This assignment is 25% of your final IB grade! This could be the deciding factor between getting college credit for taking this two year course, and not.
It is extremely important for you to take this assignment seriously, and to begin working on it as soon as possible.
* Please reply to this post by including your three tentative H.I. topic questions, using the IB History question format.
* Please respond to at least one persons post. You can provide feedback to the questions that they posted, ask questions, or provide help with their research.
Thank you!
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36 comments:
1.) What actions by Joseph stalin positioned him as a worthy successor to Lenin after his death in 1924?
2.) How significant was Gregori Rasputin towards Nicholas II's and the tsarina's autocracy in Russia during the war?
3.) Was Russia more stabilized under Stalin's first Five Year Plan than Lenin's New Economic Policy?
John-
The content of all three of your questions is detailed and well thought out. See my comments below.
Question 1: Was Stalin a "worthy successor"? Many, including Lenin, didn't think he was.
Suggestions: To what extent did Stalin postition himself to become Lenin's successor? or Assess the ways in which Stalin positioned himself to become Lenin's successor.
Question 2: To what extent did Rasputin influence Tsar Nicholas II's rule?
Question 3: Great Question! "Stabilized" from? In what way? Reword using IB style format.
Overall, great job! This is a good start.
Mr. O.
Thanks Mr. Owens for restating my questions to the IB format and hopefully for the actual paper i will have a similar format for my question...one problem is i am missing some papers for my summer assignment, exactly 6 pages
1.) To what extent did the identity transformations of Stalin effect the transfer of power between Lenin and Stalin after the death of Lenin?
2.) To what extent did Krupskya effect the transfer power between Lenin and Stalin?
3.) In what ways did Mao's environment effect the shaping of his revolutionary ideology?
John- No problem. Glad to help. Sorry about the missing pages. You can either get them from someone else over the summer, or come in the last week of August, and I can give you the pages.
Ashley,
Nice questions, that stick to the IB question format.
1. Can you explain where you want to go with this one?
2. Cool. I think you will find, that she had little to do with Stalin's rise to power, and, once he was in power, he shut her up rather quickly.
3. Great!
3.
In regards to the first question, I had read in a biography that Stalin essentially went through three transformations in the shaping of the terrible dictator that later rose to power. I wanted to look into these identity transfers and see how this effected the way he went about his manipulation and eventual rise to power.
As for number 2, I wanted to look into the phone call that was made and the things that were said to her by Stalin and see how that made Lenin's view of him change dramatically. I do, however, know that she dropped off the radar after his rise and would like to see what exactly happened to her.
:D
Ashley,
Thanks for the details. Both questions seem interesting and suitable for your H.I. I just finished reading the same Stalin Bio myself. I remember you were using it for an H.I. presentation with Mr. Kaitz.
So, at this point, it is really up to you to decide which question you want to tackle. I personally like your second question the best, but that's just me. :)
I agree Ashley that second question will give you many doors to writing your paper (thus many sources), yet it is still specific enough to suffice the IB criteria...good in general
John, thatnk you for your comment!
I personally like your third question because it has a lot to debate about regarding Lenin and Stalin and is specific enough for IB land's criteria!
Could i 1.)Analyze as to why the ideals and information brought forth in Lenin’s letter to the congress and the Bolshevik party, were set aside in favor of “ new” ideals by Joseph Stalin, and the political conflict that emerged at the same time of Lenin’s death.
2.)To what extent can it be said that Rasputin held a significant influence over the tsarina, as oppose to the rules and laws brought upon Russia being a result of her personal objectives.
3.)Had Trotsky prevailed over Stalin’s influence on the party, would Russia have benefited through his plans, or if possible, suffered more than what had occurred under Stalin's reign.
1) to what extent did the paractice of indoctrination under Mao effect the culture of communist china?
2) How did the result of the cuban missile crisis contribute to the fall of the soviet union?
3) how did american propaganda lead to the alienation and eventual collapse of the soviet union.
I reallylike ashley's forst quesion it seems really interseting and like it would be easy to research.
1. How was Hitler able to gain control of Germany with his fascist ideas despite an increasing democratic and social democratic sentiment in the country?
2. In what ways did the post-WWI punishments imposed on Germany spur on a resentment of the victors and a need for revenge?
3. How did the alienation of Germany and Russia from the rest of the world after WWI affect the relations of the two countries in the interwar years?
Sinjin, despite your gratuitous plethora of spelling errors, I think your first question is very interesting because under communist rule, religion was outlawed, even though for centuries China was a very spiritual country with different religions. So it will be interesting to see how religion being abolished has affected the people.
what events and factors led to benito mussolini's takeover of the parliamentary government in Italy?
to what extent was the treaty of Versailles successful in crippling Germany economically and politically?
to what extent was Adolf Hitler's ideology influenced by his personal life?
I personally like Errol's first question, because it's kind of interesting to investigate how a country on the democratic rise would suddenly turn on a dime like Germany and Italy did.
1) How crucial a role did the introduction and distribution of Mao’s Little Red Book play in him maintaining power of China’s communist regime?
2) How much influence did Soviet policy play in the formation of China’s communist government?
3) To what extent can it be stated that Mao’s Cultural Revolution was a success?
Steven I really like your last question because it seems like it could be a really interesting topic if you were able to find out info about Hitler’s personal life that might not really be that well known but shaped and influenced who he became.
1. To what extent was Mao's Cultural Revolution effective in re-educating the children?
2. How significant were Deng Xiaoping leadership bring economic reforms to China? To what extent did his economic reforms reverse Mao's damages to China's economy.
3. Access the amount of control mao has on the flow of events during the Cultural Revolution.
Naikia I like your 2nd topic question because it incorporates the Soviet Union and China, ratehr tahn just talking about China. This way it would be more interesting to read the paper.
1) How does the re-education of the youth during the Chinese Cultural Revolution compare to the formation and educating of Hitler's youth?
2) How did the philosophies presented in the country-wide distributed Little Red Book help or hinder Mao in controlling the populace?
3) How connected is the concept Maoism used throughout Mao's time in power to the original communist concept of Marxism?
Gladymir, I love your second topic! I did my practice HI on Rasputin's influence on declining Russia, and should you choose it the only thing I would warn against would be to not focus as much on the sensationalizing of Rasputin as a legend, but rather how his ideas and policies affected the tsarina in the long run.
To what extent does each major conflict in the late 1800s and early 1900s boil down to the neverending battle between the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariot, despite the uniqueness of each one?
How did Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” both fulfill and inhibit his plans for Communist China?
Based on the reaction of the masses, in which World War did propaganda play the more crucial role?
I also like Naika's second question the most because I think that as long as theyre not too broad, the topics that go more into the influences between different countries are the most interesting.
Also, I like Ashley's third question because it reflects on how all revolutionary leaders are a product of their environment, like Lenin.
O.J I think your 3rd question is too broad and personnaly I like your 2nd question (cuz it's China).
Haha I agree Julie, but that's a topic I was interested in investigating, i just didn't know how to narrow it down properly :P
Gladymir,
You pose some interesting questions. One thing that you need to focus on first: the wordiness of your questions. Remember. Say more with less. Always reread something that you write, and ask yourself if you can cut out any unnecessary words. One way to do this is to "Read for flow as you go". As you write something, stop occasionally, and read for the document's flow.
Question 1: The political conflict that you are referring to, would have to be discussed in the first part of your question.
Question 2: Okay, but wordy. See John's similar question in his first post.
Question 3: This is one of those "what if" questions, that historians love debate. The problem with them, however, there is little to no evidence to back one's arguments. As interesting as it is, I would stay away from this one.
At this point, I would say that your strongest question is question 1. If you want to use it, clean it up a bit and let me know what you come up with.
Well done.
Sinjin,
Good use of the IB terminology. I would recommend going with your firs question, as the other two have not really been discussed in the first year of the IB course. They would require much more independent research on your part, however, if you are up to the challenge than that is fine. Just remember that your senior year is very hectic.
Question 2: Did the Cuban Missle Crisis bring an end to the Soviet Union? This would be hard to prove, as the Soviet Union did not fall until the 1990s.
Question 3: Interesting question. I would like to hear more about this one, before I sign off on it.
Can you elaborate on your comment to Ashley?
Thanks!
Errol,
First, great response to Sinjin. I think you really captured where he was going in his first question.
Your questions are well thought out, and appropriate for this type of assignment. I think you could run with any of them. Let me know what you decide.
Nice job!
Steven,
Interesting post. I like the first two questions the most, and I would recommend staying away from the third. Its been done.
If you decide to go with the first one, I have a great journal reading that might help with your research. I think we are all going to read it when we get to WWII. It proved useful for many on last year's exam.
Well done.
Naika,
Great questions. Very detailed and well thought out. You could run with any of these. I would caution you about your first one, however. Excellently specific, but might be tough to research. If you really have your heart set on it, do some preliminary research and see what you come up with.
Nice job.
Jamie,
Great response to Gladymir.
Your questions, too, are detailed and appropriate for the H.I. I personally think your first and third questions are the best I have seen thus far.
Well done. Let me know what you decide to go with.
O.J.,
Very interesting questions. Your first and third questions, while well thought out, are probably too big in their scope for this type of assignment. Rather, these are more appropriate for a term paper, or a PHD dissertation. Julie is right, and not because it has to do with China ( :) ), your second question is probably the most appropriate for the H.I. We can work on the details in September.
Well done.
1.) What actions of Tsar Nicholas and by extention, his family, led to his eventual downfall?
2.) How was Stalin's Russia a betrayal of the original Marxist principles?
3.) How did Rasputin gain so much power within the Russian government,and how did his influence lead to the asassination of the tsar?
Errol's first question got me thinking of this one:
4.) What actions could the government in Germany have taken in order to prevent Hitler's rise to power?
I read somewhere that because the Wiemar republic had such a strong sense of democracy they would never think of denying ANYONE the freedom of speech. This meant that there was no way to truly put a stop to any of their oppressors....
ps. OJ, I definetly see why you were interested in the propaganda aspect...maybe if you chose one war and investigated how the propaganda swayed the war in the favor of a particular country, or out of the favor of another...??
I agree Rachel I like that idea and will definatley put it under consideration :) I still really would rather investigate my first topic because recurring themes appeal to me but I also realize that the scope is far to wide for this assignment
Rachel,
Great questions! I think your second question is your strongest option for the H.I., as the first and third questions are visited a lot by students. The second question is more original, and would require a more philisophical/historical response. As for your fourth question, I think it poses an interesting debate, but it is one of those "what if" type questions. I would stay away from it for the H.I., since it requires so much evidence to support your argument.
Well done.
...okay, am I the only one who doesn't know who John is? just curious.
How come Mr. Owens replied to everyones' post but not mine?
Steven- John is Joao :)
Julie,
WHAT!? I can't believe I missed your post. See. What happened was... I was waiting to see if you noticed that I didn't respond to your post. :)
Seriously, your questions are well formated and certainly appropriate for the H.I. I would say, however, that your first and second questions are your strongest. The latter, would need to be revised to make it shorter and only one question, but it is still appropriate. If you choose to write about the first question, do some preliminary research first, to see how much information comes up.
Otherwise, great job!
1. What is the significance of the cartoon titled "The Myths of Vietnam" appeared in a US newspaper in 1975?
1)How did Nero's cross become what is known today as the peace symbol?
2)To what extent is Germany responsible for the death of the Romanov Family?
3)What were the causes of the assasniation of the Romanov Family?
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