Nations and Empires, 1850-1914
After you read the assigned section, you need to answer the following questions for that section in note form. You also need to come up with one significant question of your own and answer it. Be prepared for a homework check or a possible reading quiz each day.
Assignment 1pages 277-278, 280-283 (stop at Contradictions) Canada
and Nationalism
1. Why has Canada historically and in the present day had problems with national
identity?
2. Discuss the significance of the creation of Italy and Germany as two new unified countries in Europe.
Assignment 2 pages 284-285 2nd Industrial Revolution
1. What characterized the Second Industrial Revolution? How was it different
from the First?
2. How did the growth of industrialization lead to an integrated world economy?
Assignment 3 pages 286-288 New Imperialism
1. Why was the British colonization of India considered a model for other
Western colonizing powers?
2. How did the Dutch treat the Indonesians? Was the “Ethical Policy” a
legitimate way to improve relations?
Assignment 4 pages 288-294 Scramble for Africa
1. “Nearly 70 percent of the newly drawn borders failed to correspond
to older demarcations of ethnicity, language, culture and commerce, as Europeans
knew little of the continent beyond its coasts and rivers” (288). Why
was this the case?
2. What factors were used to make sure that maintaining
colonies were worth the trouble?
Assignment 5 pages 297-300 Japan
Assignment 6 pages 297-306 Russia, China
1. Why was Russia undergoing international tensions as well as domestic problems?
2. Why did the Chinese ignore the Western threat longer than the Russians
and Japanese?
Making Connections
Assignments 1-3
Assignments 4-6
Supplementary Resources
“
Are Canadians Really Different?” from Maclean’s
Excerpt from William Graham Sumner’s What Social Classes Owe to Each
Other
Imperialism Reading
“
The Scramble for Africa” Africa News Service
“
French Colonial Expansion” by Jules Ferry
Photo presentation on Japan