Prof. Frederick Krantz Shulman Sem. Rm. T./Th., 13:15 14:45 Liberal Arts College, Fall, 2017 Off. Hrs: RR105, T./Th., 15:00 16:30

Transcription

1 Prof. Frederick Krantz Shulman Sem. Rm. T./Th., 13:15 14:45 Liberal Arts College, Fall, 2017 Off. Hrs: RR105, T./Th., 15:00 16:30 LBCL 495/2 A: WORLD WAR II, POWER, POLITICS, & CULTURE The general concern of this advanced 400 level Honors Seminar is with what World War II, the greatest conflict in world history, teaches us about the nature of war and the uses of power. Issues addressed include military strategy, tactics, and organization, war s relationship to society (to politics and culture, economy and technology, and to scientific thought). Warfare s decisive role in modern history is examined through close analysis of major World War II battles, events, leading actors (military and political), and interpretive issues. The global conflict s reflections in literature, art, music and film, and the war s impact on the lives of ordinary people, are also concerns. And while the Pacific arena of WWII is addressed in readings and in Seminar, our primary focus will be on the European theater. N.B.: Attendance at Seminar is required, and will be taken; lack of preparation of assigned material should be indicated before Seminar, with explanation. A pattern of non attendance, and/or lack of preparation, will result in a failing grade; late submission of written work will result in lowered grades. Seminar Meetings. The Seminar meets twice weekly (Tuesday and Thursday). The Syllabus specifies each week s Topic, Required Reading, and Optional additional materials (useful for students presenting Seminar reports and preparing final Research Papers, or for those interested in further reading on specific subjects and issues). An additional, separate World War II Basic Bibliography, to guide research essays and further reading, will be distributed.) Required Materials (including the LBCL 495/2A World War II Course Pack Reader [ CPR ]) are available in the SGW Bookstore, and on the LAC 495/2A Library Reserve. (Some Optional titles, excerpted in the Course Pack Reader may also be available in the Bookstore and/or on Reserve.) 1

2 Supplemental Sessions: N.B.: WWII is the first world conflict to be fully recorded on film. A number of key film, documentary, and musical works, are keyed into the Weekly Seminar Topics (attendance is required only for those marked with an asterisk (*); other Supplemental materials, available through You Tube or on the web, can be viewed or listened to independently: see Instructor about this. Please keep the several Thursday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (Shulman Seminar Room) indicated in the Syllabus free for required (*) Supplementary meeting (importantly, several living witnesses, WWII veterans and Holocaust survivors, may also be scheduled at this time). Ottawa Trip [Wk. of Oct. : t.b.d.]. We shall also experience the instruments de guerre directly, by visiting the Canadian War and Aircraft Museums in Ottawa (see Syllabus); if any 495/2A students go on the Oct New York City trip, they are urged to visit the aircraft carrier Enterprise, moored permanently in New York City (Manhatten) harbor. Seminar Reports and Research Essay. All Seminar members will, in consultation with the instructor, deliver several 15 minute Seminar Reports (see Weekly Syllabus for topics) and prepare a page Research Essay (Topic Choice is due Tues., 3 Oct.; Outline & Preliminary Bibliography Tues.., October 31; Rough Drafts will be read if submitted at least two weeks before the Final Essay duedate, Monday, 5 Dec., 2017). Final Grades. Final Grades are calculated on the basis of: Seminar Reports and Seminar Participation, 50%; Essay and Map Preparation materials, 10%; and Final Research Essay, 40%. (N.B.: Any quizzes occasioned by general unevenness of class preparation/participation will be factored into the final grade; and late Research Essay submission will lose one partial grade for each day of lateness [i.e., for one day, an A becomes a B+ ; for two days, a B becomes a C+, and so on]. REQUIRED BOOKS Required readings are listed here in order of use. Copies of all Required books, and also of key documentary and photographic collections, will be on the 495/2A Reserve shelf of LAC s Library. Andrew, The Storm of War (Harper Collins, 2013) Wright, Gordon, The Ordeal of Total War, (Harper TB, 1968; reprinted) F. Krantz, ed., World War II: Power, Politics, & Culture [LAC 495/2A Course Pack Reader] (Montreal, 2017) Keegan, John, War and Our World (Vintage, 1998) Clausewitz, Carl von, On War (Penguin, 1982) 2

3 Browning, Christopher R., Ordinary Men (Harper Perennial, 1998) Grossman, Vasily, Life and Fate (N.Y., New York Review of Books, 1980; reprinted) The Storm of War, and Wright, The Ordeal of Total War, are fundamental contextual/narrative texts, and must be carefully prepared. Other Required texts (some excerpted in the WWII Course Pack Reader [CPR] are keyed into the weekly Syllabus; it is strongly recommended that Grossman s Life and Fate, a long and complex work, be begun early on. COURSE PACK READER, OPTIONAL BOOKS AND CHAPTERS, AND OTHER MATERIALS The W.W.II Course Pack Reader includes excerpts of Required materials. Copies of some key Optional books have been requested through the Bookstore, for possible use in Seminar reports, Research Essays, or for students who become interested in specific areas of the course. The Course Pack Reader s Required Materials are excerpted from: Hanson, Victor Davis, Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles (N.Y., Anchor, 2001)., Ripples of Battle (N.Y., Anchor, 2003) Hastings, Max, Winston s War: Churchill, (N.Y., Vintage, 2011) Keegan, John, A History of Warfare (N.Y., Vintage, 1974), The Face of Battle (N.Y., Penguin, 1978), Six Armies in Normandy (N.Y., Penguin, 1994) Klemperer, Victor, I Will Bear Witness, 2 vols. (N.Y., Modern Library, 2001) Overy, Richard, The Dictators: Hitler s Germany, Stalin s Russia (NewYork, Norton, 2004) Key Optional Readings (Some Available on 495/2 Library Reserve and in Bookstore): Bradley, R., Flyboys. A True Story of Courage (New York, 2006) Costello, The Pacific War, (New York, Harper Collins Perennial, 2009) Hanson, V.D., Father of Us All. War and History, Ancient and Modern (New York, 2010) Herman, A., Freedom s Forge. How American Business Produced Victory in WWII (New York, Random House, 2013) Keegan, John, A History of Warfare (New York, Vintage, 1974; reprinted] 3

4 Overy, The Dictators. Hitler s Germany, Stalin s Russia (New York, Norton, 2004) Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men (New York, Henry Holt, 1944; reprinted] A number of documentary materials and reference works (e.g., photographic and artistic collections, military atlases) are available for consultation on the Reserve shelf. (Additionally, World War II: A Working General Bibliography will be distributed.) N.B.: Geography is key to warfare, and all our assigned materials include detailed general, and specific, land and sea campaign and battle maps, for both the European and Pacific theaters. Students should familiarize themselves with these: we will not have map quizzes, but several map assignments [ Map Due ] are indicated in the Syllabus. SYLLABUS TXT. RDNGS. WEEK/DATE TOPIC Storm, Prelude I. 5 SEPTEMBER: INTRODUCTORY, BACKGROUNDS/FOREGROUNDS Tues.: Lecture Thurs.: Lecture Reading: Roberts; begin von Clausewitz, On War, Hanson, D.V., Carnage and Culture Ch.1 II. 12 SEPT.: WAR & SOCIETY Tues.: Hanson, V.D., Carnage and Culture, Why the West has Won (in Course Pack Reader [CPR]) Seminar: Hanson s Oeuvre Thurs.: Keegan, War and Our World, Intr., Chs. One Four Seminar: Keegan s Oeuvre Optional: Keegan, J., A History of Warfare, Introd. ; Ch.1, War in Human History 4

5 2 Wright, Ordeal, Ch. III. 19 SEPT.: WORLD WAR ONE: LEGACIES Tues.: Air, Land, [Under] Sea Thurs.: NO CLASS Optional: Keegan, History, I. Interlude: Armies Supplemental: Film: All Quiet on the Western Front Music: Elgar, E., Spirit of England IV. 26 SEPT.: WAR: POLITICS & POWER, II Tues.: von Clausewitz, C., On War, Part One, I II; Two, I III; 3 4 Three, I VI, XVIII *MAP DUE: Seminar: The Pro Clausewitz Case Europe: Aug.1939 Thurs.: von Clausewitz, C., On War, Four, I V, IX XI; & Dec Sketches Bk. Eight, IV VI Seminar: The Anti Clausewitz Case Optional: Keegan, History, Part 2, Stone Supplemental; *Film*: Riefenstahl, L., Triumph of the Will V. 3 OCT.: I HAVE, MYSELF, FULL CONFIDENCE CHURCHILL 4 5 Tues.: Britain Alone, I: Churchill Wright, II III Seminar: Churchill *NB: Essay Thurs.: Britain Alone, II: [to Dec.7, 1941] Topic Due Seminar: 1)U.S., FDR, Lend Lease 2)Canada Reading: Hastings, Winston s War, Ch.3 [C PR] Optional: Keegan, History, Part II, Interlude: Logistics and Supply Herman, A., Arsenal of Democracy, passim Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men Supplemental: *Living Witness* Films: Dunkirk; Battle of Britain VI. 10 OCT.: NATIONAL SOCIALISTS/SOCIALIST NATIONALISTS/ JAPANESE FASCISTS 9 Tues.: Seminar: 1)Stalin and the Red Army Wright, IV 2)Hitler and the Wehrmacht *Map Due: Thurs.: Seminar 3)Tojo and the Imperial Army/Navy SW Pacific Reading: Overy, The Dictators, Introd., Chs.1 2, /1942 (in CPR) Optional: Kershaw, I., Hitler 5

6 Toll, Ian, Pacific Crucible Keegan, History, Part 3, Flesh Supplemental: Films: Burnt by the Sun; Tora, Tora! VII. 17 OCT.: I WILL BEAR WITNESS Tues.: Seminar: 1) Klemperer as Witness 14 Thurs.: Seminar: 2) Klemperer on Nazi Language Wright, VI Reading: Klemperer, I Will Bear Witness: 1) ; 2) Overy, Dictators, [in CPR] Optional: Kershaw, Hitler, Stargardt, N., The German War Keegan, History, 3, Interlude: Armies Supplemental: *Film*: Schindler s List [Spielberg], VIII. 24 OCT.: BEASTS IN HUMAN FORM Tues.: Seminar 1)Nazi Racial Policy, Nuremberg to 7, 11 Wahnsee Wright, VII 2)Browning, Ordinary Men Thurs.: Seminar 3)Browning, Ordinary Men Reading: Browning, Ordinary Men (Sem.2:) Preface, Chs.1 7; (Sem.3:) Chs Optional: Overy, The Dictators, Ch.14, Empire of the Camps Stargardt, The German War Keegan, History, 4, Iron Supplemental: Film: The Sorrow and the Pity [Maurice Ophüls] Music: Martinů, B., Memorial to Lidice IX. 31 OCT.: TURNING POINTS, I: AT SEA, IN THE AIR, ON LAND Tues.: Seminars: 1) Battle of the Atlantic 11 2)The Strategic Bombing Campaign Wright, V, VIII Thurs.: Seminars: 3)Dieppe **NB: Prelim. 4)Normandy Outline& Bibliogr. Reading: Roberts/Wright due 31 Oct. Keegan, Six Armies in Normandy, Ch.3, **OTTAWA WAR/AIR Canada (in CPR) MUSEUMS TRIP Optional: Desmond, Morton, A Military History of Canada, Introd., ix xii, Dimbleby, J., The Battle of the Atlantic Overy, R., The Bombers and the Bombed 6

7 Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men Supplemental: Films: *Saving Private Ryan*, Das Boot; Music: R. Rogers, Victory at Sea [Symphony] X. 7 NOV.: TURNING POINTS, II: On Land Roberts Tues.: Seminar Stalingrad Kursk Wright, Thurs.: Seminar 1)Grossman as Journalist and Hero IX Reading: G., Life and Fate, One, Chs.1 19, 39 41, Optional: Evans, R., The Third Reich at War, Bellamy, Chris, Absolute War. Soviet Russia in the Second World War Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men Supplemental: Films: Stalingrad; Enemy at the Gates Music: M. Blitzstein, The Airborne Symphony [U.S. Eighth Airforce] XI. 14 NOV.: LIFE, FATE, & FREEDOM: 20 TH C. WAR AND PEACE Tues.: Seminar 2)Grossman as Writer 16 Thurs.: Seminar 3)Grossman as Dissident Wright, Shostakovich s Seventh { Leningrad ] Symphony VIII Reading: G., Life and Fate, One, 65 71; Two, 1, 10 23, 28 32, 36 49; Three, 28 29, 32 43, Optional: Music, D. Shostakovich, Seventh ( Leningrad ) Symphony, Supplemental: *Living Witness * XII. 21 NOV: FROM RISING, TO SETTING, SUN 6, 8 Tues.: Seminar 1)Midway to Iwo Jima Wright, IX Thurs.: Seminar 2)Okinawa to Hiroshima and Nagasaki *MAP DUE: Reading: Roberts and Wright The Pacific War, Optional: Costello, J., The Pacific War, [Aug.] 1945 Bradley, J., Flyboys. A True Story of Courage Toll, I., The Conquering Tide [Pacific] Rhodes, R., The Making of the Atomic Bomb Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men 7

8 Supplemental: Film: Letters from Iwo Jima Music: Ohki, Masao, Symphony No.5, Hiroshima 16 18; Conclusion Wright, X XI XIII. 28 NOV. : VICTORY, WESTERN AND EASTERN Tues., Seminar V E Day/V J Day/Cold War Thurs., Seminar Concluding Postscript: War, Power, and Us Reading: Keegan, War and Our World, Ch. FIVE, The Future of Battle, in The Face of Battle [CPR] Hanson, V.D., Afterword, Carnage and Culture [CPR] Optional: Gilbert and Large, The End of the European Era, Part III, Ch.9 Keegan, History, Conclusion Pyle, Ernie, Brave Men Hastings, Max, Armageddon [Germany]., Retribution [Japan] Overy, R., The Dictators, Conclusion Evans, R., The Third Reich, Ch.7, Downfall Supplemental: Music: Britten, B., War Requiem; Vaughn Williams, R., Sixth Symphony *NB: RESEARCH ESSAY DUE 5 DECEMBER* 8

9 9