World History: Revolutions, World Wars and Post-War Developments
World History
The exam tests the American, French, and Russian revolutions, the two World Wars, and post-war developments such as the Cold War, the United Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Core rules and concepts
- American Revolution: Stamp Act, Boston Tea Party, Declaration of Independence 1776.
- French Revolution: 1789, Bastille, Declaration of the Rights of Man, Napoleon's rise.
- Russian Revolution: February 1917 ends tsardom; October 1917 brings the Bolsheviks under Lenin.
- World War I: 1914-18; causes include militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism; Sarajevo; Treaty of Versailles 1919.
- World War II: 1939-45; appeasement, Pearl Harbor, atomic bombs; the United Nations founded 1945.
- Cold War: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, NATO and Warsaw Pact, Berlin Wall. NAM founded at Belgrade in 1961.
Worked example
Question: How did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to World War II? Reasoning: reparations, the war-guilt clause, territorial losses, and disarmament created resentment in Germany, while enforcement was weak. Linking the treaty's terms to German grievance and later Nazi propaganda gives a causal answer, not a list.
Traps
Confusing the causes of the two world wars; saying the February Revolution was Bolshevik; treating NAM as anti-UN; dating the UN to 1919 rather than 1945.