HISTORY 381 WORLD WAR, FASCISM, & MODERNISM: WESTERN EUROPE, 1914-1945 Semester: Fall 2006 Time:    MWF 1:00-1:50  Place:   Main 104 Web Page: http://webs.wofford.edu/whisnantcj/

Professor: Dr. Clayton Whisnant Office: Main 105 email: whisnantcj@wofford.edu phone: x4550 office hours: MWF 9:00-10:00 TTR 9:30-11:00 or by appointment

 CONTENTS         

COURSE DESCRIPTION     

Course Goals

In this course, students will study the events that defined the twentieth century for Europe and the rest of the world.  Besides examining the crucial events that affected Western Europe in the first half of the twentieth century--World War I, the threat of communism, the rise of fascism, the Great Depression, and World War II--this course will consider several major questions:

• What were the origins of World War I?

• What was the impact of modern warfare on European government, society, and culture?

• What is modernity?  What were the attractions of 'modernity' in its various guises--artistic modernism, intellectual modernism, 'Americanization,' and 'mass culture'?  What did people fear about these changes?  What impact did they have on people's lives?

• What made fascism such a force to contend with in the 1920s and 1930s?  What connection, if any, did fascism have with 'modernity'?

• What is meant by the term 'totalitarianism,' and what are the strengths and weaknesses of this description?

• How are we to understand the crimes and horrors summed up by the term "Holocaust"?

Because all of these questions have generated a tremendous amount of debate among historians, this course will also spend some time on comparing and evaluating the various ideas and theories that have developed around these questions.  The goal will be to consider how historians formulate theories, what evidence they consider, and how they defend their arguments against criticism.

Course Objectives

To meet the goals of the course, students will have to successfully write two papers that will force them to integrate knowledge acquired from lectures and textbooks and also pass three in-class exams that will test their knowledge of a) basic terms, b) historical figures and organizations, c) key events that have shaped Western Europe in the early twentieth century, and d) the cause & effect relationships that have given shape to the course of European history between 1914 and 1945..

Technology Skills

All papers in the class will need to be written on a Computer word-processor.  Students will also need some basic knowledge of web browsers in order to be able to find and utilize material on the on-line version of this syllabus.

Instructional Format

This course will mix together lectures with days set aside for the discussion of essays or monograph material..

 TEXTS

• Modris Ekstein, Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age (Doubleday, 1989). ISBN: 0385412029.
• Otto Friedrich, Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s (Harperperennial Library, 1995). ISBN: 0060926791
• Arthur Marwick, et. al. Total War and Historical Change: Europe, 1914-1945 (Open University Press, 2001), ISBN: 0335207936
• Peter Fritzsche, Germans into Nazis (Harvard, 1999). ISBN: 0674350928
• On-Line Readings.  All the reserve readings can be accessed separately by clicking on the hot text in the assignment column of the schedule below.  If you prefer, though, you can access all the readings by going to the Library's web page for this class. If you have any trouble printing these readings, see my troubleshooting tips.

The assigned reading should be done before the class for which it is assigned.

 GRADING

 Students are expected to attend the class regularly, to complete the reading on time, and to participate in class discussions.  Failure to do each of these things will result in a lower participation grade.

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students should be aware that regular attendance is part of the participation grade.  Students are allowed two unexcused absences, but after that absences will seriously hurt the attendance portion of their grade.  If a student misses too many classes, I may exercise my right to withdraw him or her from the class after a warning.

Excused absences are those due to approved college-related activities (e.g. sporting events), documented illness, and family emergencies.  Students have the responsibility to make up missed work.

 OTHER REMARKS

All cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class.  Do not, of course, take phone calls during class.  Please be on time.  If you must arrive late or leave early, do so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible.

Of course, all work must be yours.  Cases of suspected plagiarism and cheating will be handled by the Honor Council, as per Wofford College's Honor Code.  Plagiarism, we should note, is defined in the following way:

(1) the verbatim repetition, without acknowledgement, of the writings of another author;

(2) borrowing without acknowledging the source;

(3) paraphrasing the thoughts of another writer without acknowledgement; or

(4) allowing any other person or organization to prepare work which one then submits as his or her own.

You should pay close attention to the third definition, especially when referring to ideas borrowing from a website.  For more information, please reference my handout "Living by Wofford's Honor Code".

COURSE SCHEDULE

SECTION I: WORLD WAR I

SECTION II: THE INTERWAR PERIOD

SECTION III: WORLD WAR II