UNIT: The Modern World Issue: Did the Industrial Revolution Lead to a Sexual Revolution? YES: Edward Shorter, "The Reason Why" from The Making of the Modern Family, Perseus, 1975 NO: Louise A. Tilly, Joan W. Scott, and Miriam Cohen, from "Women''s Work and European Fertility Patterns," Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1976 Historian Edward Shorter argues that employment opportunities outside the home that opened up with industrialization led to a rise in the illegitimacy rate, which he attributes to the sexual emancipation of unmarried working-class women. Historians Louise A. Tilly, Joan W. Scott, and Miriam Cohen argue that unmarried women worked to meet an economic need, not to gain personal freedom; and they attribute the rise in illegitimacy rates to broken marriage promises and the absence of traditional support from family, community, and church. Issue: Was the French Revolution Worth Its Human Costs? YES: Peter Kropotkin, from The Great French Revolution, 1789-1793, Shocken Books, 1971 NO: Marisa Linton, from "Robespierre and the Terror," History Today, 2006 Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921), a Russian prince, revolutionary, and anarchist, argues that the French Revolution eradicated both serfdom and absolutism, and paved the way for France''s future democratic development. Marisa Linton, a professor and writer, argues that Maximilien de Robespierre offers a lens through which to view the terror and the real human costs of the French Revolution.

Issue: Does Napoleon Bonaparte Deserve His Historical Reputation as a Great General? YES: Graham Goodlad, from "Napoleon at War: Secrets of Success, Seeds of Failure? History Review, 2009 NO: Jonathon Riley, from "How Good Was Napoleon?" History Today, 2007 Professor Graham Goodlad argues that, because of his extraordinary military career, Napoleon Bonaparte deserves his reputation as a great general. Author and Military Commander Jonathon Riley argues that because Napoleon never succeeded in transforming a defeated enemy into a willing ally, his historical reputation as a general must be questioned. Issue: Did British Policy Decisions Cause the Mass Emigration and Land Reforms That Followed the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s? YES: Christine Kinealy, from This Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52, Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1995 NO: Hasia R. Diner, from "Where They Came From," Erin''s Daughters in America: Irish Immigrant Women in the Nineteenth Century, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983 Professor at Drew University Christine Kinealy argues that the British government''s response to the Irish potato famine was deliberately inadequate because its "hidden agenda" was the long-term aim of economic, social, and agrarian reforms, which the famine accelerated; mass emigration was a consequence of these changes. Historian Hasia R. Diner argues that large-scale emigration occurred both before and after the famine and credits the Irish people with learning from their famine experiences that the near-total reliance of the poor on the potato and the excessive subdivision of land within families were no longer in their own best interests. Issue: Did the Meiji Restoration Constitute a Revolution in Nineteenth-Century Japan? YES: Thomas M. Huber, from The Revolutionary Origins of Modern Japan, Stanford University Press, 1981 NO: W.

G. Beasley, from The Meiji Restoration, Stanford University Press, 1972 Historian Thomas M. Huber argues that the Meiji Restoration was revolutionary and should be recognized as "the most dramatic event of Japan''s modern history." Historian W.G. Beasley argues that when compared with other revolutions like the French and Russian, the Meiji Restoration did not constitute a revolution in the classical sense. Issue: Was Popular Opinion a Significant Ingredient in Nineteenth-Century British Imperialism? YES: John MacKenzie, from "Another Little Patch of Red," History Today, 2005 NO: Bernard Porter, from "What Did They Know of Empire?" History Today, 2004 Professor Emeritus, John MacKenzie, argues that both imperial rule and the possession of an empire were essential components of British identity, life, and culture during this period. Professor of modern history, Bernard Porter, argues that, through most of the nineteenth century, most Britons knew little and cared less about the spread of the Empire.

Unit: The Early Twentieth Century Issue: Was China''s Boxer Rebellion Caused by Environmental Factors? YES: Paul A. Cohen, from "Drought and the Foreign Presence," History in Three Keys: The Boxers in Event, Experience, and Myth, Columbia University Press, 1997 NO: Henrietta Harrison, from "Justice on Behalf of Heaven," History Today, 2000 Professor Paul A. Cohen argues that while anti-foreign and anti-Christian attitudes played a role in the start of the Boxer Rebellion, a more immediate cause was a severe drought and its impact on Chinese society. Historian Henrietta Harrison argues that, while the Boxers were motivated by more than a single factor, opposition to Christian missionary activity was at the core of their rebellion. Issue: Did Prussian Militarism Provoke World War I? YES: Peter H. Wilson, from "The Origins of Prussian Militarism," History Today, 2001 NO: Christopher Ray, from "Britain and the Origins of World War I," History Review, 1998 History Professor Peter H. Wilson argues that Prussian militarism, though not a direct cause of later horrors in the two world wars, posed a threat to Europe in the prewar period. History Professor Christopher Ray argues that threatened German actions represented a challenge to English interests and honor, mobilizing public opinion in favor of Britain''s declaration of war in 1914.

Issue: Was the Treaty of Versailles Responsible for World War II? YES: Derek Aldcroft, from "The Versailles Legacy," History Today, 1997 NO: Mark Mazower, from "Two Cheers for Versailles," History Today, 1997 Historian Derek Aldcroft argues that a combination of the flaws present in the postwar Versailles Treaty and the resultant actions and inactions of European statesmen created a climate that paved the way for World War II. Historian Mark Mazower argues that, while the Treaty of Versailles contained weaknesses, it failed due to a lack of enforcement of its principles by a generation of European leaders. Issue: Did the Bolshevik Revolution Improve the Lives of Soviet Women? YES: Richard Stites, from "The Russian Revolution and Women," in Marilyn J. Boxer and Jean H. Quartaert, eds., Connecting Spheres: Women in the Western World, 1500 to the Present, Oxford University Press, 1987 NO: Lesley A. Rimmel, from "The Baba and the Comrade: Gender and Politics in Revolutionary Russia," The Women''s Review of Books, 1998 Former history professor Richard Stites argues that in the early years of the Bolshevik Revolution the Zhenotdel or Women''s Department helped many working women take the first steps toward emancipation. Russian scholar Lesley A.

Rimmel argues that the Russian Revolution remains unfinished for women, who were mobilized as producers and reproducers for a male political agenda. Issue: Was German "Eliminationist Anti-Semitism" Responsible for the Holocaust? YES: Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, from "The Paradigm Challenged," Tikkun: A Bimonthly Interfaith Critique of Politics, Culture & Society, 1998 NO: Christopher R. Browning, from "Ordinary Germans or Ordinary Men? A Reply to the Critics," in Michael Berenbaum and Abraham J. Peck, eds., The Holocaust and History: The Known, the Unknown, the Disputed, and the Reexamined, Indiana University Press, 1998 Political science professor Daniel Jonah Goldhagen argues that due to the nature of German society in the twentieth century--with its endemic, virulent anti-Semitism--thousands of ordinary German citizens became willing participants in the implementation of Holocaust horrors. Holocaust historian Christopher R. Browning argues that Goldhagen''s thesis is too simplistic, and that a multicausal approach must be used to determine why ordinary German citizens willingly participated in the Holocaust. Issue: Was Stalin Responsible for the Korean War? YES: Paul Wingrove, from "Who Started Korea?" History Today, 2000 NO: Hugh Deane, from "Korea, China, and the United States: A Look Back," Monthly Review, 1995 Historian Paul Wingrove argues that Josef Stalin should be held primarily responsible for the Korean War.

Historian Hugh Deane argues that the United States'' support for Syngman Rhee''s non-communist government was responsible for the Korean War. UNIT: The Contemporary World Issue: Are Chinese Confucianism and Western Capitalism Compatible? YES: A.T. Nuyen, from "Chinese Philosophy and Western Capitalism," Asian Philosophy, 1999 NO: Jack Scarborough, from "Comparing Chinese and Western Cultural Roots: Why ''East Is East and .''," Business Horizons, 1998 Philosophy professor A.T. Nuyen argues that the basic tenets of classical capitalism are perfectly compatible with the key elements of Chinese philosophy. Management professor Jack Scarborough argues that the Confucian values of harmony, filial loyalty, and legalism are incompatible with the Western heritage of democracy, rationality, individualism, and capitalism.

Issue: Was Ethnic Hatred Primarily Responsible for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994? YES: Alison Des Forges, from "The Ideology of Genocide," Issue: A Journal of Opinion, 1995 NO: René Lemarchand, from "Rwanda: The Rationality of Genocide," Issue: A Journal of Opinion, 1994 Alison Des Forges argues that ethnic hatred between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda was primar.