...AP ® WORLD HISTORY Modified Essay Questions for Exam Practice This document provides modifications of the AP World History Comparative and Continuity and Change-Over-Time (CCOT) essay questions from the 2002 to the 2010 operational exams. The modified questions provide examples of essay questions that align more closely with the Curriculum Framework for the revised course as of the 2011-12 academic year. The accompanying rationale for each question explains the revisions. 2 Mission Statement The College Board’s mission is to connect students to college success and opportunity. We are a not-for-profit membership organization committed to excellence and equity in education. About the College Board The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Today, the membership association is made up of more than 5,900 of the world’s leading educational institutions and is dedicated to promoting excellence and equity in education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success — including the SAT® and the Advanced Placement Program®. The organization also serves the education community through research and advocacy on behalf of students, educators and schools. For further...
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...War is one of the most tragic things in our world today. It is even sadder that usually it comes around at least once in our lifetime. In the 20th century alone we have already had two huge wars. These wars were call the World Wars simply because they involved most of the big countries of the world. Many people have died in these wars.. especially the second World War. That is my focus for this essay. The leader of Germany at the time of WW2 and the person who most think started WW2 was a man named Adolf Hitler. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria. By the time that World War 1 started in 1914, he was living in Germany. He served well in the German Army and for that he earned a medal for bravery. At the end of the war Hitler decided to take up politics. By 1921 he was already the founding leader of the Nazi party. Hitler was an incredibly racist man and he had a great hate for Jews. By 1933, Hitler gained political power by winning the election. Soon after he made himself absolute dictator, calling himself the Fuhrer which means "Leader". By the end of the 30's he was already sending Jews off too concentration camps to meet a horrible death. I believe that Hitler was one of the greatest causes of World War 2. Although there are many other reasons, he was definitely one of them. Another reason was the Treaty of Versailles. This was the treaty that was signed at the end of World War 1. This treaty outlined the rules that...
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...the Nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek. The atrocities that followed shocked the world. Meanwhile, in 1936, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler moved aggressively into the Rhineland, previously a demilitarized zone, and in 1938, he incorporated Czechoslovakia and Austria into the Third Reich. By this time, the Western world was fully alert to the menace of the fanatically ambitious and confident Fuhrer. Then, in the early morning hours of September 1, 1939, Hitler sent his armies into Poland. Two days later, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Within a matter of weeks the Soviet Union, which had recently signed a non-aggression treaty with Hitler, attacked Poland from the east. Within a month, Polish resistance collapsed, and Warsaw fell. World War II had begun. In general, the American people did not want to have any part in a European war. They felt protected by great oceans on both sides of the North American continent. And they felt that, in World War I, American boys had fought and bled in France mostly to make fortunes for munitions makers and arms merchants. Moreover, the United States had allowed its armed forces to wither in the 1920s and 1930, so that when World War II broke out in Europe, its army of 190,000 men ranked about eighteenth in the global rankings, about on a par with Rumania and Bulgaria. HIDE FULL ESSAY The United States might never have entered World War II if Germany, Japan, and Italy had stopped after their initial conquests. But the...
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...Aftermath of a World War War has always had an impact on those in involved and others who are not. These impacts can affect everything as the forces at war clash. The countries go into overdrive and attempt to gain the upper hand in some way. Whether it is through technological advances, new weapons, or supplies. After any war has ended, there continues to be some impact, such as new borders, technologies, consequences for the losing side, and the rise of a new leader. World War 1 impacted the world in various ways, such as new technology, weapons, and economical and political problems. During the first war, a new type of weapon that is still used today was first introduced. The first tank to be introduced was the British Mark I, which was designed in 1915 (Mental Floss). The British Mark I intended to cross no man’s land and avoid being shredded by the power of the machines guns from the opposing side. These new armored vehicles proved successful and were improved and used more frequently throughout history. Another form of technology and weapon in the first World War was called the interrupter gear. The interrupter gear was used during air combat and allowed machine guns to be fired without the damaging the aircrafts propeller. This invention allowed for the pilots to fire between the blades of a spinning propeller (Mental Floss). These inventions were later updated or improved upon and used in future wars. The final outcome of the first World War was the defeat of Germany...
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...How World War II Changed Warfare How World War II Changed Warfare A man wearing olive drab pants and jacket slowly props the muzzle of his Thompson .45 Caliber Sub Machine Gun on a window seal of a half decimated apartment building. He lines up his sights and waits for the signal. He wears the “Screaming Eagle” patch of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division. Inserted into Bastogne, France via aerial assault from a C-47 Sky Train, in December 1944. Barrels pointed downward onto the rubble covered road. Passing over the road is a German Panzer Tank followed by a platoon of German soldiers carrying MP-40 Machine Pistols. As, the 101st nervously prepares to engage a Panzer Tank, which has them outmanned and outgunned, they hear a whistling sound in the distance believed to be an aircraft. Before they know a P-51 Mustang fighter plane, also known as a “Tank Killer” swoops in and knocks the Panzer out. Unexpectedly, the airborne troops open fire. A few long seconds later, the Panzer Tank sits smoldering in flames and a platoon of Nazis lays dead all around. Never before has the world, scene such a vast arsenal of weapons and tactics used. This will be reflected on the amount of lives, military and civilian, lost in the short span of 1939-1945. The devastation that took place would not just be repaired and forgotten. There is still evidence all over the Europe, North America, and Asia, of World War II and the lives that were lost. Not only was this the...
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...I picked two major and interesting reasons for why Allies won World War II in Europe against Germany. First, it is England. Historically, England did not allowed any attack to their country, except ancient Roman Empire. However, Adolf Hitler tried to occupy England without noticing those facts. Since Germany occupied Poland, Netherland, and France in short time England was the only left threat left to Germany. Even though Hitler dropped hundreds thousands bombs on the lands to defeat England, they did not surrender to Germany. Also, British Royal Air Force had air combat fighters named Spitfire, which made them available to fight against Messerschmitt which were German air combat fighters. Britain was not winning but either not defeated, thus it became very expensive long drawn fight for Germany. Second, it is mistake by Japan. December 7th 1941 Japan attacked American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This attack made the United States to join World War II. Japan showed strong confidence, because they had remarkable numbers of bomb and jets; 11 battleships, 10 carriers, 12 heavy cruisers, 25 light cruisers, 93 destroyers, 41 submarine, and 7500 combat fighters. Japan was fourth strongest country in Eurasia next to Germany, the Soviet Union, and England. Against Japan, the United States decided to defeat Japan using 10 percent of their military power out of whole military power; 295,429 combat aircrafts, 96,765 bombers, 98,686 combat fighters, 3,888 observation aircrafts...
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...In the book, The Best War Ever, Michael Adams states right away his main argument he intends to stress throughout the book. On the first page he states that we as Americans like to twist history so it makes ourselves look better. Adams says on page one, “Sometimes we conjure up the past in such a way that it appears better than it really was. We forget ugly things we did and magnify the good things. This is wishful thinking, the desire to retell our past not as it was but as we would like it to have been.”(1) Throughout the entire book Adams focuses on this topic more than any other and clearly wants this to be the subject of the book. His thesis statement in the Preface states, “The goal of this book is to subject the major aspects of the Good War myth to fresh analysis in the hope of presenting a more realistic picture, one that does not demean the achievement of the United States and of liberal democracy but that at the same time does not diminish the stress, suffering, problems, and failures inevitably face by a society at war.”(xiv) The author’s implication is that history doesn’t need to be told like you wish it would’ve happened or what sounds appealing to the ear. History needs to be told like it occurred. The old saying “don’t let history repeat itself” is pointless if we are being told the wrong history. When we mythologize it too much, misrepresentations appear. The author makes the claim that it is always better to fight than it is to talk and using the 1938 Munich...
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...Causes of World War II Many historians have traced the causes of World War II to problems left unsolved by World War I (1914-1918). World War I and the treaties that ended it also created new political and economic problems. Forceful leaders in several countries took advantage of these problems to seize power. The desire of dictators in Germany, Italy, and Japan to conquer additional territory brought them into conflict with the democratic nations. After World War I ended, representatives of the victorious nations met in Paris in 1919 to draw up peace treaties for the defeated countries. These treaties, known as the Peace of Paris, followed a long and bitter war. They were worked out in haste by these countries with opposing goals; and failed to satisfy even the victors. Of all the countries on the winning side, Italy and Japan left the peace conference most dissatisfied. Italy gained less territory than it felt it deserved and vowed to take action on its own. Japan gained control of German territories in the Pacific and thereby launched a program of expansion. But Japan was angered by the peacemakers' failure to endorse the principle of the equality of all races. The countries that lost World War I--Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey--were especially dissatisfied with the Peace of Paris. They were stripped of territory, arms and were required to make reparations (payments for war damages). The Treaty of Versailles, which was signed with Germany, punished...
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...World War II: Before Pearl Harbor World War II: Before Pearl Harbor Why did the United States get involved in World War II prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor? There are several reasons for this and all of them could be looked at as damaging to the United States in more ways than one. Throughout this examination of World War II, most individuals look at Pearl Harbor as the starting point for World War II; however, involvement from the United States was looming throughout the war prior to the attack on the United States naval base on a quiet morning of December 07, 1941 right off the Pacific. Throughout the duration of this paper, Hitler’s Germany, Allied Powers, and the Japanese all had a ton to do with the United States entering the World War II landscape. Also, the Neutrality Acts and Lend-Lease programs will also be big points of emphasis as well throughout the duration of this paper. Neutrality Acts and Germany’s Influence By the beginning stages of World War II, Nazi Germany were not too thrilled with American supply ships providing aid and assistance via workers and supplies to Allied troops during the war. The Allied troops consisted of Russia, England, China, and France and they were key allies of the United States at that point in time during the war, in which Nazi Germany at the time objected to (Mintz, 2007). Before things took a turn for the worse in regards to war efforts, the United States Congress approved the “Neutrality Acts”, which were created simply...
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...after WW1 in 1918. The German Empire was in name only, having lost its overseas territories as a result of the First World War, whereas the Japanese Empire was in fact one since it had been steadily growing in size (as a result of actions before, during, and after the First World War, and during the 1930s through the various invasions of China). However, German did have colonies in China and at the end of the war these were formally handed over to Japan. The German Reich, in its Weimar Republic format, had reconciled with its European neighbors and had rejoined the international community. Under its Nazi Germany format, it exited the international community and started to rise tensions, before invading its neighbors. Likewise, Japan had been part of the international community before raising tensions and causing wars. Differences: German sought revenge for what happened to them after World War 1, while Japanese sought imperial might and resource. Germans blamed their problems on Jews, Japanese were in a way, forced to take resources because of USA. German armies comprised of people of German decent from all around the world, whereas Japanese recruited direct from home SIMILARITIES: The Aryan race was thought to be superior to all else. The Japanese believed to be superior. The German committed war crime against the Jews and the Japanese committed war crime against Chinese. Both were axis aligned. Both...
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...World War 2 History Assignment World war 2 was an impactful event in jewish history, more than Six million jews suffered at the reign of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi artillery.Hitler was obsessed with the jews but not in a good and caring way, he saw them as a threat to his beliefs and considered them to germany.The Nazi party was formed in 1918 by an individual by the name of Anton Drexler and was originally called the DAP (German workers party).Hitler was then invited to speak at one of the DAP meetings and Anton liked hitler's enthusiasm so much that he joined the group as the 55th member and quickly became the main speaker and the leader of the party ruling over an enormous nazi army. Although there was some racism against...
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...Name Class Date Professor A History of World War 2 World War 2 was a very interest time period, and there were a lot of different factors that helped to contribute to the war. Many different nations got involved in this war, with each of them choosing a different side, this led to many rivalries. It also caused hard feelings between many nations, because before the war they may have had a close friendship between the countries, but after the war started that friendship ceased to exist because of the strain of war. There were many important details in World War 2, that helped to create what it became, and I’m going to discuss some of those details. Within World War 2, many different things occurred, such as concentration camps, and those issues are very important to many today, even though this event happened so many years ago. That is why I’m going to discuss the historical key points during World War 2, and explain why they were important. The beginning of World War 2 did not happen immediately as some might think, but it took time to develop. It all began when Hitler withdrew himself from the League of Nations in the year 1933, he did not believe the League would come after him because of their previous actions with Japan. That is why he left them and began to arm his country heavily with weapons and other things; in the meanwhile he was forming deals with many different nations for various things. The power of the League took another hit when Mussolini was able to...
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...When war broke out, there was no way the world could possibly know the levels of severity that the war would escalate also. Fortunately one country saw and understood that Germany and its allies would have to be stopped. America's involvement in World War 2 not only contributed in the eventual downfall of the insane Adolph Hitler and his Third Reich, but had also came at the precise time and moment. Had the United States entered the war any later the consequences might have been worse. Over the years, it has been an often heated and debated issue on whether the United States could have entered the war sooner and thus saved many lives. To try to understand this we must look both at the people and at government's point of view. Just after war broke out in Europe, President Roosevelt hurriedly called his cabinet and military advisors together. There it was agreed that the United States stay neutral in these affairs. One of the reasons given was that unless America was directly threatened, they had no reason to be involved. Thus, the provisional neutrality act passed the senate by seventy-nine votes to two in 1935. On August 31, Roosevelt signed it into law. In 1936, the law was renewed, and in 1937, a comprehensive and permanent neutrality act was passed. The desire to avoid "foreign entanglements" of all kinds had been an American foreign policy for more than a century. Even if Roosevelt had wanted to do more in the European crisis (which he did not), there was a factor too often...
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...10.8 Consequences of WWII Historical Context: The Allies celebrated victory, but soon the costs of the war began to emerge. The war had killed as many as 50 million people around the world. In Europe, over 30 million people had lost their lives, more than half of them civilians. The Soviet Union suffered the worst casualties, with over 20 million dead. Germany, parts of Poland, the Soviet Union, Japan, China and other countries lay in ruins. Total war had destroyed cities, factories, harbors, bridges, railroads, farms and homes. Over twenty million refugees wandered Europe. Amid the devastation, hunger, disease, mental illness and political instability took their toll for years after the fighting ended. Like after WWI, the Allies faced difficult decisions about the future. Directions: Read each source and complete the 6Cs. Prompt: Based on your understanding of the documents, what were the consequences of WWII? 1 Chart: Casualties of WWII Source: Encyclopedia Britannica; The Harper Encyclopedia of Military History, R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. Military Dead Allies Britain 264,000 France 213,000 China 1,310,000 Soviet Union 7,500,000 United States 292,000 Axis Powers Germany 3,500,000 Italy 242,000 Japan 1,300,000 *Very small number of civilian dead. 2 Military Wounded Civilian Dead 277,000 400,000 1,753,000 14,012,000 672,000 93,000 350,000 1,000,000 15,000,000 * 5,000,000 66,000 4,000,000 780,000 ...
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...During World War 2, many children were moved from areas that were at risk from bombing. The children had to leave their families and go to live with strangers in less dangerous parts of the country. This was called "evacuation". Foster parents usually took their children. However, many discovered that life away from home was no picnic. Some thought it would be fun and exciting, like an adventure. All the younger boys thought it was a holiday, but not sure why the women and girls were crying. The first school children were evacuated on the 1st September, 1939 - the day Germany invaded Poland. In the first three days of September 1939, nearly 3,000,000 people were transported to the countryside, these were mostly children. They thought that they would be home before Christmas. It was usually the poorer children were not used to travelling. The wealthier family children were not upset on a average compared to the others. This was because they were used to travelling and being long distances away. Some parents even visited their children at weekends! Within a week, a quarter of the population of Britain would have a new addresses. At the start of the war schools were moved together. The children wore identity labels, gasmasks hanging from their necks and a small suitcase full of clothes and food for the day. They left in the early hours of the morning when it was dark. The majority were schoolchildren, who had been sent away were labelled like pieces of...
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