HISTORY 455, Europe in the Era of World War II
12:45-2:20 Daily, 1st Summer Session 2009
Dr. Kevin Smith

Office: BB 207 Phone: 285-8722
e-mail: ksmith@bsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 2:45 to 3:30 and by appointment

This course is designed to explore the origins and the course of World War II (focusing upon events relevant to the European combatants), beginning with the treaties that ended World War I. The conduct of diplomacy & warfare will be emphasized; influential economic, technological, moral, ideological & social trends will be examined. The interplay of revisionism and appeasement will highlight discussion of the interwar years; we will then assess the war's general and immediate origins, conduct, & long-term consequences.

 

You should exit this course with knowledge of:

1)       the "30 Years War" debate: why was there a Second World War, and when did it begin?

2)       the flaws & characteristics of the 1919 peace settlement, & the efforts to revise & sustain that peace

3)       the roots & consequences of "appeasement"

4)       the impact of "ideological geometry"--the interplay of democracy, Nazism, and communism--upon the war's origins & conduct

5)       the causes & consequences of British decline & French collapse

6)       why the Allies won and why the Axis lost, with special reference to key battles & developments

7)       the vital importance of logistics in warfare

8)       the role of the USSR in delineating and winning the war

9)       the Second Front controversy and the configuration of the Grand Alliance

10)    the roots of the Cold War in the interwar & 2nd World War.

11)   the role of memory, morality and the construction/modification of national identities: was World War Two a "good" war? Was it a "just war?" How did participation in the war affect how peoples viewed themselves and their heritage?

Required Texts:

• David Clay Large, Between Two Fires: Europe's Path in the 1930's (Norton, 1990)
• P.M.H. Bell, The Origins of the 2nd World War in Europe, 2nd ed. (Longman, 1997)
• R. A. C. Parker, The Second World War: A Short History (Oxford Univ. Press, 1997)
• R. Overy, Why the Allies Won (Norton, 1995)
• See reserve and on-line readings listed below
• Additional Readings will be made available for you, which you are expected to complete!

Reading assignments (see Schedule below) are directly linked to lectures & discussions & MUST be completed BEFORE class.

Grading Policy

Grade calculations are based on the following:  450 points possible: Scale:

 

92-100% = A       82-87% = B          72-77% = C          62-67% = D

90-91% = A-        80-81% = B-        70-71% = C-        59-61% = D-

88-89% = B+       78-79% = C+       68-69% = D+       58 = F

ANY CHANGES IN EXAM/QUIZ DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN ADVANCE
MAKE-UPS WILL ONLY BE ADMINISTERED IN CASE OF EMERGENCY.

Grading Components

(1): Participation 70 points
(2): Exams 1-2 120 points
(3): Final Exam 160 points
(4): Term paper 100 points

(1) Class participation, worth 70 points, is essential. Class sessions will typically consist of lecture and discussion, for which REGULAR (that is, constant) attendance (35 points) & ACTIVE participation (involvement in discussion, 35 points) is EXPECTED, for which PRIOR completion of the reading is vital. This approach is designed to ensure that you will not be attempting to do all the reading just before the exams. Quality & quantity of participation are equally important. ABSENTEEISM WILL COST YOU POINTS.

(2) There will be three exams. These are designed to ensure your knowledge of basic facts (content) & historians' views (historiography), preparing for an essay final. These will consist of some of the following: multiple choice, matching, true/false, fill-ins, a map section, timelines; & the first two will be worth 60 points each. These are currently planned for May 27 and June 5. The May 27 exam WILL NOT BE SCHEDULED TO CONSUME THE WHOLE CLASS PERIOD (i.e. lecture will follow). You are expected to take the exam as scheduled and must let me know promptly if you cannot.

(3) For the final exam (June 19) worth 160 points, the exam will have two sections; one similar to the first two exams; in addition, you will write 1 essay, choosing from a roster of questions. You are expected to take the exam as scheduled and must let me know promptly if you cannot.  

 (4) Paper: Why did the Allies win? (100 points)

·         This paper will be due June 15 at 8:15 a.m. (when I check my e-mail)

·         4% extra credit will be added if the paper is e-mailed to me by 5 p.m. June 12

o    You will examine 2+ structural explanations and 2+ campaigns and the interactions between them, using Overy’s book, other class readings, and your additional sources to answer the question “Why did the Allies win?”

o    By June 1 at 4 p.m., e-mail a list of 3 GOOD sources (author, title, publisher [or name of journal], date of publication). At least one must be a scholarly book or article (begin by looking in Overy’s bibliography); no more than one can be a website (provide complete URL and do not use Wikipedia). All 3 can be books. These sources are in addition to reading assigned for class.

o    You will choose these sources to provide further insight into the themes developed in Overy’s Why the Allies Won.

o    You will cite the sources in footnotes (author, title, publisher [or name of journal], date of publication, page number). You will utilize all your sources and not depend excessively on any one source.

o    Your paper will be NO FEWER THAN 2500 words.

o    You may choose to emphasize one campaign or structural precondition above all others in comparison to them, or emphasize the interaction between several.

o    Your paper will be well written (clearly argued, accurate, specific, and organized) & proofread, with an introduction and conclusion

 

Grading Sheet

1.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR INTRODUCTION & CONCLUSION (10 POINTS)

2.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR WRITING & PROOFREADING (15 POINTS)

3.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR ACQUISITION OF QUALITY SOURCES (15 POINTS)

4.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR USAGE OF SOURCES TO SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENT (20 POINTS)

5.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR USAGE OF A VARIETY OF SOURCES (10 POINTS)

6.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR ACCURACY & SPECIFICITY IN RECOUNTING HISTORICAL EVENTS (10 POINTS)

7.  EXCELLENT/GOOD/FAIR/POOR ORGANIZATION & COHERENCE IN PRESENTING ARGUMENT (20 POINTS) 

8.  AT LEAST 2500 WORDS, 3 SOURCES (DEDUCT UP TO 20 POINTS FOR EACH if minimum not met)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Schedule for History 455 (Readings are Bulleted)

(IHR: International History Review JSS: Journal of Strategic Studies  JCH: Journal of Contemporary History)

Readings on Reserve in Library are Starred*

Readings on Reserve and also available at URL are **

Readings on Reserve and also available in stacks are ***

Readings only at URL are ****

 

I. WW2's Causes: Failed Peacemaking Diplomacy? (May 18-19)

COURSE THEMES & THE IMPACT OF WW1 & THE VERSAILLES TREATY

• Overy, Why Allies Won, 1-24
• Bell, Origins of the Second World War in Europe, viii-54

 

II. WW2's Causes: Lost Chance to Reassert Stability? (May 19-20)

THE 20'S: RUHR, LOCARNO, & ECONOMIC & SECURITY ILLUSIONS

• *Turner, "Continuity in German Foreign Policy: Case of Stresemann," IHR, (1979), 509-21
• BEGIN READING LARGE!

 

III. WW2's Causes: Econ Collapse/Ideological Divisions? (May 21, 22, 26)

PART 1) GREAT DEPRESSION: CAUSES & CONSEQUENCES

• Bell, Origins, 139-161

PART 2) DEPRESSION: IDEOLOGICAL DIVISIONS' CONTEXT & EPISODES

• Large, Between 2 Fires, 13-316
• Parker, The Second World War, 1-5
• Bell, Origins, 57-138

EXAM 1, May 27

 

IV. WW2's Causes: Belated Switch From Appeasement to Confrontation?

TOWARD MUNICH & APPEASEMENT (May 27-29)

• *Kennedy, "Tradition of Appeasement," in Strategy & Diplomacy, 1870-1945, 13-39
• Overy, Why Allies Won, 6-15
• Large, Between 2 Fires, 317-363
• Parker, The Second World War, 5-20
• Bell, Origins, 162-302, 336-341

 

V. The Era of Axis Initiative, 1939-1941 (June 1-4)

PART 1) BLITZKRIEG FROM POLAND TO FRANCE & THE FALL OF FRANCE

• Parker, The Second World War, 21-43
• **Pike, "Between the Junes: the French communists from the collapse of France to the invasion of Russia," JCH (1993), 465-485, at

 http://www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/redir.aspx?C=18da686c4d574e86bcb4a426f6e8beda&URL=http%3a%2f%2flinks.jstor.org%2fsici%3fsici%3d0022-0094%2528199307%252928%253A3%253C465%253ABTJTFC%253E2.0.CO%253B2-V

• Bell, Origins, 303-341

 

NOTE: I will be out of town at a D-Day conference June 3-5.

• The lectures for Section V, part 2 and 3 and Part VI have been pre-recorded for videostreaming.
• Links will be placed on Blackboard for you to access.
• Please test your access to this technology before June 2.
• Class will not be held on June 3 and 4, although you should use that time to view the lectures.
• You will be expected to view these lectures before the June 5 exam, which will be proctored, in-class.
• You may certainly ask any questions about the lectures in class on June 8, but will not need to do so prior to taking the exam.

 

PART 2) THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN & EARLY BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC

• Parker, The Second World War, 44-59
• *Reynolds, "Churchill & the Right 'Decision' to fight on in 1940: right policy, wrong reasons," Langhorne, ed., Diplomacy & Intelligence in the 2nd World War, 147-67.
• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 25-32

 

PART 3) BARBAROSSA: HITLER'S INVASION OF THE USSR

• Parker, The Second World War, 60-71
• David M. Glantz, Handout in class
• ****Stephen G. Fritz, “‘We are Trying…to Change the Face of the World’—Ideology and Motivation in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front: The View from Below” JMH (1996), 683-710  http://www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/redir.aspx?C=18da686c4d574e86bcb4a426f6e8beda&URL=http%3a%2f%2flinks.jstor.org%2fsici%3fsici%3d0899-3718%2528199610%252960%253A4%253C683%253A%2522AT.TC%253E2.0.CO%253B2-7

 

VI. Allied Hopes for Victory: Economic, Diplomatic, Moral (June 4)

• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 1-5, 17-24, 180-314
• *Levine, "Was World War 2 a Near Run Thing?," JSS (1985), 38-63
• Parker, The Second World War, 131-50, 173-76, 264-80
• **R. L. DiNardo & A. Bay, "Horse-Drawn Transport in the German Army," JCH (1988), 129-41, at  http://www.bsu.edu/web/ksmith/redir.aspx?C=18da686c4d574e86bcb4a426f6e8beda&URL=http%3a%2f%2flinks.jstor.org%2fsici%3fsici%3d0022-0094%2528198801%252923%253A1%253C129%253AHTITGA%253E2.0.CO%253B2-G

 

EXAM 2, June 5

 

VII. USA & Britain At War in the West, 1942-1943 (June 8-12)

PART 1) THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC, REPRISED

• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 44-62
• Parker, The Second World War, 95-98
• *R. A. Bowling, "Mahan's Principles and the Battle of the Atlantic," in T. Runyan and J. Copes, ed., To Die Gallantly: The Battle of the Atlantic, 231-250.
• Smith, Conflict Over Convoys, 1-4, 230-239

 

PART 2) THE SECOND FRONT CONTROVERSY

• Parker, The Second World War, 115-130
• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 134-144
• *Reynolds, "Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Wartime Anglo-American Alliance, 1939-1945..." in W. R. Louis and H. Bull, eds., The Special Relationship: Anglo-American Relations Since 1945, 17-41

 

PART 3) TORCH & THE MEDITERRANEAN CAMPAIGN

• Parker, The Second World War, 98-106, 177-194
• Smith, "Constraining OVERLORD: Civilian Logistics, TORCH, and the Second Front", 42-62, in Wilson, ed., D-Day 1944.

 

PART 4) STRATEGIC BOMBING AS SECOND FRONT

• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 101-133
• Parker, The Second World War, 151-172

 

VIII. The Russian Front: Stalingrad, Kursk & Beyond (June 15)

• Parker, The Second World War, 106-114; Overy, Why the Allies Won, 63-100

 

IX. OVERLORD toward Berlin: Assaulting Fortress Europe (June 16-17)

• Overy, Why the Allies Won, 134-179; Parker, The Second World War, 195-223

 

X. Aftermath & Conclusions: Victory & its Costs (June 18)

• Overy, Why Allies Won, 314-325
• Large, Between Two Fires, 364-381
• Parker, The Second World War, 243-304

FINAL EXAM: June 19