Week 10: Monday, March 27
The midterm exam will consist of two parts. The first will consist of questions that will require a short answer in response. The second will require you to write an essay. Check out Tips for Success on Examinations.
Before you start studying, I'd like to give you the following advice.
· Read the Question Carefully: Understand what the question is asking.
· Think: Do not merely memorize; think about the question.
· Answer the Question Asked: Make sure that you will write an essay that addresses exactly what the question requires.
· Provide a Thesis Statement in the Introduction of Your Long Essay: Explain in a concise and precise manner what your essay will do.
· Present Your Answer in an Organized Manner: Your response should get to the point and flow logically.
· Refer to Specific Examples: Do not speak in vague or abstract terms; use examples of events, developments, or ideas.
· Give as Complete an Answer as Possible: Provide all of the relevant information necessary to answer the question.
· Show Some Imagination and Orginality: Do not merely memorize the first answer that comes to mind, and do not merely repeat what has been stated in class. Try to write something creative and thought-provoking.
Section 1: Short-Answer Questions
Seven of the following questions will appear on the midterm. You will have to answer one of them. These are not merely identifications. I want thorough, thoughtful answers. You should probably spend at least 15 minutes answering the short answer question. Surprise, surprise: most of these are taken from the Food for Thought. One word of warning: although we have touched upon all of these issues in class, our discussions have not always covered topics in their entirety. The advantage will belong to those who have read and taken notes in class—not to those who have merely written down what they heard in class without having read anything.
1) According to the textbook, "The characteristics of the knight, then, determined the nature of battle." How did these characteristics determine the nature and particularly the limits of feudal warfare overall?
2) From what you have read of King James of Aragon's Chronicle, what exactly was James' relationship to the Aragonese nobility? How did this relationship influence the conduct of war?
3) In what ways were the various Truces of God and Pope Urban II's 1095 call for a crusade related?
4) In what ways was Agincourt typical of feudal warfare? At the same time, how did it help point to the future of war?
5) What problems had to be resolved before firearms could become effective and used widely? What were the downsides of early firearms?
6) With what developments do historians often associate the "military revolution"?
7) Jacques Callot depicted a number of problems in his Miseries of War. What did he seem to think was the problem, and what did he appear to believe was the solution?
8) According to the textbook, what factors allowed European armies to triumph over those in other parts of the world in the pre-industrial era (that is, before about 1830)?
9) What appeared to give the Spanish a decisive edge in battle over their far more numerous Central American foes? What seemed to nullify this factor during the fighting in Tenochtitlan?
10) From what you have read of Frederick the Great's Works, how did he seek to limit the impact of war and the army on Prussian society?
11) Why do historians often describe war during the absolutist period as "limited war"? In what ways was it limited and what factors limited it?12) What was at the heart (or "crux") of the military changes associated with the French Revolution?
13) The text describes Napoleon as an "inheritor" of a revolution in the art of war. That is to say, Napoleon's achievements would probably have been impossible without the military changes associated with the French Revolution. How did Napoleon benefit from this military revolution?
14) According to John Keegan's description of Waterloo, what held the British together in the face of French attacks? In other words, what allowed them to "stand"? If one contemplates the military revolution that served as the basis of French military prowess during the Napoleonic era, why was this stand highly significant, symbolic, and perhaps somewhat ironic?
Section 2: Long Essay Questions
I have provided information about three essay topics. Essay questions dealing with two of these questions will appear on the exam. You will have to answer one of them.
1) In what significant ways did Waterloo differ from Agincourt? What major developments in the intervening 400 years accounted for these differences?
2) If one surveys the period that started with the waning of feudalism and ended right before the outbreak of the French Revolution (e.g. between about 1300 to 1789), is it possible to detect a military revolution? If so, what exactly was at the heart of this military revolution, what were its consequences, and when exactly did it occur?
3) From the beginning of the medieval period to the eve of the French Revolution, how did the relationship between the various elements of the paradoxical trinity fluctuate in their relationships to one another? How did important changes in the relationship between the state, the army, and the people account for these changes? How did these fluctuations help account for the changing nature of warfare during this period?
See Napoleon. It is 1812, and he is in Russia. He is very sad. He is also very cold. He has lost almost all of his army. Napoleon used to say, "On s'engage et puis on voit." [Loosely translated: One gets in the fight, and then one sees what to do.] Tut, tut, Napoleon. As they say, "Fail to plan, plan to fail." Don't be like Napoleon.
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.