Harkness flashcards

1917: The Revolutions of February & October - Author

Sheila Fitzpatrick

Sheila Fitzpatrick - reliability

One of the first western historians granted access to Soviet archives

Was an established professor at University of Chicago

Received American Historical Association’s Award for Scholarly Distinction

Most of her work relies heavily on primary sources

1917: The Revolutions of February & October - 3 sentences

frames the revolution not as a single event in 1917- but as a continuous twenty-year cycle of radical fervor, societal upheaval, and state-sponsored terror.

spotlights the collapse of the provisional government and the rise of the bolsheviks

the text demonstrates the radical social transformations of the 1920s

framwork for understanding how the promises in 1917 ultimately culminated in the exhaustion and terror of 1938

Why Nations Go To War - Author

John Stoessinger

Barbarossa - Hitler’s Attack on Russia - Author

John Stoessinger

John Stoessinger - reliability

Harvard PhD

Taught at columbia, princeton, university of San Diego and trinity university

Received Bancroft Prize for History

worked as part of the United Nations

Barbarossa - Hitler’s Attack on Russia - 3 sentences

stoessinger suggests that hitler’s irrational obsession with the annihilation of the soviet union blinded the german command

text highlights how stalin’s intense paranoia and the Great purge of his high ranking officers left the soviet military vulnerable and weak

this reading describes the clashing dictorial egos as overall weaknesses of these regimes, which resulted in massive intelligence failures and technical mistakes

Why Nations Go To War - 3 sentences

the first chapter of john’s book (why nations go to war) challenges theories that alliances, militarism, and systematic forces are the reason for global conflicts

argues that war is a direct result of human error - specifically mistakes made by individual leaders

he analyzes the mistakes of leaders during the july crisis of 1914

proves that war is not cause by breakdown of diplomacy, but rather it’s a consequence of personal choices made by ppl in power

Frank Dikkoter - reliability

Professor of Humanities at University of Hong Kong

his work mainly relies on open classified Chinese party archives, secret police files, and speeches

won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction, Britain’s most prestigious literary award

The Cultural Revolution: A Peoples History - Author

Frank Dikotter

The Cultural Revolution- 3 sentences

details how Mao Zedong weaponized China’s youth to preserve his legacy and purge political rivals.

describes the rapid formation of the Red Guards and their violent campaigns throughout China

the reading illustrates how a massive cult of personality was constructed around Mao through the forced uniformity of society and reliance on the Little Red Book.

How to be a Dictator - Author

Frank Dikotter

How to be a Dictator - 3 sentences

this text explores how Benito Mussolini built a “cult of personality” with aggressive media control, architectural projects, and staged public performances.

highlights the disconnect between the manufactured image of Mussolini’s strength and the actual economic and militaristic weakness in the fascist state of italy

describes how mussolini became captive in his own propaganda, and led italy into a disastrous alliances with Hitler which led to the collapse of his regime

why nations go to war - main argument

wars are caused by human mistakes, perception flaws, and personalities of leaders, rather than uncontrollable forces like alliances or militarism

operation barbarossa - main argument

operations barabarossa was not dictated by military strategy, but it was an inevitable disaster driven by the warped psychological profiles, personal delusions, and mutual misperceptions of adolf hitler and joseph stalin

How to be a Dictator - main argument

Benito Mussolini’s power was primarily constructed and sustained through a meticulously manufactured “cult of personality” and the illusion of omnipotence, not through political stability or military strength

The Cultural Revolution - main argument

the cultural revolution was not merely a spontaneous, idealistic movement, but rather a deliberately engineered upheaval orchestrated by mao zedong to consolidate his power and dismantle Chinese society

1917: The Revolutions of February & October - main argument

the russian revolution was not an isolated event confined to 1917, but rather a continuous, twenty-year process that began with the february rev. of 1917 and only concluded with the great purges of 1937-38. argues that revolution is a full cycle of radical transformation, which only ends when the society is completely exhausted.