History 186A Jankowski
Spring 2014 Office: Golding 115
M, W 5-6:20 email:
office hours W, Th. 2-3.30
The Second World War in Europe
Course requirements and learning objectives
History 186a covers the origins, course and consequence of the Second World War. It confines itself mostly to Europe, where it examines the social, economic and human as well as military and diplomatic dimensions of the conflict. Upon completion of the course, students should be able to grasp the process in which a limited European war quickly turned into a total world war, the rationales for the decisions that military and civilian leaders took, and the impact of the war upon European society and civilization. Students should acquire a familiarity with some of the main historical controversies arising from this most destructive conflict in human history, and an ability to assess the value as well as the limitations of original sources, on which the course relies heavily.
Weekly readings are indicated below. The following should be purchased: Coetzee, Frans and Shevin-Coetzee, Marilyn, The World in Flames (Oxford, 2011); Zeiler, Thomas W., Annihilation (Oxford, 2011); Martel, Gordon, ed., The World War II Reader (Routledge, 2004); P.M.H. Bell, The Origins of the Second World War in Europe (Longman, 2007); Keith Lowe, Savage Continent. Europe in the Aftermath of World War II (Picador, 2013). These are indicated in the syllabus below with an asterisk. Any other readings, which consist mostly of various additional primary sources I have selected, are accessible on the course website (Latte). The films will also be streamed onto the course website so that you can watch them there.
Each student will write two five-page papers, chosen from the list of topics below or from a topic of the student’s choosing, after clearing it with us beforehand. Each student will also write for each of the five discussion sections a two-three page response/critical analysis of any document assigned from the readings since the previous discussion section. A guideline is below. All students may re-write one of the five-page papers and one of the critical response papers to take account of our suggested revisions. The subsequent grade will consist of the average of the two grades for the rewritten paper. Late papers, in the absence of a valid excuse, will be downgraded by one third of a grade for each day they are overdue.
There will in addition be a final exam, for which I will ask you to prepare beforehand outlines to several broad essay questions, some of which will be asked at the exam.
All of the requirements of the course must be met, including attendance at all classes unless a valid excuse can be presented. The five-page papers will account together for about one third of the course grade, the response papers and participation in sections another third, and the final exam another third.
If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
Syllabus
1. Monday, Jan. 13: Introduction
Classes 2-7: origins and outbreak
2. Wednesday, Jan. 15: A Trio of Predatory Powers
*Bell, The Origins of the Second World War in Europe, 57-99 (chaps. 5-6)
Monday, Jan. 20: holiday
3. Wednesday, Jan. 22: The Failure of Collective Security
*Bell, pages 233-260 (Chapter 13)
4. Monday, Jan. 27: Appeasement
*Bell, pages 261-284 (Chapter 14)
5. Wednesday, Jan. 29 Discussion
*Frans Coetzee and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee, The World in Flames, 9-16, 22-30; William Shirer, Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent, 1934-1941 (1995), entries for March 6, 7, 8, 13 1936; March 11-12, March 12, 1938; Sept. 18-Nov. 6, 1938.
Response paper due on Hossbach Memorandum or Chamberlain’s speech in Oct. 1938 (both in Coetzee).
6. Monday, Feb. 3: 1939
*Bell, pages 285-313 (Chapter 15); *Coetzee 30-31
Classes 7-12: from European War to World War
7. Wednesday, Feb. 5: snowed out
8. Monday, Feb. 10: Real War and Phony War
*Zeiler, Annihilation, 53-66; Erich von Manstein, Lost Victories, 21-63
9. Wednesday, Feb. 12: 1940
*Zeiler, 69-90; *Gordon Martel, ed., The World War II Reader, 7-39; von Manstein, 94-126; watch The Sorrow and the Pity, Part I
Feb. 17-Feb. 21 recess
10. Monday, Feb. 24: The Anglo-American factor
*Zeiler, 90-116; Churchill, The Second World War, Vol. II, 319-340
11. Wednesday, Feb. 26: Discussion
*Coetzee, chapter 2, and documents on pp. 66, 91-101
Response paper due on von Manstein, 94-126, or Coetzee, documents on pp. 38 or 40 or 42 or 46 or 49
12. Monday, March 3: Barbarossa and Pearl Harbor
*Zeiler, 135-151; Alexander Werth, Moscow War Diary, 281-297; Churchill, vol. 2, 576-593.
Classes 13-17: The War on Civilians
13. Wednesday, March 5: Germany’s Europe: the Collaborators
*Martel, The World War Two Reader, 105-135; Watch The Sorrow and the Pity, Part II
14. Monday, March 10: Discussion
Response paper due on Werth, 281-297 or *Coetzee documents on pages 56, 58, 66, 91, 94, 100
15. Wednesday, March 12: Germany’s Europe: the Resisters
*Martel, 296-316; De Gaulle, War Memoirs, Vol I, The Call to Honor, (1955), 81-104
16. Monday, March 17: Germany’s Europe: Genocide
*Martel, 200-225; watch The Specialist. Portrait of a Modern Criminal
17. Wednesday, March 19: Discussion
*Coetzee, chapter 10
Response paper on The Sorrow and the Pity (film) or Wannsee Conference (film) or any document in Coetzee chapter 10
Classes 18-20: Aspects of Total War
18. Monday, March 24: Connections: three continents, three battles
*Zeiler, 191-216; *Coetzee, 141-150; Von Manstein, 289-366; Churchill, Vol. 4, 586-603
19. Wednesday, March 26: Connections: Air, Land, Sea
*Zeiler, 224-241; *Coetzee, 159-179; *Martel, 250-269; Churchill, vol. 2, 594-608, vol. 3, 111-155, vol. 5, 517-532
Classes 20-26 From War to Postwar
20. Monday, March 31: Germany’s shrinking empire
*Zeiler, 210-223, 274-288
21. Wednesday, April 2: End of the war in Europe: campaigns
*Zeiler, 294-315, 329-360, 378-385
22. Monday, April 7: End of the war in Europe: Liberations
On Latte: Kershaw, The End, 386-400; Davies, Rising ’44, 433-446; Jackson, France, The Dark Years, 544-569
23. Wednesday, April 9: Discussion: total war and contingent war
*Coetzee, 264-306; *Martel 145-225
Response paper due on Churchill, vol. 5, 517-532, or any document in *Coetzee, 268-275.
24. Monday, April 14: Postwar: chaos
*Lowe, chap. 1, 5, 7, Displacement and ethnic cleansing: Lowe, 27-60, 125-145, 212-249; *Coetzee, 349-364
Apr. 15-Apr. 22 Easter/Passover Break
25. Wednesday, April 23: Postwar: order
*Martel, 390-412; *Lowe, 295-340; *Coetzee, 359-362
26. Monday, April 28: conclusions
Zeiler, 1-6, Lowe, 359-378
Guideline for response papers (due January 29, February 26, March 5, March 19, and April 9.)
These papers, each about 2-3 pages in length, will provide an analysis of a document or documents as assigned, and a statement of its significance as you see it. They do not require consultation of materials beyond those assigned in the course.
For example, if the document assigned were that in Coetzee, 30-31, the response paper should:
1) Describe the document, stating briefly what it is and who issued it (Daladier’s speech to the French Chamber of Deputies on 2 Sept. 1939).
2) Any relevant background – in this case, the German invasion of Poland the day before, and Daladier’s attempt to justify French policy to date
3) Significance of the document: for example, the failure of appeasement; or France’s inability to act without Britain; or the value of a promise without military backing; or all of these and more.
Topics for 5-page papers and due dates (choose two).
In each five-page paper you must develop an argument in grammatical and coherent English, according to the MLA handbook or the Chicago Manual of Style; you are not required to use primary sources, or to go beyond the sources and readings assigned for the course, but the paper will benefit greatly if you do. A list of some primary resources available at or through the library is attached. Some relate to the United states but even some of these, in particular the newspapers, can be used for a paper about Europe.
If you would like to modify the question, or write about a problem of your own choosing, please clear it with me or with the teaching fellow (April French)) beforehand.
Due Jan. 29:
Did the policy of appeasement, 1933-1939, serve the interests of Britain of France?
Was Hitler, between 1933 and 1939, acting in novel or traditional ways in his conduct of German foreign policy?
Due Feb. 26:
Explain the outcome of one of the following campaigns, asking whether a different outcome was possible:
The Norwegian campaign (April 1940)
The Low Countries/French campaign (May-June 1940)
Was the German war of 1939 a war of revenge?
Due March 5:
Explain the outcome of one of the following campaigns, asking whether a different outcome was possible:
The Battle of Britain (summer 1940)
Operation Barbarossa (June-Dec 1941)
Assess the virtues and defects of any one European wartime leader (military or civilian)
Due March 19
Assess the role of any of the following in the Holocaust: Hitler; the Wehrmacht; the collaborators; the bystanders; the Allies.
Assess the effectiveness of resistance or collaboration in any one occupied country
Explain the outcome of one of the following campaigns, asking whether a different outcome might have been possible:
Assess the consequences of the battle of el Alamein, of the North Atlantic, or of Stalingrad for the subsequent course of the war.
Due April 9
Was the allied bombing of German cities a war crime?
Was the German u-boat campaign against allied shipping a war crime?
Assess the impact of the war on gender relations in Germany, the UK, or the USSR
Assess critically the conduct of the Italian campaign, the Normandy campaign after D-Day, or the Soviet campaign inside Germany (1945) by either the allied attackers or the german defenders.
Describe the process by which the war forgotten, repressed, or recovered in any one European country after 1945.
World War II –Selected Print, Online & Microform Resources
Some Digital Resources
Oxford Reference Online
Cambridge Histories Online
American History in Video:Includes: newsreels from WWII, before, during and after the war. War footage, home front, official meetings, and so on. Includes “History Channel” war videos. Includes PBS specials.
Ancestry Library: Go to “New Collections”. Then in the left navigation bar, “filter by location”. Choose Europe. You can then choose new collections from Germany, France, England or other countries involved in the War. There are German, French, British Isle of Man and other documents about deportation and internment camps; documents about civilian deaths in UK and more.
Brandeis World History LibGuide List of Historic Newspapers: http://brandeis.libguides.com/content.php?pid=15002&sid=100752
The Chicago Tribune Historical Archive
Includes full-text and full-image issues of the Chicago Tribune, 1890-1984.
The Los Angeles Times Historical Archive
Includes full-text and full-image issues of the Los Angeles Times, 1881-1985.
New York Times Historical Archive
Includes full-text and full-image issues of the New York Daily Times, 1851-1857 and the New York Times, 1857-1999.
The Washington Post Historical Archive
Includes full-text and full-image issues of the Washington Post, 1877-1988.
Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to WWII: http://www.britannica.com/dday
**EuroDocs: 1919-present: http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Britain_1919_to_the_present
National Archives: Online Collections: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/our-online-records.htm Includes Air Force, Army and Navy Records.
Cabinet of Great Britain –Papers http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cabinetpapers/
Great Britain, Diplomatic Files, Folder Titles List: http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/psf/britain/
Crisis Over Czechoslovakia March-Sept 1938 http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~pv/munich/index.html
Avalon Project: World War II Documents: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/wwii.asp
French “Yellow Book”: http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/fyb/fyb-preface.html
Fordham List of Documents: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook45.asp#War%20In%20Europe
BBC: World War II http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/
LOC: Revelations from the Russian Archives: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/intro.html
Some Print & Microforms Resources
Admiral Nimitz Command Summary, Running Estimate and Summary, 1941- 1945
Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, c1984.
Main Microforms: D767. U6 1984 (3 reels)
The Armed Forces Oral Histories
Bethesda, MD: University Publications of America, 1989.
World War II Combat Interviews
Main Microfiche: D811. A2 W62 1989 (573 microfiches)
Microforms Reference: D811. A2 W62 1989 (guide)
U.S. Army Senior Officer Oral Histories
Main Microfiche: U52. U5 1989 (366 microfiches)
Microforms Reference: U52. U5 1989 (guide)
British documents on foreign affairs--reports and papers from the Foreign Office confidential print.
[Bethesda, Md.] : University Publications of America, c1990-c1996.
These collections reproduce diplomatic dispatches and documents from the Foreign Office Confidential Print intended for internal government use. See the library catalog record for more detailed geographic coverage within each part.
Part II, From the First to the Second World War. Series F, Europe, 1919-1939 Main Stacks: + JZ632 .B756 1990 (67 vols.)
Part III, From 1940 through 1945. Series A, The Soviet Union and Finland Main Stacks: + JZ632 .B7762 1997 (6 vols.)
Part III, From 1940 through 1945. Series F, Europe Main Stacks + JZ632 .B766 1997 (26 vols.)
Foreign Office 371. Great Britain
Surrey, Eng: Public Record Office, 1979-
Main Microforms: D727. G7 1979
Printed Guides:
Japan Correspondence, 1930-1940
Microforms Reference: D727. G7 1979
Japan Correspondence, 1941-1945
Microforms Reference: D727. G7 1979b
United States Correspondence, 1930-1937
Microforms Reference: D727. G72
United States Correspondence, 1938-1945
Microforms Reference: D727. G723
United States Correspondence, 1946-1948
Microforms Reference: D727. G724
German Army High Command
Arlington, VA: University Publications of America, c1975.
Main Microforms: UA712. G3813 1975 (4 reels)
Microforms Reference: UA712. G3813 1975 (guide)
History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II
5 vols. Nashville, TN: Battery Press, 1993-
Main Stacks: D769.369 U53 1993
History of the Great Patriotic war of the Soviet Union, 1941-1945 [microform]
Main Library Microform Closed Stacks D764 .I713 1984
7 reels of microfilm
Intercepted Japanese Messages Microform: Operation MAGIC
Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, Inc., [1979?].
Main Microforms: D810. C88 I7 1979 (15 reels)
Microforms Reference: D810. C88 I7 1979 (guide)
Japanese Monographs; Japanese Studies on Manchuria
Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, [1980?].
Main Microforms: D767.2 J3713 1980 (17 reels)
Guide on Reel 17