1. Describe the outbreak of the First World War. Be sure to describe all of the critically important forces that were at work at the time, including: the forces of nationalism and imperialism; the system of alliances and mutual aid pacts; technological development and the arms race; and the obsolescence of military doctrine. 2. Describe the conditions that produced the October Revolution in Russia. Be sure to cover both the long-term underlying forces, AND the more immediate precipitating factors. What was the constellation of political forces inside Russia at the time? How did the Russian Revolution affect the war effort? 3. Write an essay describing the essential aspects and shared characteristics of totalitarian ideologies. How did fascism, Nazism, and Marxism-Leninism (Communism) respectively fit the mold? How did the economic, social, and political conditions that were left at the end of the First World War, lend themselves to the rise of these ideologies? 4. Describe the outbreak of the Second World War. Describe all of the critically important forces that were at work at the time, including: the essential terms of the Treaty of Versailles; the rise of totalitarian ideology; its clash with western (Wilsonian) liberalism; technological development and German evasion and outright violation of the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty; and again, the obsolescence of military doctrine. 5. Analyze the social, political, and strategic outcomes of the Second World War. How did the First and Second World Wars together, shape the political maps that defined the Cold War, and that continue to this day to define conflicts in regions both within parts of Europe, and lying well beyond the European continent itself? In addition to describing the Cold War and the occupation and partitioning of Germany by the Allied Powers, be sure to also describe the impacts of the two wars upon the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.