Okay so...I have yet ANOTHER test coming up and I have two essay questions to choose between. I'm laving more towards the second one because I'm not a fan of the first, but it might be alright. I'll type them both up.
"Assess the relative influence of each of the following in the American decision to declare war on Germany in 1917...
1. German Naval Policy
2. American Economic Interests
3. Wilson Idealism"
-or-
"The US failed to join the League of Nations, which Wilson had called "the hope of the world." Evaluate the roles of Wilson, Lodge and the American political traditions in assessing why America rejected membership in the League."
I was leaning more to the second, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not sure what American Economic Interests would be involved in the first one, but I do know that the German Naval Policy was "shoot everything, ask questions later" and that Wilson hoped that the whole world could just have a cup of tea and resolve things over biscuits...Any ideas?
Well, it looks like both would fit best into a five paragraph format, the first with intro, Naval Policy, Econ. Interest, Wilson (in whatever order), and conclusion, the second intro, Lodge, Wilson, tradition, conclusion. Either way, it looks like you're going to need to know Wilson pretty well, but other than that I guess it depends on whether you know more about Economic Interest than Lodge or tradition. I have to admit, I'm a bit lost on what the economic interests there would be also. The United States' economic interests would be best served staying out of the war: war is costly, and if there were involved, they could not trade with any of the Central Powers.