Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for History

Age of Dryden (Restoration) till the Death of Druden (1700)

Satire and drama. Theatres had been closed because of being illegal and immoral by Puritans but they opened thanks to royal support.

The Age of Pope-Swift (Golden Age of Satire) till 1744

They represent satire. Augustan period till the death of Pope and Swift. Satire and the rise of the novel. They tried to kill the novel. The rise was illicit. It was an offensive reading, sexual and physically explicit. They had nothing to do with the rise of the novel, but for the fact that they were anti-novelists, trying to destroy the aesthetic of novels. GT is a book of satire criticizing novels. They represent the cultural elite, not the popular culture.

Age of Johnson

Sensibility or enlightenment....

Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa

The Role of Islam and Culture

Can democracy coexist with Islam in the MENA region? While some argue that Sharia law should be considered, the imposition of Islam on minorities raises concerns. A study by Jamal and Telsser found that both secular and Muslim individuals identify as democratic, suggesting that cultural factors alone may not hinder democracy.

Economic Development and Inequality

Applying Lipset's theory, which links economic prosperity with democratic sustainability, we see that some Arab countries are wealthy, even rivaling established democracies. However, per capita income doesn't reflect wealth distribution. The UN Human Development Index, which considers factors like urbanization and...

MA 4: Key Periods and Concepts

Revolution (1640-1653)

Beginning with the Long Parliament, this era saw the beheading of King Charles I. Religious problems became politically charged, leading to a separation and confrontation between Royalists and Republicans. Theaters closed as a form of repression, and poetics shifted towards a Plainstyle.

The Commonwealth (1649-1659)

This republic, also known as the Protectorate, ruled England, Ireland, and Scotland. Diverse political and religious groups, characterized by radicalism, emerged. Literature grappled with the question of social order. The Protestant idea of 'inner light' as God's grace became politically significant.

The Restoration (1660-1688)

The Stuart monarchy returned with Charles II and later...

The Role of Congress and the President

22. In the United States, the executive branch, separate from Congress, is not dependent on majority support.

23. In the United States, it is more difficult for a government to fall, resulting in early legislative elections.

Parliamentary Systems

24. In a parliament, leaders can obtain ministerial jobs, but could fail to re-nominate disloyal members.

25. In the United States, congressional members have less party loyalty and do not risk losing their seats.

Presidential Elections

26. From the 1820s to the 1850s, presidential elections would be temporary and weaker.

27. Roughly from the 1830s to the 1850s, the Democratic Party was elected by popular vote and supported a stronger national government, a national bank,

Mao Zedong's Social Policies

Mao Zedong implemented a series of social policies aimed at transforming Chinese society. These policies included:

1. Organic Law: Served as the constitution until 1954, establishing a coalition government.
2. Mass Line: Involved CCP officials working closely with the people.
3. Continuous Revolution & Rectification: Encouraged criticism and self-criticism to shape people's thoughts.
4. Hundred Flowers Campaign (1957): Initially removed censorship for six weeks but ended in purges of intellectuals and opposition during the Anti-Rightist Campaign.
5. Thought Reform Movement (1951): Focused on arts, documents, and literature.
6. Land Reforms: Aimed to remove the bourgeois class.
7. Organizations: Established groups like the National Women'

The Russian Revolution is dated to November 1917 (October 1917 on the Russian calendar), when Bolshevik Party forces took over the government offices in Petrograd. However, the problems that led toward revolution had been developing for generations. The revolution’s consequences, too, were far-reaching—the Communist Party, which formed to lead post-revolutionary Russia, remained in power until 1991.

Causes of the Russian Revolution

• Widespread suffering under **autocracy**—a form of government in which one person, in this case the **Czar**, has absolute power.
• Weak leadership of **Czar Nicholas II**, who clung to autocracy despite changing times.
• Poor working conditions, low wages, and hazards of industrialization.
• Emergence of new revolutionary

England in the Eighteenth Century

Two parables exist about the making and meanings of the British Empire. The first involves a man shipwrecked on a desert island. Despair gives way to resolution, Protestant faith, and ingenuity, allowing him to subdue his environment. He encounters a black man, names him, and makes him a servant. Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) portrays empire-making as seizing land, planting it, and changing it, employing guns, technology, trade, and the Bible to impose rule and subordinate those of different skin pigmentation or religion.

Critique of Empire: Gulliver's Perspective

Gulliver observed that locals were deemed "harmless people" due to their perceived weakness. Consequently, their lands were seized and renamed....

Main Causes of the Cold War

• The Soviet Union aimed to spread its communist ideology globally, which alarmed the United States, who opposed the political system.
• The acquisition of nuclear weapons by the Soviet Union dramatically alerted the United States.
• Both countries feared an attack from the other.
• The American president had a personal aversion to Russian President Josef Stalin.
• The Soviets feared that the United States would use Western Europe as a base to attack the Soviet Union.

Major Conflicts During the Cold War

Korean War

• Dates: June 25, 1950 - July 17, 1953
• Causes: North Korea invaded South Korea, and both governments claimed the entire territory. North Korea wanted to integrate South Korea into the Communist Bloc.
• Winner: None. A truce and

The First World War

The First World War (1914-1918) was the most serious international conflict that the world had experienced at the time. Countries on different continents entered the combat. In 1918, the fighting stopped, and peace negotiations began. The first peace treaty was signed in 1919. Known at the time as the "Great War," all countries tried to create a network of alliances that would prepare them for war. The war began with the assassination of the heir of Austria. Heads of state of countries were prime.

The Moroccan Crisis

There were several conflicts in the early twentieth century, including the Agadir incident. Agadir was a port town with a natural interest to many powers. Germany claimed that that aspect, rather than being only...

Radical-CEDA Biennium (1933-1936)

With the victory of the center-right, the President instructed the government to make radical changes. Lerroux acted against Gil Robles and the CEDA, considering its political discourse too totalitarian and sympathetic to fascism. Agrarian reform was paralyzed with the Reform Act of Agrarian Reform. The delivery process of land was stopped, rural settlers were expelled, and expropriated land was returned to its former owners. Moreover, the freedom of contract and wage setting in the countryside was decreed.

Military reform was arrested, and key military positions were given to Goded, Cabanellas, Mola, and Franco, some well-known anti-republicans. Religious and educational policy also underwent radical change....