History 452.151 / 552.091 Salisbury University Fall 2007

World War Two: A Global History

Dr. Maarten Pereboom

338A Holloway Hall

410-543-6454 or 410-548-4499

Office hours: MW 1-2:50; T 2-3:15 or by appointment

Overview

Few events in history have made such an impact as the Second World War, a conflict that involved every major power and drew involvement from every continent. The war devastated large areas of Europe and Asia, killed more than fifty million people -- many of these civilians terrorized by an unprecedented level and scale of atrocities -- and injured hundreds of millions more. John Keegan, a leading military historian, has called it the largest single event in human history, involving combat on six of the seven continents and all of the world’s oceans. More than half a century later, the world and many of its inhabitants still bear the marks of this conflict. It remains a popular subject for books and movies and still can make the front pages of our newspapers as we continue to grapple with its brutality and its legacy.

We will have no difficulty finding much compelling material to read, watch and discuss this semester, but here are some of the broader questions we should keep in mind as we examine the conflict from a variety of angles:

1. How do we explain the broader developments of the war: initial German and Japanese victories, eventual Allied victory?

2. How did the following factors shape the conflict: military strategy and tactics; Technology and intelligence; social, political and economic organization; geographical factors?

3. What was the war’s global political and economic impact?

4. How did the war affect the societies involved?

5. How did the war affect individual lives?

6. How can we explain the extraordinary level of atrocities committed?

Course requirements and grading criteria

1. Active participation during class counts for 20% of your final grade. Attendance is expected and you are allowed only two absences for the semester. Three absences will drop your participation grade to a maximum of 70%. Each additional absence lowers the participation grade by ten percentage points.

2. Three exams make up 50% of your final grade. Two of these exams will be held during the semester, each counting 15%, and the final exam will count for 20%. Exam dates appear on the schedule below. The format for each exam is simple:

1. Identify and state the significance of ten terms from a list of twelve;

2. Answer one of two questions in the form of an essay (the final will have you write two essays, with a choice in each case).

3. A paper of 10-12 pages (minimum 12 to meet history major requirement, minimum 15 for graduate students) counts for 30% of your final grade. Assignments related to completion of your papers are due in class on the following dates:

1. Paragraph stating specific topic and proposed analytical framework due September 27 (discuss with me beforehand);

2. Bibliographies listing primary and secondary sources due October 18 (typed);

3. Rough drafts, complete, typed, double-spaced due November 13;

4. Peer reviews due November 20;

5. Final drafts, proofread, stapled or paper-clipped (no plastic report covers, please) due December 4.

If you do not need to register a research paper with the department and have an idea for a project that differs from the typical research paper, I would be happy to discuss that idea with you.

Required readings

Keegan, John. The Second World War. New York: Viking, 1989.

Martel, Gordon, editor. The World War Two Reader. New York: Routledge, 2004

Nemirovsky, Irene. Suite Française. New York: Vintage Press, 2007.

Tanaka, Yukiko. Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War Two. Westview Press, 1998

Academic Integrity

The best learning environment is one based on mutual respect and trust. However, the desire to achieve a good or passing grade without doing the necessary work may tempt some students to engage in acts of “academic dishonesty,” including the following:

(1) Plagiarism: presenting as one’s own work, whether word for word or in paraphrase, the words or ideas of a website or another author. All sources of information used must be properly cited.

(2) Cheating on exams, tests, and quizzes, including copying from others, the wrongful giving or receiving of unauthorized exam material, and the use of illegitimate sources of information (e.g., “cheat sheets”);

(3) Unsanctioned collaboration with other individuals in the completion of course assignments, including examinations;

(4) Falsifying data and use of fraudulent methods in laboratory, field work, and computer work;

(5) Falsifying excuses for non-attendance or completion of assignments.

While some students may try to rationalize or justify these acts as expedient, they are wrong and there are no mitigating circumstances to excuse them. Individuals who engage in academic dishonesty damage the learning environment and their own integrity and character. If you are unclear about what constitutes academic dishonesty, including plagiarism, please ask – ignorance is no excuse. Discovery of academic dishonesty results in stiff penalties for the offender, including a failing grade for the assignment in question and possibly a grade of F for the course. The Student Affairs Office keeps records of plagiarism cases, and multiple offenses could bring a penalty of expulsion from the entire USM. The university catalogue and student handbook provide further details.

Schedule of classes and assignments

Class meets 12:30-1:45 Tuesdays and Thursdays in Henson 101; unless noted otherwise, reading assignments must be completed in time for Tuesday’s class.

I Introduction

Weeks 1 (8/28-30) Introduction

Start Nemirovsky

Week 2 (9/4-6) Origins and Outbreak, 1937-1939

Read Keegan, chapters 1-2

II The War in Western Europe, Africa and the Atlantic, 1939-1945

Week 3 (9/11-13) From Blitzkrieg to the Blitz, 1940-1941

Read Keegan, chapters 3-4, start Martel, part one

Week 4 (9/18-20) The Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1945

Read Keegan, chapter 5; finish Nemirovsky for discussion Thursday

Week 5 (9/25-27) The African and Italian Campaigns, 1940-1944

Read Keegan, chapters 17-20

Submit paper ideas Thursday

Week 6 (10/2-4) The Liberation of Western Europe, 1944-1945

Read Keegan, chapters 21-23; finish Martel, part one, for discussion Thursday

Week 7 (10/9-11) Liberation of Western Europe, continued

First exam Thursday 10/11

III The Failed Nazi Quest for Lebensraum in the East

Week 8 (10/16-18) Racial War and Operation Barbarossa, 1939-42

Read Keegan, chapters 6-9; start Martel, part two

Paper bibliographies due Thursday

Week 9 (10/23-25) Stalingrad and the Turning Point, 1942-43

Read Keegan, chapters 10, 11, 24.

Week 10 (10/30-11/1) Red Army Victories, 1943-45

Read Keegan, chapters 25-28; finish Martel, part two, for discussion Thursday.

Week 11 (11/6-8) Germany Defeated

Second exam Thursday 11/8