I. Economic Transformations

1			Explain the comparatively spectacular industrial expansion of Germany and the relative loss of British industrial supremacy between 1870 and 1914.
2			How do you explain the sharp rise in European population between 1870 and 1914 despite falling birthrates in Western European countries and massive migration of people overseas?

II. Understandings of Nature and Society

3			How did scientific discoveries and development of theories of progress relate to each other?

III. The Belle Époque

4			In what ways did popular culture become much more national, urban, and organized during this period?
5			How do you explain the proliferation of cultural styles during this period?
6			In what ways did modern life begin during this period?

IV. Attacks on Liberal Civilization

7			Analyze the growth of Marxism and its appeal.
8			Compare the attacks leveled on liberalism from the left, from conservatives, and from others. What do they have in common?

V. Domestic Politics

9			What common threads run through political developments in several nations during this period?
10			What forces resulted in the shift to more liberal institutions and policies in Russia during the first decade of the twentieth century? Compared to Western Europe, how liberal were these reforms?