Course Overview

In this advanced course, students investigate the history of the world from approximately 1870 to the present. They begin with an analysis of events leading up to 1914, including the Second Industrial Revolution and the imperialism that accompanied it. Their focus then shifts to the contemporary era, including two world wars, the Great Depression, and global Cold War tensions. Students undertake an in-depth examination of both the staggering problems and astounding accomplishments of the twentieth century, with a focus on political and social history. Students also explore advanced topics in physical and human geography, and investigate issues of concern in the contemporary world. Activities include analyzing primary sources and maps, creating timelines, completing projects and written assignments, and conducting research. Students complete independent projects each semester. This is the second semester of HST204.

Course Outline

SEMESTER ONE

Unit 1: Setting the Stage: Before 1850

The modern world owes a great deal to earlier peoples and ideas. Concepts of democracy, a belief in the worth of the individual, rule by the people, all were developed over the course of many centuries. To prepare for a study of the modern world, students begin with a look back to ancient Greece and Rome, to the legacy of Judeo-Christian thought, and to the growth of democratic ideals in England. Students enter the modern world with a brief review of democratic revolutions and the Industrial Revolution.

• Semester Introduction
• Early Seeds of Democracy
• Judeo-Christian Influences on Democratic Thought
• Expanding Rights in England
• Democratic Ideals Emerge
• Democratic Ideals Flourish
• Documents of Liberty
• A Revolution in Industry
• Romanticism: A Creative Revolution

Unit 2: Europe and the Second Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution began in England, but other nations soon followed, and even surpassed Great Britain in industrial output. Resources, governments, and visionary business owners all played a part in developing innovative ways of producing goods. New materials and fuels led to a second revolution in industry and to new products and ways of life. But not everyone shared in the prosperity, and government leaders, workers, business owners, and philosophers looked for solutions to society's new challenges.

• The Challenges of Industrialization
• Solutions
• Classes
• Geography Plays a Part
• Industry and the Rise of Germany
• Germany Moves Ahead
• The Impact of the Second Industrial Revolution
• A Demographic Look at Western Europe

Unit 3: The New Age in Asia

By the late nineteenth century, European nations controlled many parts of the world. They sought raw materials for their factories, and markets for their products. They also sought to spread their own cultures. Both China and Japan resisted the Europeans, but in different ways. Their actions would set the stage for much that happened in the twentieth century.

• Modernization and the Rise of Japan
• Powerhouse in Asia
• In East Asia
• Earthshaking
• Imperialism in Asia
• Strife in China
• Nationalism in China
• Where in the World

Unit 4: World War and Revolution

People all over Europe were certain that the war that started in August of 1914 would be over by Christmas. Four long years later, when the Great War finally ended, millions of soldiers and civilians lay dead and millions more were maimed and disabled. The hope and prosperity of the first decade of the twentieth century turned to exhaustion and despair. In Russia, social upheavals led to the world's first communist nation.

• Igniting the Powder Keg
• Europe Goes to War
• The War Goes On
• Total War
• A War for Minds and Hearts
• Propaganda
• Geography of Russia
• Unrest in Russia
• From Russia to USSR
• Challenges of Geography
• War's Tide Turns
• War's End
• What Kind of Peace?

Unit 5: Between Wars

After the Great War, people in Europe and the United States questioned their earlier optimism and their deepest beliefs. Artists, musicians, and writers grappled with a new sense of reality. In the Middle East, as people threw off their colonial rulers, they faced the challenges of forming new nations, as well as tensions between old values and new ways. As economies failed around the world, dictators took advantage of people's fear and desperation, especially in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union.

• The Art of Uncertainty
• Certainties Challenged
• A World in Flux
• Nationalism and Islamism in the Middle East
• Forging Nations in the Middle East
• Report from the Middle East
• Geography of Borders
• Desperate Times and Communism
• Desperate Times and Fascism
• Power Above All

Unit 6: Another World War

Students examine the main causes of World War II, the most devastating war in history. Millions died to halt the advance of dictators and preserve a democratic way of life. This war introduced weapons of almost unimaginable power, as well as the horrors of the Holocaust. The peace that followed brought its own daunting challenges.

• The Road to War
• Global War
• Leadership
• Qualities of a Leader
• Strategies for Victory
• Horror
• Victory
• Difficult Decisions
• Graphing World War II Statistics
• Personal Views of War
• Putting It into Words
• Never Again
• A New Path
• A Woman for All Times

Unit 7: Significant Times

• Timelines are useful tools for historians. Students create timelines of the eras they have studied during the semester.
• Looking Back, Part 1
• Looking Back, Part 2
• Looking Back, Part 3
• Looking Back, Part 4
• Looking Back, Part 5

Unit 8: Semester Review and Test

Students prepare for and take the semester test.

Unit 9: Honors Project

Students will explore one topic in modern world history in depth. They will choose a project, conduct research, analyze the research, and communicate their ideas and conclusions in the format of their choice based on the National History Day format.

• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 1
• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 2
• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 3
• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 4
• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 5
• Modern World Studies Honors Project, Part 6

SEMESTER TWO

Unit 1: Tensions in the Post-War World

Even before World War II had ended, it was apparent that the Allies would not remain friends in the post-war era. Mistrust and disagreements between the USSR and the Western democracies led to decades of perilous tension known as the Cold War. Both sides searched for ways to gain support around the world and defeat the other side without launching a potentially catastrophic war using nuclear weapons.

• Semester Introduction
• Cold War in the West
• Cold War in the East
• Continuing Tension
• Containing Communism
• China Under Mao
• Communism in the Americas
• On the Brink
• Crisis
• Making a Case

Unit 2: Many Kinds of Revolution

Science, technology, cultures around the world, all experienced dramatic change during the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. More nations gained independence from colonial powers, though their paths to self-rule varied widely. At the same time, tensions in the Middle East led to a series of wars and still unresolved tensions.

• Revolutions in Technology
• Discuss: Space Exploration
• Saving Lives
• A New Global Culture
• Geography of South Asia
• India and a Man of Peace
• Paths to Independence
• For Their Countries
• Strife in the Middle East
• Wars for Religion and Resources
• Peace Work

Unit 3: Cold War Conflict and Conclusion

During the Cold War, the world's superpowers avoided war with each other, but the tensions between them erupted in armed conflict elsewhere. The U.S. and the USSR vied for allies in other ways as well. Eventually, economic problems and pressures from within and without the Soviet Union brought about the collapse of communism in Europe.

• Geography of Southeast Asia
• The United States in Vietnam
• The Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia
• Vying for Latin America
• Geography of Latin America
• Rainforest in Peril
• Cracks in the Wall
• Voices for Change
• The End of the Cold War

Unit 4: Issues for the Twenty-First Century

As they approach the present day, students examine the rise of a new and deadly threat: terrorism. They consider how innovations in technology, computers, the Internet, have set off an Information Revolution that has transformed the way many people live and work. They also examine the ongoing struggle for democracy and human rights, with a focus on women's rights.

• The Rise of Terrorism in the Middle East
• Extremists Take Control
• A Dictator in Iraq
• Terrorism Strikes the United States
• The Iraq War
• Difficult Questions
• Electronics and the Information Revolution
• New Ways to Communicate
• A Shrinking World
• Seeking Equality
• Democracy's Continued Spread
• Steps Forward and Steps Back
• Epilogue

Unit 5: Challenges for the Twenty-First Century

The twenty-first century presents both problems and promises. Never before have people had so much access to information and to each other. Never before has the potential to eradicate disease and hunger, eliminate poverty, and understand the world around us been so great. Globalization is transforming the ways in which many people live and work and do business. The opportunities are enormous, but so are the challenges.

• Growing Wealth
• Assessing Wealth
• Asia Rising: India
• Asia Rising: China
• Persistent Poverty
• Migrations
• The Meaning of Globalization
• Following a Global Product
• Women and Globalization
• The Price of Progress
• Fueling Progress
• Viewpoints
• Where Do You Stand?
• Persuasion

Unit 6: Research Project

Students conduct research and complete a final course project.

• Your Case Study
• Using the Internet
• Research, Part 1
• Research, Part 2
• Research, Part 3
• Research, Part 4
• Research, Part 5
• Research, Part 6
• Research, Part 7
• Research, Part 8
• Research to Presentation
• The Presentation, Part 1
• The Presentation, Part 2

Unit 7: Semester Review and Test

Students prepare for and take the semester test.

Unit 8: Honors Project

Students will explore one topic in modern world history in depth. They will choose a project, conduct research, analyze the research, and communicate their ideas and conclusions in the format of their choice based on the National History Day format.