

Students earn points by using the evidence offered in support of their argument to identify and illustrate continuity and change over time. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

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  The intolerance of religious diversity seen in the wake of the Reformation paralleled the persecutions of heretics, Jews, and Muslims which had been common throughout the Middle Ages.
  

Students can earn the point for synthesis by crafting a persuasive and coherent essay. This can be accomplished by providing a conclusion that extends or modifies the analysis in the essay or by connecting to another historical period or context. Examples could include, but are not limited to, the following.

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  The rise of religious divisions within Europe accompanied the rise of stronger states and monarchies throughout the continent, as religion was frequently used as a pretext by states to justify war.
  

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  Fascism reshaped the perspective of Europeans regarding ethnicity, politics, and society.
  
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  Fascism changed important aspects of Europeans’ worldview but significant portions of society continued unchanged.
  
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  Fascism failed to reshape Europe and simply reiterated views and policies which had existed for centuries.
  

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  Fascism placed the needs of the state above all others under the direction of an authoritarian dictator.
  
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    The preeminence of the state was not a new concept, and in many ways the policies of fascism were not significantly different from earlier authoritarian regimes.
    
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  One of the goals of fascist regimes, from Mussolini to Hitler to Franco, was opposition to what they viewed as radical leftist ideals such as communism and the preservation of traditional authority and property rights.
  
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  In many ways the rise of fascism was a continuation of the bitterness and struggle from World War I.
  
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    In the cases of both Hitler and Mussolini, they used the supposed injustices to their countries in the World War I peace settlements as a justification for their belligerent tactics.
    
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  The ultra-nationalism of the fascist states was an exaggeration of the nationalist movements that had begun and spread throughout the continent in the 19^th century.
  
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  The anti-Semitism of the Nazis and others was consistent with the centuries of persecution faced by Jews periodically for centuries in Europe.
  

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  Fascist regimes replaced the tumultuous parliamentary systems of Europe with decisive, authoritarian state control.
  
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    This approach resolved issues of internal conflict and instability but at the price of individual freedoms and rights.
    
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  The wars started by the likes of Mussolini, Hitler and Franco stamped out millions of lives throughout Europe.
  
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    Franco’s Spanish Civil War divided and destroyed much of Spain’s economy with a devastating impact on its population.
    
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    Mussolini’s invasions of Ethiopia, Albania, and Greece in addition to Italy’s union with Germany in declaring war on France and the rest of the Allies cost millions of lives.
    
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    Hitler’s belligerent actions culminating in the invasion of Poland and later Russia was the spark for the death of millions and the destruction of many of the major cities of Europe.
    
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    The demographic impact of the war and it death toll on combatants and civilians would be felt in Europe for decades.
    
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  Hitler’s particular brand of anti-Semitism was unique in its virulence and systematic alienation and murder of Jews throughout the continent.
  
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  European states would spend decades rebuilding their economies and infrastructure from the turmoil of World War II unleashed by the fascist states.
  

Students earn points by using the evidence offered in support of their argument to identify and illustrate continuity and change over time. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

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  The fascist regimes were a rival of authoritarian government in opposition to the liberal democracies that had arisen in the 19^th and early 20^th century.
  
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  Fascist regimes’ state control resembled earlier authoritarian regimes such as absolute monarchies or even the imperial despotism of ancient Rome.
  

Students can earn the point for synthesis by crafting a persuasive and coherent essay. This can be accomplished by providing a conclusion that extends or modifies the analysis in the essay or by connecting to another historical period or context. Examples could include, but are not limited to, the following.

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  The policies of Fascist government bore a striking resemblance to the absolute monarchies of earlier eras.
  
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  The cult of personality surrounding leaders such as Mussolini and Hitler was similar to the pageantry surrounding earlier monarchs such as Louis XIV.