UHC
Western European History II
Age of Empire and the Crisis of Europe
1 March:
We will expand our discussion of Imperialism, and how the extreme nationalism of this period was reflected in the Imperialist enterprise. Be prepared to discuss Berghahn's argument as laid out in his Introduction and Chapter 1 and tie this together with the 4 questions listed above.
3 March:
Today we will examine the challenge to the Middle Class World View and its ascendancy. In particular, we will look at the role of the Arts and the Avant-Garde in challenging the positivist view of the world that was current in the West. This will continue our focus on the internal and external crises facing all the European Nations between 1871-1914 and use this as the foundation for analyzing the origins of The Great War.
Read for 15 March
Merriman 684-741
Courseweb-PowerPoints-Germany and the Great War.
Courseweb-PowerPoints - France and the Great War -
Courseweb - Videos - Great War Videos- Germany before the War
Watch John Merriman's Lecture on France between 1871-1914 focusing on Boulanger and Dreyfus
Read for 17 March
Origins of the Great War:
Go to Courseweb-Course Documents - Lafore "The Breakdown of Europe" -
Merriman pp. 863-889
Go to the BBC History Website to look at an animated map of how the Schlieffen Plan was to work and how it actually worked
Go to Courseweb - VIDEO FILES > GREAT WAR VIDEOS > THE ORIGINS OF THE WAR AND WATCH BOTH VIDEOS
Watch John Merriman's 50 minute lecture on the Origins of the Great War. This will help you when we get into class discussion.
Recommended For Fun: wATCh the hORRIBLE hISTORIES VERSION of the origins of the war:
The Beginning of the Great War:
Courseweb-PowerPoints-Great War 1914-1918
Read about the Legendary 1914 Christmas Truce:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/195000/audio/_199768_frank_richards_xmas_1914__1954.ram
Personal Recollections in Real Audio - from the BBC's 80th Anniversary Site. There are also links to "Letters Home." The Christmas truce (BBC) Frank Richards of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers recalls the legendary Christmas truce of 1914. He says that as the Germans came over, the British threw off their equipment and went out to meet them, shaking hands and sharing rations.(1954)
Print out and keep the following.
Timeline of Events leading to the Great War.
Full Timeline of the Great War - from Trenches on the Web
Casualty Figures of the Great War - from Trenches on the Web
Recommended:
For more information on the Great War go to the The Great War: 80 years on - BBC Site