Pick one of the questions below and respond in a well-developed essay.You are expected to formulate a historical argument responding to your chosen topic, and to defend that argument with historical evidence drawn from course materials (augmented, if you so desire, by external resources, but you must exercise care to use high quality sources if you choose to use external materials--the top Google hit does not necessarily qualify).All sources that you CONSULT in the course of the writing process (NOT just those that you quote directly!!!) must be cited using proper MLA or Chicago Manual of Style format. Papers that lack in-text citations will receive failing grades.A satisfactory answer will require a multi-paragraph essay, somewhere in the neighborhood of 750-1200 words, although this is a guideline, not a prescription. It is possible to write an "A" essay that is shorter than 750 words, and there is much to be said for brevity; that being said, you will need to create and develop an argument answering a fairly involved question, which is probably going to be hard to do effectively in much less than 750 words. Please don't write too much more than 1200 words--strive for concision, and understand that I am not expecting you to write a giant research paper.Not to be prescriptive, but one very effective format involves beginning with an introductory paragraph laying out your thesis--the gist of your argument. Subsequent paragraphs should provide evidence supporting your interpretation. A final paragraph should summarize the evidence and reiterate the argument.There is no single "right" answer--you can make a variety of arguments on any of these questions. The key to a good grade is composing a clearly written, well-conceived argument, and supporting it with compelling historical evidence [properly cited using MLA or Chicago format (see the syllabus) with page numbers or FULL URLs--and no quoting Wikipedia, please, as you have several more focused, topical, higher quality sources in your textbooks]--employing primary source materials in support of your arguments is very much encouraged.63questions: (pick one!)
Support your answers drawing from course materials and assigned texts, augmented by other sources of evidence if you so desire• Arguably, WWII was a significantly more "total" war than WWI. Evaluate this argument by exploring the concept of total war in the context of the two world wars. Did war become more total? If so, in what distinct ways and why? If not, why not? Draw illustrative examples and evidence from course materials. [Do NOT focus exclusively on technology, which has relatively little to do with total war!] • How did the experience of WWII combat compare with that in WWI? What was similar, and what was different? Focus on comparing examples from the primary source documents we've read for each conflict, as well as drawing upon secondary material. What common elements do you note? Among ground combat soldiers? Among "noncombatants" who found themselves in the thick of things? How was combat similar for airmen, sailors, and ground troops? How did their experiences differ?• Some scholars have argued that the two world wars essentially constitute a single "Thirty Years War," in which the original issues of 1914 were only really resolved in 1945. Evaluate the cases for and against this proposition.• Were Christopher Browning's "ordinary men" really ordinary? How different were the German genocidaires of Reserve Police Battalion 101 from the combat soldiers, sailors, and airmen whose accounts we've read?
BUILD YOUR ARGUMENT ON THIS
Origins of the "Great War"
Adolf Hitler, excerpt, 1927
Germany under the "A World At Arms
":: WWII around the world nations and the road to war
the global WWIIinterwar JapanFrance, from crisis to crisis
Edouard Drumont, "The Jews Against France" (1898
Jean Jaurés, Democracy and Military Service, Chapter 1, "The New Army" (1907)
Web PageYou have viewed this topicJean Jaurés, Democracy and Military Service, ch. 10, "Militarism and Democracy" (1907)
Eric Rauchway, "The World in Debt" (excerpt from "The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction")
Karl Liebknecht, "Militarism and Anti-Militarism," excerpt, 1907
'Vladimir Lenin, "Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism," excerpts (1916 and 1920)
The "Great War" from the top.
The Great War at the front, part 1
"40 Maps That Explain World War I," vox.com
The Great War from the trenches
1914 "Christmas truce"--letters
Ernst Junger, "Storm of Steel," excerpts
British understatement, Western Front edition
V.I. Lenin, "Appeal to the Soldiers of All the Belligerent Countries," 21 April 1917
Leon Trotsky, "Internationalism" (December 1917/January 1918)
Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points," 8 January 1918
WWI propaganda posters
Between the Wars
Weimar Germany
What is fascism?
OPTIONAL enrichment reading: Michael Geyer, "German Strategy in the Age of Machine Warfare"