PRESENTATION TOPICS FOR

SECOND HALF OF SEMESTER

15 minutes maximum (that means 4-5 slides! no “death by PowerPoint” please)
Provide and illustrate three (3) main points; must be easy for your colleagues to
remember; use visuals, multimedia; make it entertaining; where appropriate,
provide comparisons with other periods/personalities/topics we have covered this
semester

HISTORY IN SCHOOLS SHOULD NOT BE ABOUT MEMORIZING

FACTS, BUT ABOUT
HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION
AND INQUIRY SKILLS

Those who give a presentation need not take the quiz in Week 12

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More than one student can deliver the presentation, as long as each of you gets to
speak.
You can sign up for more than one presentation.

Suggested topics:

TUE, 2 Feb:
1. Who was Bismarck? What was his personal story? What was his role in the
unification of Germany?

THU, 4 Feb:
1. Who was Garibaldi? What was his personal story? What was his role in the
unification of Italy?
2. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867; summarize, BRIEFLY, its content
and meaning, as well as its effect on Slavic peoples living in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire (some additional/online research may be required)

TUE, 9 Feb:
1. Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905; Russia’s “Bloody Sunday”, 1905
2. Russia in Asia: Siberia in the 19th century
3. Rasputin – a mystical figure (some additional/online research may be required)

THU, 11 Feb:
1. European colonialism in Africa in the late 19th century – BRIEFLY summarize,
contrast with situation in Malaya at the time
2. Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 and its ramifications for the present

TUE, 16 Feb:
1. A brief introduction to the Balkans
 2. Sarajevo 1914, and again 1992-1995: What happened?

THU, 18 Feb:
1. Introduce the British King, German Emperor and Russian Czar during WWI;
what was their common family history?
2. New military technology in WWI: Verdun 1916

TUE, 23 Feb:
1. Lenin and his ideology; who were the Bolsheviks?
2. February 1917; provisional government; October 1917
3. Why did the ‘October Revolution’ take place in November?

THU, 25 Feb:
1. Explain the evolution of Russia to Soviet Russia to Soviet Union (USSR). How
many republics became members of USSR, and which were they?
2. Stalin: his personal story

TUE, 2 March:
1. Italian “corporatism” and Fascism; also, what about Italian Fascists in 2010?
2. Hitler: His personal story
3. The Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis

THU, 4 March:
1. Hitler’s inner circle: Goebbels, Goering
(additional/online research may be required)
2. Nazi art and architecture; 1936 Berlin Olympics; filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl
and her legacy
(additional/online research may be required)
3. The Nazis’ ‘Jewish problem’

TUE, 9 March:
1. Compare the military conflict in WWII with WWI and with Napoleonic wars
2. The Battle of Dunkirk

THU, 11 March:
1. The Battle of Stalingrad; Hitler’s vs. Napoleon’s Russian adventure
2. The Warsaw Uprising
3. Outline the end of WWII in Asia/Malaya

TUE, 16 March:
1. NATO vs. Warsaw Pact
2. USSR / eastern Europe after Stalin (1953--)
3. 1960: The Year of Africa; contrast with Malaysia’s 1957 Independence

THU, 18 March:
1. Berlin Wall: 1961-1990
2. How the Cold War affected Asia