STUDY QUESTIONS-1

1. Would you describe the Champagne Fairs, Flanders, and Samarkand as having global or only regional importance between 1250-1350? Explain your answer.

2. Explain the ways in which the Venetian and the Genoese states and private capitalists helped each other between 1250 and 1350. In answering this question you should identify the separate goals of the states on the one hand and private capitalists on the other and explain how they were able to realize some of these goals by cooperating with each other.

3. (a). Locate the following cities on a map: Acre, Antwerp, Alexandria, Basra, Beijing, Bruges, Cairo, Caffa, Canton, Calicut, Constantinople, Genoa, Hangchow, Hormuz, Kanchipuram, Kashgar, Lisbon, Lubeck, Malacca, Samarkand, Seville. Troyes, Venice, Zaytun.

b). Chart two separate itineraries for an imaginary traveler who wishes to go from Bruges to Beijing at the end of the thirteenth century. Describe what this traveler would see at each of the points in his itinerary. Your descriptions should include some reference to both the economic and political conditions at each one of the stops. Note: Your itinerary should pass through at least 15 of these cities

4. Following are the names of some of the cities Ibn Battuta passed through on his way to China between 1325 and 1349. Locate these cities on a map: Tangiers, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Mecca, Izmir, Sinop, Azak, Astrakhan, Calicut, Chitagong, Canton. State and argue two different hypotheses regarding the reasons why Ibn Battuta chose to travel east to Asia rather than north to Europe.

5. Explain the motivations of the Mongols as they expanded across the Asian steppes into Europe in the thirteenth century. Describe the mechanisms they used in carrying out this expansion and discuss the consequences of their activities for the areas that came under their control. Discuss whether the use of the term “Pax-Mongolia” is appropriate in characterizing the years when the Mongols were at the peak of their power.

6. (a) Assume that you are a Venetian merchant in each one of the following cities sometime between 1250 and 1350 and that you have been cheated out of a contract. Explain how you would go about seeking justice in each case: Cities: Cairo, Samarkand, Bar sur Aube, Hangchow.

(b) Answer the same question; except this time pretend that you are a Muslim merchant.

7. By giving a specific example, show how borders served more as zones of interaction than barriers to movement in the pre-modern world.

8. Carefully summarize, compare, and discuss the different explanations for the closure of China during the second half of the fifteenth century. How does Abu-Lughod explain this event?

9. Judging from the experiences of the Mongols and the Chinese, it is evident that military power is not sufficient for a state or region to become "hegemonic" in the world system. What are the other attributes such a state would need to have in order to achieve hegemony in the world system?

10. According to Abu-Lughod, the world system that developed between 1250-1350 did not have any single hegemonic power. Explain what this meant for various parts of the world during that time period. Describe how a region of your choice was affected once the world system changed to contain a hegemonic power after 1450.

11. In several sentences each identify the meanings of the following terms and explain their significance for the origins of the global system: feudalism, European hegemony, manufacturing guilds, merchant guilds, putting out system, tribute.

STUDY QUESTIONS-2

1. Explain the factors that led to the swift expansion of the Ottoman Empire into the Middle East and the Balkans between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries. List the economic, political, and cultural factors that contributed to the stagnation of this empire after the sixteenth century. How would you rank these factors in terms of their importance and why?
2. Carefully explain the factors that led to the Medieval Crisis of 1350-1450. Explain why the feudal lords had to give up some of their privileges to respond to this crisis. In very general terms, describe the changes in the European economic and political structures that resulted from the resolution of this crisis.
3. What does it mean for a region like Europe to have advantages over another part of the world? List the areas in which Landes thinks Europe had advantages. Give one example of an interaction between a European and non-European power where such advantages benefited Europe.
4. Symbolically, the two sides that fought in the war between the United Provinces and Spain in the seventeenth century can be seen as representing two distinct visions of the early modern world. Describe what these visions are and explain the factors that led to the triumph of one over the other.
5. What were factors that pushed the Spanish and the Portuguese to explore the seas and the lands beyond Europe? What made these two weak powers so successful in capturing the sources of precious metals in the new world?
6. In 1532, Pizarro, representing the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (also known as King Charles I of Spain), captured and killed the Inca Emperor Atahuallpa in the Peruvian highland town of Cajamarca. What was Pizarro doing so far away from his home? Could the Inca Emperor send his representative to Spain, hold Charles I hostage, and execute him in 1532? How would this change the history of the modern world? Explain your answer.
7. What were the weaknesses of the Aztec and Inca Empires? How do these two empires compare with the Chinese and the Ottoman Empires?
8. Locate the following ports that were captured by Portugal in the sixteenth century: Malindi, Mombasa, Ormuz, Malacca, Macao, and Goa. What are the factors that prevented Portugal from using these ports as staging points for penetrating further in the waters and lands of Africa and Southeast Asia? .
9. Why does the cuisine of warmer climates tend to be hotter than that of colder lands?
10. Give three reasons and explain why the middle of the eighteenth century was an important period in the history of the Native American communities in North America.
11. Where did the plant, technicians, technology, capital, and labor that were related to the production of sugar originate? Explain why the Europeans were willing to undertake the risks involved in transferring these factors to an entirely new environment in the West Indies in the seventeenth century.
12. How does Landes explain the relationship between slavery and industrialization in Europe. What are some of the alternative perspectives on this relationship?
13. Assume that you are a merchant who inherited a sizable fortune in Amsterdam in the middle of the seventeenth century. Assume also that you have the means to invest this wealth anywhere in the world and in any field you like. Where would you invest this money and why?

STUDY QUESTIONS-3

1. Which one of the following statements explains best the argument that is behind Europe and the People Without History? In your answer refer extensively to one of the four regions of the world which Wolf discusses in the book.

a. Until recently, history of the global system was written mostly from a European perspective. By including the stories of people who were victimized in this history, we get a fuller understanding of what happened in the past.

b. Until recently, history of the global system did not include an adequate account of the contributions of the non-Europeans to that history. By studying regions that are outside of Europe we learn how people in these places were active participants in global history and we get a different understanding of what happened in the past.

(NOTE: In thinking about this question, you should also come up with reasons for not agreeing with the explanation you do not choose.)

2. What does the “Middle Passage” refer to within the context of the slave trade? Who was involved in it and why? How central do you think this link was for the subsequent development of the Industrial Revolution in Europe?
3. In the nineteenth century Britain was a lot stronger than Spain had ever been in the sixteenth century. Despite this, Spain conquered the territories of the Inca Empire very quickly whereas the British failed to penetrate the interior of China. How would you explain the relative success of the Chinese in limiting the activities of the British as compared with the failure of the Peruvian Incas to stage an effective resistance against Spain? (Your answer should include specific references.)
4. Describe the trade that developed among India, China, and England during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, involving first, cotton and tea, and then, opium and tea. Compare this triangular trade with the one that connected Europe with Africa and the Americas. Discuss and compare the impact of these trade relations at each point of the triangles that they formed.
5. Imagine that you are an agricultural worker in the 1760s. Explain how your conditions would be if you are employed (a) in a hacienda; (b) in a plantation; (c) in your own small farm in the Caribbean; (d) in a farm in England where you are working for a wage; (e) in a large estate in Poland. In each case, describe the relations you would have with your employer and discuss how the industrial revolution would affect your status.
6. Locate the following places/cities on a map, put them into three separate groups according to something that they share, and explain the relationship in each group: Liverpool, Lisbon, Sao Paulo, Barbados, Luanda, Madras, Hong Kong. (Use a historical atlas in answering this question).
7. Provide three different explanations for the origins of the Industrial Revolution: One, by focusing mostly on domestic conditions in Britain; two, by highlighting the creativity and foresight of the British entrepreneurs; and three, by discussing global conditions (economic, political, cultural) during the second half of the eighteenth century. Compare the three explanations in terms of their weaknesses and strengths.
8. a. Carefully list the factors that contributed to Britain’s industrialization. Identify the factors that Landes stresses as being important. Explain whether you agree with Landes’ emphasis.

b. Carefully list the factors that prevented India from industrializing in the late-eighteenth century. Identify the factors that Landes stresses as being important. Explain whether you agree with Landes’ emphasis.

9. Describe the main changes that the industrial revolution brought to working/middle class family life in western Europe. Discuss how these changes affected the status of men and women within the family and in the society at large. Based on your description and discussion would you argue that the Industrial Revolution reduced or increased gender inequality?
10. Explain why France did not become the main location of the Industrial Revolution and why a revolution similar to that of the French Revolution did not take place in Britain. Your answer should include a discussion and comparison of the conditions in France and Britain during the Age of Revolution.

STUDY QUESTIONS-4

1. Which of the following events and dates would you take as the "end" of the French Revolution: Execution of the King (1793); the end of "Terror" (1794); the rise of Napoleon to the position of Consul (1799); the start of Napoleon's empire (1804); the end of Napoleon's empire (1815)? Explain.

2. One of the reasons why we regard the Industrial and French Revolutions as global events is because their influence extended far beyond Britain and France. (a) Identify the social agents who were most responsible for spreading these two revolutions to other parts of Europe and the world; (b) Describe and compare the methods these agents used in carrying these revolutions beyond their respective places of origin. You must give specific examples in answering this question.

3. Identify the three factors that supported the economic expansion of the mid-Victorian era. By giving specific examples, explain how each one these factors contributed to the global economic expansion of the 1850's and 1860's. Describe how these factors affected one of the following countries/regions: Argentina, India, Japan.

4. Of all the factors Landes discusses in explaining the different ways in which North and South America developed in the second half of the nineteenth century, choose one that you find to be the most important, show how this factor affected specific parts of the two continents and explain why you think this is the most important factor.

5. Explain the common factors that were behind the Egyptian Revolt (1831), Sepoy Rebellion (1857), Taiping Rebellion (1850-1868), and the Meiji Restoration (1868). By focusing on two of these events, discuss why these common factors led to such diverse outcomes.

6. As a philosophical worldview, "the enlightenment" emphasized the value of human beings and their power to understand and affect in positive ways the world that surrounded them. The original thinkers who subscribed to this point of view argued that it was rational thinking and not faith that was the most important weapon that the human beings could utilize in dealing with the world. Yet, from the Jacobin Republic in France, to the Taiping Rebellion in China, the decades that followed the era of enlightenment witnessed a noticeable increase in the use of not reason but violence in solving political problems. Would you explain this situation as too much enlightenment; or not enough enlightenment? Explain and discuss your answer by taking into consideration different points of view.

7. In Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne's fictional hero Phileas Fogg leaves London in 1872 and travels around the world in 80 days. Since Fogg had entered a bet, he was probably seeking the fastest and the safest route to complete his journey. In addition to London, Fogg passes through the following cities during his journey: Brindisi, Bombay, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and Liverpool. Locate these cities on a world map and plot the fastest and the most secure route Fogg would need to take and identify the mode of transportation he would most likely use in each segment of his journey in order to win his bet.

8. Can a socialist be a liberal? Can a nationalist be a mercantilist? Can a medieval merchant be a nationalist? Can a slave trader be a liberal? Can an opium merchant be nationalist? Can a feminist be a nationalist? Can you conceive of a nationalist Ottoman? In each case explain your answer. (In answering this question you should be as specific as you can.)

9. "Business, like love, laughs at locksmiths.” (Landes, p. 42) By giving specific examples, from the age of the mid-Victorian expansion, explain what Landes means by this statement. Discuss whether you think this characterization of business is valid at all times and at all places.

10. Explain why Germany was able to move ahead of Britain in chemical industries in the nineteenth century?

STUDY QUESTIONS - 5

1. Describe how the processes of migration, protectionism, increase in the firm size, and acquisition of new colonies by European countries helped move the world-economy from the great depression of the nineteenth century. Your answer should explain, by giving examples, where and how each one of these processes came about and how they contributed to the subsequent period of global recovery.

2. Both the mid-Victorian boom and the belle époque were periods of economic growth and expansion in the world but the forces that shaped each of these periods were very different from each other. Give specific examples in economic, political, and cultural/scientific fields to show the differences between these two periods.

3. Explain why the spread of nationalist movements made Europe a less stable place in the nineteenth century. Given the conditions that existed in Europe at the time, can you think of another idea that could give people some security without eventually leading to revolution or war? Explain.

4. Compare the Boxer rebellion of 1900 with the Russian Revolution of 1905 in terms of their organization, goals, and results. Explain why these two movements ended in such different ways.

5. Some authors find parallels between the belle époque of the early twentieth century and the current expansion of the western European and American economies. By going over the relevant sections Hobsbawm's The Age of Empire and remembering what you have been reading in The New York Times, list the similarities and differences between the early twentieth and the early twenty-first centuries. Assuming that there are enough similarities between the two periods, and assuming that you have the power to affect the course events, what would you do to prevent the world from going into another war such as World War One?

6. Explain, by giving examples, what Hobsbawm means when he says, "national economies existed because nation-states existed" (p. 41)

7. It is obvious that in choosing a title for his book, David Landes was inspired by Adam Smith. Based on your reading of The Wealth of Nations and The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, explain how Landes’ book is influenced by Smith. Your answer should include one specific example from Landes that shows Smith’s influence.

8. By using The Communist Manifesto and by giving a specific example from the arguments Hobsbawm develops in The Age of Empire demonstrate how Marx’s ideas have influenced Hobsbawm’s thinking about history.

9. How does Max Weber’s discussion of the Protestant ethic fit in the main argument of David Landes’ book? Your answer should include one specific example from David Landes where Weber’s thesis plays a central role.

10. Identify the author of each one of the following paragraphs. Explain the significance of each passage for one of the central arguments of the author in question.

1. What is prudence in the conduct of every private family, can scarce be folly in that of the great kingdom. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we ourselves can make it, buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage.

2. The bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country. To the great chagrin of reactionists, it has drawn from under the feet of industry the national ground on which it stood.

3. The universal reign of absolute unscrupulousness in the pursuit of selfish interests by the making of money has been a specific characteristic of precisely those countries whose bourgeois-capitalistic development, measured by Occidental standards has remained backward.