History 375
Europe’s Dictators
Spring 2008


MWF 10:30/ 303 Denny
Prof. Karl D. Qualls
307 Denny
Office Hours: TW 3-4:30
245-1774
quallsk@dickinson.edu
http://www.dickinson.edu/~quallsk/


I reserve the right to adjust any part of this syllabus, with reasonable prior notice, in order to accommodate the needs of students.

Scope and Objectives


Contrary to the hope of contemporaries, World War I was not ‘the war to end all wars.’ Instead, at its end Europe emerged into a world of unprecedented turmoil and confusion, a time that was nonetheless permeated with hope, idealism, and possibility. This course explores European politics, society, and culture between 1918 and 1945, focusing on the extreme developments in Germany, Russia, and Italy during this time. We will examine the emergence, development, form, and consequences of the rule of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini and explore the relationship of these dictators to the states that sustained them. Throughout, we will be looking to see if there are meaningful comparisons.

Our objectives can be summarized as follows:

  1. to gain a basic familiarity with the three dictators and the countries in which they operated
  2. to understand what everyday life was like for their subjects
  3. to explore the dynamics of dictatorships and compare among the three case studies
  4. to begin an exploration of the historiography on the subject
  5. to practice critical thinking and reading
  6. to learn how to write and communicate more effectively (see my grading criteria for written assignments)

Requirements

This course requires maximum attention not only to attendance, but also active participation. The course grading is weighted heavily to reading, understanding, and writing. The bulk of each student's grade will be derived from written evaluations of our readings and participation in discussions of them. Exams will focus both on fine details and broad interpretive questions and historiography.

All assignments are due at the beginning of class, and no late submissions will be accepted once class has started. They will receive an "F." Although this sounds harsh and unyielding, it is designed to give me the opportunity to evaluate all work equally. Even a minute more editing gives the late student an unfair advantage over the students who submit their work on time. Likewise, your timely attendance at all classes, except when absences are excusable (which is my determination) and documented, is expected and mandatory and WILL affect your participation grade.

Out of respect for me and your peers, please turn off cell phones. I will answer the calls and ask you to leave the classroom for the rest of the period.

Disability Statement

If you have a disability, please notify me immediately so that I can make the necessary accommodations. Likewise, any conflicts with religious holidays must be pointed out to me by the end of the second week.
Academic Honesty

This course follows the College's policy on plagiarism as defined in Students Records, Rights, and Responsibilities and Proscriptions on Conduct. Please ask any questions in advance in order to avoid potential problems. Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a college. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the Student Handbook or ask me.

Writing Assignments

Weekly Writings
In Weeks 2-5 each student will be required to write a 1-1.5 page response paper that addresses issues and questions derived from the reading. This is an exercise that allows me to make sure that you understand the background material before we start our more detailed thematic analysis. Moreover, I will be able to give you tips on writing when the stakes (grades) are lower. Starting in March (and you may start earlier) each student is encouraged to keep an intellectual journal. Papers and journals must be completed by the beginning of class each Monday. They should not be simple summaries of the readings, although a quick overview of the issue in question may be included in your discussion and analysis of a particular problem. Instead your writing should focus on your response to the readings and the issues they address. The papers and journals are designed to facilitate our discussions and help students to identify issues that interest them before the class meets. Students should also include one or two questions for discussion derived from their critical approach to the issues.

Thought Paper
The week of 3 March students are required to write a 3-5 page ‘thought paper’ in which they begin to grapple with the issues that have the been raised in the class up to that point in a larger, more comprehensive way. Students will receive a specific assignment and have a week to respond to it.

Final Paper
Our final project will be a collaborative one. The class will divide itself into 3 teams (one for each of the dictators) and then subdivide itself based on the themes. At this point, when reading assignments become larger, each student will be responsible for a deep knowledge of the articles on his/her country and theme and an understanding of the argument/thesis of the other articles. Thus, one-third must be read critically and two-thirds may be skimmed. Your final paper will come from this country and theme and compare it with a similar event in FDR's administration. Starting Week 7, each student will be assigned one class to lead the discussion.

Final Exam
I reserve the right to assign a final exam and adjust the grading below if I feel that members of the class are unprepared in the final weeks.

GRADING


Class participation 10 percent
Research proposal and bibliography: 15 percent
Four weekly papers in February: 20 percent
Thought paper: 25 percent
Final paper: 30 percent

All writing tasks, including papers (except the final paper), must be rewritten until they represent "C" quality work.  The final grade for each task will be an average of all attempts, but not higher than a "C".  This, hopefully, will encourage the best possible work on the first attempt and reward students accordingly.  It should also ensure that by the end of the class each student should be well on her/his way to becoming a successful and effective writer. Rewrites are due one week after the original papers have been returned. You will need to submit originals with subsequent drafts.

Important Dates

    Last Day to Add/Drop: January 25
    Spring Break: March 10-14. No class
    Roll Call Grades Due: March 6
    Last Day to Withdraw: March 28
    Classes End: May 2

Readings

Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Three New Deals

All other readings will be made available to you in other formats.


Week 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

  • Wolfgang Schivelbusch, Three New Deals
  • Patrick O’Brien, “The Economic Effects of the Great War” History Today, December 1994, 22-29.
  • Sigmund Freud, “A Legacy of Embitterment” in Perry et al. eds., Sources of the Western Tradition, vol. 2 Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999, 326-328.

Week 2: FROM THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC TO THE NAZI REGIME

  • Richard Bessel, “Germany from War to Dictatorship” in Mary Fulbrook ed., German History Since 1800, London: Arnold, 1997, 235-257.
  • Detlev Peukert, “The Rise of National Socialism and the Crisis of Industrial Class Society,” in Peukert, Inside Nazi Germany, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987, 26-46. (OPTIONAL)
  • Jeremy Noakes, “The Rise of the Nazis” in History Today, Jan. 1983, 8-13.
  • Ian Kershaw, “1933: Continuity or Break in German History?” in History Today, Jan. 1983, 13-18.

Week 3: FROM THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION TO STALIN AND STALINISM

  • Monday: Library session. Meet at the information commons on the lower level.
  • Martin McCauley, “The Russian Revolution and the Soviet State, 1917-1929” in McCauley, Stalin and Stalinism, London: Longman, 1995, 1-23.
  • Norman Pereira, “Stalin and the Communist Party in the 1920s” in History Today, Aug. 1992, 16-22.
  • Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, 1917-1932, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982.

Week 4: INTERWAR ITALY

  • Martin Blinkhorn, Mussolini and Fascist Italy, London: Routledge, 1994, 1-64.
  • Emilio Gentile, “The Problem of the Party in Italian Fascism” in Journal of Contemporary History, April 1984, 251-274.
  • Martin Clark, “The strange death of Liberal Italy, 1919-25,” “The Fascist State: the new authoritarianism,” and “The fascist regime: the quest for consensus,” in Clark, Modern Italy, 1871-1995, London: Longman, 1996, 203-262.

Week 5: THEORIES TO TOTALITARIANISM AND FASCISM (Bibliography/Proposal due Wednesday)

  • Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski, “General Characteristics of Totalitarian Dictatorship,” in Friedrich and Brzezinski, Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1965, 15-27.
  • Walter Laqueur, “Is there Now, or Has There Ever Been Such a Things as Totalitarianism?” in Commentary, Oct, 1985, 29-35.
  • Ian Kershaw, “Totalitarianism Revisited: Nazism and Stalinism in Comparative Perspective,” in TelAviver Jahrbuch für deutsche Geschichte XXIII/1994, 23-40.
  • Ian Kershaw, “The Essence of Nazism: Form of Fascism, Brand of Totalitarianism, or Unique Phenomenon?” in Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship, London: Edward Arnold, 1993, 17-39.
  • Walter Laqueur, ‘The Essence of Fascism,” “Fascist Doctrine,” in Laqueur, Fascism; Past, Present, Future, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, 13-27.

Week 6: Doing Comparative History

  • Monday: Holquist, "Information is the Alpha and Omega of our Work" , The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 69, No. 3. (Sep., 1997): 415-450
  • Wednesday: Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, ch. 4
  • Friday: TBA:

Week 7: IDEOLOGIES

  • Mondary: Eberhard Jackel, “The Problem of a National Socialist Weltanschauung,” “The Outlines of Foreign Policy,” and “The Elimination of the Jews,” in Jackel, Hitler’s World View, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981, 13-66.
  • Wednesday: Benito Mussolini, “Fundamental Ideas” and “Political and Social Doctrine,” in Mussolini, Fascism: Doctrine and Institutions, New York: Howard Fertig, 1968, 7-31; and Benito Mussolini, “What is Fascism, 1932” in the Modern History Sourcebook
  • Friday: Josef Stalin, “Stalin Speaks,” in T.H. Rigby ed., Stalin, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1966, 37-56.; Robert Tucker, “Stalin’s Program,” in Tucker, Stalin in Power, New York: W.W. Norton, 1990, 44-65; Kenneth Cameron., “Theorist for World Communism,” in Cameron, Stalin: Man of Contradiction, Toronto: NC Press Limited, 1987, 82-87.

Week 8: Spring Break March 10-14, No Class

Week 9: DICTATORS?

  • Monday: Ian Kershaw, “The Hitler Myth” in History Today, Nov. 1985, 23-29; Ian Kershaw, “Hitler: Master of the Third Reich or Weak Dictator?” in Kershaw, The Nazi Dictatorship, Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation, London: Edward Arnold, 1993, 59-79.
  • Wednesday: Moshe Lewin, “Stalin in the Mirror of the Other” in Ian Kershaw and Moshe Lewin eds., Stalinism and Nazism: Dictatorships in Comparison, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, 107-134; Ronald Grigor Suny, “Stalin and his Stalinism: power and authority in the Soviet Union, 1930 1953” in Ian Kershaw and Moshe Lewin eds., Stalinism and Nazism: Dictatorships in Comparison, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, 26-53.
  • Friday: B.J.B. Bosworth, “Mussolini the Duce; Sawdust Caesar, Roman Statesman or Dictator Minor?” in Bosworth, The Italian Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives in the Interpretation of Mussolini and Fascism, London: Arnold, 1998, 58-81.

Week 10: DAILY LIFE

  • Monday: Ulrich Herbert, “Good Times, Bad Times” in History Today, Feb 1986, 42-48; Jackson Spielvogel, “Culture and Society in Nazi Germany” in Hitler and Nazi Germany, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1992, 154-191.
  • Wednesday: Evan Mawdsley, “Peasants, Workers, Intelligentsia: Stalinism and Society” in Mawdsley, The Stalin Years, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998, 42-53; Sheila Fitzpatrick, “Hard Times” in Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 40-67.
  • Friday: Christopher Leeds, “The Fascist State” in Italy under Mussolini, London: Wayland Publishers, 35-53.

Week 11: WOMEN AND YOUTH

  • Monday: Detlev Peukert, “Young People: For or against the Nazis”, in History Today, Oct. 1985, 15-22; Lisa Pine, “Girls in Uniform,” in History Today, March 1999, 24-29; Ute Frevert, “National renewal and the Woman Question,” “National Socialist Policy on Women,” and “Resistance and Mass Loyalty,” in Frevert, Women in German History, Oxford: Berg, 1988, 207-252; Adelheid von Saldern, “Victims or Perpetrators? Controversies about the Role of Women in the Nazi State” in David Crew, ed., Nazism and German Society, 1933-1945, London: Routledge, 1994, 141-165.
  • Wednesday: Paul Corner, “Women in Fascist Italy. Changing Family Roles in the Transition from an Agricultural to an Industrial Society” in European History Quarterly, Jan 1993, 51-68; Perry Wilson, “Women in Fascist Italy,” in Richard Bessel, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, 78-92.
  • Friday: Gail Warshofsky Lapidus, “The Stalinist Synthesis: Economic Mobilization and New Patterns of Authority,” in Lapidus, Women in Soviet Society, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978, 95-122.

Week 12: ART AND CULTURE

  • Monday: David Elliott. “The Battle for Art in the 1930s” in History Today, Nov, 1995, 14-28; Igor Golomstock, “Architecture and Style,” in Totalitarian Art, New York: Harper Collins, 1990, 226-301.
  • Wednesday: Evan Mawdsley, “Socialist Realism: Stalinism and Culture” in Mawdsley, The Stalin Years, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998, 54-61; Ronald Suny, “Culture and Society in the Socialist Motherland,” in Suny, The Soviet Experiment, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, 269-290.
  • Friday: Richard Jensen, “Futurism and Fascism” in History Today, Nov 1995, 35-41; Emilio Gentile, “The Myth of National Regeneration in Italy,” in Matthew Affron and Mark Antliff eds., Fascist Visions, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997, 25-45.

Week 13: FOREIGN POLICY AND WAR

  • Monday: John Erickson, “Nazi Posters in Wartime Russia” in History Today, Sept. 1994, 14-19; MacGregor Knox, “Conquest, Foreign and Domestic in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany” in The Journal of Modern History, March 1984, 1-57.
  • Wednesday: Robert Donaldson and Joseph Nogee, “Soviet Foreign Policy: From Revolution to Cold War,” in Donaldson and Nogee, The Foreign Policy of Russia, London: ME Sharpe, 1998, 23-61.
  • Friday: Martin Clark, “Fascist Diplomacy and Fascist War,” in Clark, Modern Italy, 1871-1995, London: Longman, 1996, 280-300.

Week 14: TERROR AND HOLOCAUST (ADD READING ON ITALIAN POLICING)

  • Monday: Nicholas Stargardt, “The Holocaust” in Mary Fulbrook ed., German History Since 1800, London: Arnold, 1997, 339-360; William Carr, “Nazi Policy Against the Jews,” in Richard Bessel, ed., Life in the Third Reich, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987, 69-82.
  • Wednesday: Evan Mawdsley, “The Terror: Stalinism and Repression” in Mawdsley, The Stalin Years, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998, 97-112; Sheila Fitzpatrick, “A Time of Troubles” in Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism; Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, 190-217.
  • Friday: Research Presentations I
  • OPTIONAL READINGS: Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz and Varlam Shalamov, Kolyma Tales

Week 15: CONCLUSIONS AND LEGACIES

  • Monday: Research Presentations II
  • Wednesday: Research Presentations III
  • Friday: Research Presentations IV

 

Final