Second try at 455 syl

History 455—The Great War Fall 2012 WSUTC B. Farley Office 207J West Building, Faculty Row/372-7357/email brigitf2001@yahoo.com, bfarley@tricity.wsu.edu Non-virtual office hours are basically just before or after class, and then 3:15-4 pm, Mondays and Wednesdays. Virtual office hours anytime, 24/7. You can email me any time and I will get back to you as soon as possible, ideally at least by the next day if I am in the country. I don’t like the phone because it disturbs the two octogenarians I live with. “They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them” Lawrence Binyon, “For The Fallen,” l9l4. This poem is still recited every evening at 8 pm at the Menin Gate memorial to the missing in Ypres(Ieper), Belgium

The image above is of a tombstone in the Ypres Ramparts cemetery, Belgium. The compelling part is the epitaph, which reads, "Someday we will understand." Maybe, but I'm not so sure. Course Introduction: Welcome to the first official offering of World War I, the history of arguably the most significant conflict in the last two centuries. Actually, it is hard to qualify that statement with "arguably," since the so-called Great War produced fighting of unparalleled savagery and the first instance of organized ethnic murder, incited entire populations to hatred of one another, produced the first WMDs(poison gas, flamethrowers, zeppelins), pushed a nation over the edge into mutiny and the embrace of Communism, killed off four empires and nine million—that is, 9,000,000-- individuals, erased the entire map of Europe and the Middle East, created a host of new states and left the United States as the lone functioning great power. Oh, and did I mention the fact that World War I convinced a corporal Hitler to go into politics on the theory that "degenerates" on the home front cost the German people victory in the war? Or, consequently, that World War I is widely believed to be the cause of World War II, an even longer, bloodier and MORE global conflict than the first?? Or that it was the brilliant peacemakers of WWI that created the modern middle East, especially IRAQ and SYRIA?! Congratulations, what a splendid job you all did! I think you get the picture: this thing was kind of important. Readings: At least a part of each week's readings will be taken from an online World War I document archive based at Brigham Young University and the University of Kansas. One of the longer ones, the diary of Ambassador Morgenthau, you will read in its entirety. Besides the online material, you will have Martin Gilbert's history of World War I, a terrific basic source with a lot of great anecdotes and telling detail. In addition, we have the Penguin Book of First World War Poetry. You know this was an awful ordeal if it is a poetry war. Poetry tries to say what cannot be said. Finally, Peter Englund’s magnificent The Beauty and the Sorrow, a unique work on this war or any other. We will try a little experiment this semester: you will make your own arrangements for getting these books. You have several options: library, Powells, Amazon if you want bricks-and-mortar books. And except for Gilbert, you can get them for Kindle or Ipad/Iphone(download the Kindle App from the app store) or your tablet of choice. This ought to cut down on the cost at least a little bit. Moreover, there are tons of fantastic websites out there, mostly British, maintained by people you can only describe as Great Warophiles. I have listed many of them on the syllabus for you. Please let me know of any new ones you find. Evaluation: History 455 is a tier III course. This means in part that you have to undertake a significant project covering one or more topics related to the course content and ideally reflecting a diversity of disciplines. This should reflect your interests and strengths, because it will require a lot of effort. You have two options: a bricks-and-mortar term paper, using a variety of sources, or a work using other forms, other media. This might be a website spotlighting an important aspect of the war, an oral presentation on someone you feel deserves more attention, a concert of relevant music if you are a musician, an illustrated talk on innovations in warfare. I particularly remember two presenters: the student who did a remarkable powerpoint covering the development of air warfare and airplanes in the war, and a talented musicianwho researched and presented a concert of Great War popular songs in which she played piano and her granddaughter sang. We even brought in seniors from the local assisted living facility for that! Whatever you do, I want everyone in class to present this work, or a part of it, to the Student Liberal Arts symposium in December, because people do not know this war. You have three weeks to think about it, after which you must submit to me a description of what you want to do and a preliminary list of sources. A listing of possible subjects might include the following: the changing nature of warfare in the Great War, WMD in WWI, theory and practice of trench warfare, role of women in the war, propaganda, film and the Great War(then and now), commemoration, colonial or Dominion soldiers and the Great War, America’s impact on the war, the war on the American homefront, the making of new nations(Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Iraq), impact of the Russian revolution, accounting for and memorializing the missing, shell shock, “shot at dawn” cases, battlefield medicine and plastic surgery, the origins and history of the “unknown” soldier, poetry and poets in the Great War, Balfour declaration and the making of the postwar Middle East, the Armenian genocide(for example, how was this covered in America?) Aside from this, we will have one midterm, in early October and another just before dead week. You will always know all the possible questions and items at least two weeks in advance; what you do not know is which ones will appear on the exam paper, so you should prepare everything. Objectives: I will be happy, and you will get credit, if you can discuss some of the issues that caused this war and which remained unsettled even after the peace was concluded in l9l9. Aside from that, you should be able to explain the connections between the Great War and the Russian revolution, trace the origins and course of the Armenian genocide, make clear the factors that made this conflict a truly global war and discuss in a general way how the maps of Europe, the Middle East and Asia were redrawn after the war. If you can do all of that, you will have a good idea of why this conflict was so key to the unfolding of the 20th century--and why people in high school and junior high seldom, if ever touch it. You are not going to get it by answering questions at the end of the chapters or coloring maps or copying out of the encyclopedia. A Note from Disability Resources: Reasonable accommodations are available for students who have a documented disability. Classroom accommodation forms are available through the Disability Services Office. If you have a documented disability (even temporary) make an appointment as soon as possible with the Disability Services Coordinator Cherish Tijerina room 269 West Building. You will need to provide your instructor with the appropriate classroom accommodation form from Disability Services during the first week of class. Late notification may mean that requested accommodations might not be available. All accommodations for disabilities must be approved through the Disability Services Coordinator. Translation: People here want you to succeed, so please let them help you. Schedule Note that we will go by topic, rather than date. It is difficult to say how much time we will be spending on any given topic. The numbered topics represent my best guestimate. 1. Europe before the apocalypse, l870-l9l4 Readings: Gilbert, Introduction + chapters 1-2; Thomas Hardy, "Channel Firing," Penguin Book of First World War Poetry. Recommended readings: Vladimir Dedijer, The Road to Sarajevo. If you want to understand the mentality of the teenaged assassins of Franz Ferdinand, this is an essential read. They were the Al-Quaeda of their day, though necessarily more localized since they didn’t have modern communications, suitcase nukes or airplanes to hijack in their day. Recommended film: Mayerling(l969), starring Catherine de Neuve. If not for Crown Prince Rudolf's suicide at the Mayerling hunting lodge in the early l880s, Franz Ferdinand would never have become heir to the Habsburg throne and Austria-Hungary's tragic last years might have turned out very differently. 2. Not your six-week wonder: the coming of global war, June -December l9l4. Readings: Gilbert, chapters 3-6(l9l4); Penguin book, Anna Akhmatova, "July l9l4," Englund, 1-76, l9l4. Recommended readings: Barbara Tuchman, The Guns of August. This is an impressive chronicle of how the powers basically stumbled into this conflict. President John F. Kennedy read it just prior to the Cuban Missle Crisis and was guided by some of its conclusions as he attempted to reach a resolution with Khrushchev in October l962. Recommended website: The British Army in the Great War, www.1914-l9l8.net. A great and comprehensive site covering the British and dominion armies in World War I. Remember, Great Britain was an empire and drew troops from all corners of the globe. India was particularly well represented. See an overview of their activity at www.king-emperor.com. There are also Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Canadian sites aplenty. They are too numerous to list, but you can find them with a simple google search. 3. The brutal year l9l5: Turkish double tragedy, some consequential losses at sea, the war on the western front Readings: Ambassador Morgenthau's diary, WWI document archive, www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi(category); Gilbert, chapters 7-12(1915); Penguin book, John McCrae, "In Flanders Fields," Englund, 7-204, l9l5. Film: Gallipoli(l981), starring a young Mel Gibson. There are few more moving films in the history of cinema. Recommended websites: www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com. This is an excellent online postcard library dedicated to the theory and practice of propaganda, which both sides used extensively. World War I was the first war that saw the systematic use of propaganda. You should also surf over to the Imperial War Museum, www.iwpm.org.uk They have some wonderful WWI resources. Finally, the sad story of the “pals,” groups of friends who joined, or were drafted into, the British army. Go to www.pals.org.uk and read the story of the friends from Accrington, UK. 4. Butchery and horror: the Somme, Verdun, Passchendaele, plus the birth of the Irish republic. Readings: Gilbert, chapters 12-16(1916); Penguin book, Wilfrid Owen, "Dulce et Decorum est, " "Anthem for Doomed Youth,” Englund, 203-314, l9l6. Recommended reading: Alastair Horne, The Price of Glory: Verdun l9l6. A modern classic of military/social history. Recommended websites: www.unfortunate-region.org. This is a place where you can access excellent photographs of the battlefields mentioned in this section of class. 5. The year of mutinies: nations, armies, individuals Readings: Gilbert, chapters 16-19(1917); Penguin Book, Alan Seeger, "Rendezvous,” Englund, 317-419, l9l7. Also, www.shotatdawn.org.uk. This is a site dedicated to clearing the names of men shot for “cowardice” or “desertion,” but who may have been suffering from shell shock and/or trauma after the terrible ordeal of the trenches l9l4-l9l6. All these years later, their families work to obtain for them an honorable discharge and/or posthumous rehabilitation. Recommended website: http://www.kobariski-muzej.si/?lng=ang. This is the official side of the Kobarid museum of the Great War in Slovenia, one of the best resources for this war. 6. The outlines of a new world, l9l7-l9l8. Readings: Gilbert, chaptera 20-22; Penguin book, Siegfried Sassoon, "Does it matter?,” Englund, 424-508. Recommended readings: Go to the Truman Library, www.trumanlibrary.org, and read some of then-Captain Harry S. Truman's memoirs of being a member of the US contingent sent to France to save the Allies. Also, Robert Massie, The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. All about the crime of the century, the cold-blooded murder of the Russian tsar, his wife and children. Recommended website: Trenches on the web, an American-centered site covering all aspects of the war. www.worldwar1.com. 7. "All quiet on the western front:" the road to the llth hour of the llth day of the llth month, l9l8. Readings: "NY Times report on end of the war," WWI document archive, www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi(year l9l8); Gilbert, chapters 23-26. Recommended readings/film: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Film by the same name, issued l930. DO NOT WATCH THE MODERN VERSIONS. They are a WASTE O’ TIME! 8. Peace breaks out: the Versailles settlements and the making of a new world map, l9l9-l922. Readings: Finish Gilbert; Penguin Book, TBA. Recommended readings: Louis Auchincloss, Woodrow Wilson. This is the newest biography of President Wilson, one of the architects of the post-war peace settlements. Margaret MacMillan, Paris l9l9. Everything you always wanted to know about the peace settlements. 9. “We will remember them:” the landscape of commemoration on the western front and beyond Recommended reading: Marc Dugain, The Officers’ Ward. What happens to soldiers whose faces were grotesquely and permanently mutilated in the war. Also, Juliet Nicholson, The Great Silence, a moving Great Britain in the years just following World War I. Recommended websites: Learn about and hear “Last Post,” played nightly beneath the Menin Gate in Ypres, a tribute to 54,000 British and Dominion soldiers with no known graves. www.lastpost.be. Also, Commonwealth War Graves Association website, www.cwgc.org. They designed and built the hundreds of cemeteries on the western front, and by now everywhere around the world. For information on American casualties and memorials, www.ambc.org, the American Battle Monuments Commission.