History 1040
The Great War
September 14:
We will examine the role of the Arts and the avant-garde in undercutting the established order. This week we will focus on the challenge to the positivist view of the world that was current in the West. We will also 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.
Helpful sites for Thursday:
PBS Animated Map and brief analysis of the outbreak of the Great War
Listen to a musical explanation of the Great War. - MP3 format - right click over the hyperlink to download this.
Bookmark and/or Print out the following.
PBS Timeline of the Great War - MAKE SURE YOU BOOKMARK THIS SITE.
Timeline of Events leading to the Great War. (BYU)
Full Timeline of the Great War - from Trenches on the Web
Casualty Figures of the Great War - from Trenches on the Web
September 16:
Discussion will focus on the outbreak of the war and the Illusions that all the sides in Europe held about the war. We will view sections of the Black Adder Episode “Goodbyeee” in class. We will also deal with the Christmas Truce as this very important to understand the changing nature of warfare and the impact the Great War has on Europe and then World Civilization.. Here is an audio file of a Great War Veteran talking about the Truce.
Readings for next Tuesday
Download Powerpoint on Courseweb called "The Spirit of 1914" to use in class for note taking
Jeffrey Verhey, The Spirit of 1914: Militarism, Myth and Mobilization in Germany (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000), pp. 12-57 (on e-reserve)
1/2 the class will read this.
Adrian Gregory, "British‚ War Enthusiasm in 1914: a Reassessment," Gail Braybon (ed.), in Evidence, History and the Great War: Historians and the Impact of 1914-18 (New York and Oxford: Berghahn, 2003), pp. 67-85 (both on e-reserves)
1/2 will read this. I will assign this.
94-112 in Understanding the Great War - Entire Class reads this.
Required Video Files:
Go to Courseweb-Video Files - War Enthusiasm - short video file
Go to Courseweb-Video Files - Upstairs Downstairs - The Sudden Storm - short video file
Readings for next Thursday
38-43 in Fero
Read a "New Kind of War." from the BBC
Strachan, First World War, pp. 39-53
Recommended:
PBS Total War
Manchester Guardian's Report on the Declaration of War - very brief
Daily Mirror Headlines - August 1914 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/mirror01_01.shtml - very brief
For more information on the Great War go to the The Great War: 80 years on - BBC Site