Spring 2008 HISTORY 188 Prof. Michael Bess
MWF 12:10-1:00
History of World War II
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course focuses on the global conflict of 1939-1945, described by one scholar as “the largest single event in human history, fought across six of the world's seven continents and all its oceans.” It is not a course designed for persons interested in concentrating narrowly on the intricacies of military tactics and strategy. Rather, I have conceived this course as broadly as possible, as a multidisciplinary exploration of the war's campaigns, how they were experienced by those who lived through them, and how they changed world history. Throughout the semester I will pay special attention to the complex moral dimensions of the conflict, which constitute an area of particular interest to me as a scholar.
We will rely partly on films and other audiovisual sources, as well as on regular class discussions. Our readings and assignments will take us into the origins and causes of the war, the six years of military campaigns, the politics and diplomacy of warmaking, race as a factor shaping the war in Europe and Asia, the impact of scientific and technological innovations, the social and economic aspects of the struggle, its profound moral and psychological implications, as well as the enduring legacy of this epochal outbreak of violence.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Michael Bess, 208 Benson Hall. Phone: 322-3340. Email: michael.d.bess@vanderbilt.edu.
Office hours: MW 2-3; F 2-4; or by appointment
Bess web page: http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/history/michaelbess/homepage
Choices Under Fire discussion forum: www.choicesunderfire.com
TA contact information:
• Christophe Dongmo: christophe.dongmo@vanderbilt.edu
• William Hardin: william.f.hardin@vanderbilt.edu
• Jaideep Prabhu: jaideep.prabhu@vanderbilt.edu
• David Wheat: david.wheat@vanderbilt.edu
READINGS:
* Textbook: John Keegan, The Second World War (Penguin, 1989)
* Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won (Norton, 1995)
* E. B. Sledge, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (Oxford, 1990)
* Michael Bess, Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II (Knopf, 2006)
* Course Class Pack (available at Campus Copy in Rand Hall)
* Additional readings on electronic reserve on OAK.
[All these books are on 2-hour reserve at the Central Library.]
EXAMINATIONS, ASSIGNMENTS, GRADING:
Important: Please do not arrive late to class. I find this distracting and disruptive. If for some reason you are delayed in getting to class, please do not enter the room after class has begun: instead, I encourage you to come see me during office hours after class, so I can give you my lecture notes or help you figure out a way to make up what you missed.
Reading: Each week's assigned readings should be finished before the Monday class meeting for that week. For materials on electronic reserve, go to the Vanderbilt web page and click on OAK. Then login and click on History 188.
Written work: The course entails a variety of writing assignments: six one-page (single-spaced) mini-essays on the readings in the Bess book; a 5-page "oral history" report on an interview you will hold with someone who lived through the war; and a 2-page essay on the Sledge book. These assignments are described in detail in your class pack; they will be due at the beginning of class on the dates specified on the course schedule below. Late assignments will be penalized 5% per day; my policy on late assignments is set forth in the class pack. Mini-essays may not be handed in late.
Mini-essays and class discussion days: Each of the six mini-essays is keyed to two or more chapters in the Bess book, Choices Under Fire. Moreover, in seven class periods the mini-essays are linked to an in-class discussion of the chapter topic. The purpose of these mini-essays is threefold: to ensure that you have done the reading and reflected on it before coming to class; to provide us with the starting-point for class discussion; and to hone your skills as a writer of short, clear, pithy analysis of complex issues.
The mini-essays may not be handed in late; they will receive no credit if they are handed in after the beginning of class on the date they are due. Only a written medical excuse will allow exceptions to this rule.
Each mini-essay will be worth 4 percentage points of the final grade in the course. They will be due as follows:
Jan. 21: Mini-essay 1 (“Origins”): covers Bess book’s Introduction and chapters 1, 2, 3
Feb. 11: Mini-essay 2 (“Bombing”): covers Bess chapters 5, 10
Feb. 29: Mini-essay 3 (“Holocaust”): covers Bess chapters 4, 6
March 24: Mini-essay 4 (“Crimes”): covers Bess chapters 8, 9, 11
Apr. 9: Mini-essay 5 (“Memory”): covers Bess chapters 7, 13
Apr. 18: Mini-essay 6 (“Peace”): covers Bess chapter 12 and Conclusion
Exams: I will hold a short in-class map quiz during the third week of the course, an in-class midterm during the eighth week, two in-class quizzes on evening films during weeks 13 and 15, and a final exam covering the entire course. There will be no alternate final exam. Please bring blue books for all exams (not for the map quiz). The quizzes and the exams are described in detail in your class pack.
The quizzes, midterm, and final exam must be taken in class on the date specified. Unless you have made prior arrangements with Prof. Bess, these tests may not be made up at a later date.
If you are taking the class pass-fail, a final semester grade of D- (or 60) is sufficient for a passing grade. However, you must take (and pass) the final exam in this course, regardless of how many points you have in the course up to the final exam. I do not allow pass-fail students to skip or flunk the final exam.
GRADE PERCENTAGES
Semester final grades will be determined according to the following percentages:
- Mini-essays: six mini-essays; 6 X 4 points each = 24%
- map quiz, 3%
- midterm: 19%
- oral history report, 14%
- Sledge 2-page paper, 6%
- quiz #2 on “Trinity” and “Fog” films, 2%
- quiz #3 on “Gandhi” film, 2%
- final exam, 30% [no alternate final exam]
OPTIONAL DISCUSSION SECTIONS
Each week one or more of the TAs will lead a discussion (time and room TBA) on the topics covered by that week’s readings and lectures. Your attendance at these extra discussion sections is entirely optional; I encourage you to attend. Attendance will be taken at these sessions, because they are also linked to the grade-enhancement option, below.
GRADE-ENHANCEMENT OPTION
Students in History 188 are allowed the opportunity to try to improve the grade they got on the midterm by attending at least four of the optional discussion sections AND submitting a brief (3-page, double-spaced) essay on the discussion topic in one of those sessions. Attendance at four or more sessions is required for this option: three is not enough. At least two of the sessions attended MUST be before Spring Break. Details of this option are set forth in your class pack.
The maximum amount which this option can improve your grade will be 10 points. For example, a student who gets an 81 (B-) on the midterm can attend four or more discussion sections and submit a 3-page essay, and potentially increase his or her credit for the midterm exam to a 91 (A-). A student does not automatically get the full 10 points: the grade-enhancement essay will be assessed according to the same criteria as a regular written assignment. You can hand in these grade enhancement essays at any time in the semester, but not later than 3 pm on Wednesday, April 23. If you hand them in on this last day, you must bring them to Bess’s box in the History Department, Benson Hall, by 3 pm.
HONOR CODE
All assignments and examinations for this course will be governed by Vanderbilt's honor code. Please read carefully the description of the honor code in the student handbook and the section on plagiarism in the class pack for this course. If you have any questions about this very important matter, please feel free to come and discuss them with me.
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One-Page Course Overview: 2008
To Dominate the Earth: Origins and Causes of the War
Introduction: the place of WWII in history
Commandos sabotage Norsk Hydro: An emblematic story
The AGood War@ and the siren songs of oversimplification (two class periods)
Explaining it to the GI=s: Film: Frank Capra=s Prelude to War (1942)
Causes of the Pacific War, and Race in WWII. In-class discussion of Bess Introduction, chapters 1 and 2
Film: Hitler
Map Quiz; discuss oral history assignment. Discuss Bess chapter 3 (Origins of war in Europe)
Fascism Triumphant: 1939-1942
Fateful ironies of technology and strategy (two class periods)
Overview of the war=s campaigns, 1939-42
Overview of the war=s campaigns, 1943-45
The Battle of Britain and the Near Thing in the Atlantic
What are we fightin' for?
Strategic bombing: a case of moral slippage. In-class discussion of Bess chapter 5
Intrigue or cooperation? The fragile wartime coalitions
Vichy France: A case study in collaboration and resistance
Against the received wisdom: British humiliation in Singapore, French vindication at Bir Hakeim
Art, music, and literature in wartime
Film on the Holocaust: Forever Yesterday
The Navajo war against Japan (and other top-secret matters)
Midterm exam
Deep evil and deep good; Bystanders. In-class discussion of Bess chapters 4, 6
Fascism Crushed: 1943-1945
Kursk: the largest battle in human history
If D-Day was to have a remote chance of success: seven key preconditions
Film: The Home Front (two class periods)
Five elements of greatness in WWII military leadership (two class periods)
Women and the war
Leo Szilard: the pacifist who launched the Manhattan Project
** Evening films: The Day After Trinity; The Fog of War
Cigars, brandy, and power-politics: wartime diplomacy from Tehran to Potsdam
Hiroshima, Ground Zero
The decision to drop the atomic bomb. In-class discussion of Bess chapter 10
Legacy of WWII
"When they said Repent, I wonder what they meant..."
The long-term global transformative power of WWII
The aftermath, 1945-53 (two class periods)
** Evening film: Gandhi
A constructive relationship with our national past. Discussion of Bess chapter 13, Tibbets reading
Thought-experiments in What if... ? C How the war might have ended very differently
Is world peace realistically achievable? In-class discussion of Bess chapters 11, 12, Conclusion
Closing lecture: Two meanings of “realism”
COURSE SCHEDULE
Nota bene: “ ! ” in the left margin means “Class discussion day.”
Part I: To dominate the earth: origins and causes of the conflict
Week 1
* Wed., Jan. 9 — Introduction: The place of WWII in history
• Read William Duiker, Twentieth-Century World History, 2nd ed. (2002), chapter 6, entitled “The Crisis Deepens,” pp. 125-149 (on e-reserve on OAK)
• Read Bess, Introduction and chapters 1 and 2
* Fri., Jan. 11 — Commandos sabotage Norsk Hydro: an emblematic story
Week 2
* Mon., Jan. 14 — The “Good War” and the Siren Songs of oversimplification (Part 1)
• Read Duiker text, chapter entitled “The Crisis Deepens,” pp. 125-149 (on e-reserve)
• Read Bess, Introduction and chapters 1 and 2
* Wed., Jan. 16 — The “Good War” and the Siren Songs of oversimplification (Part 2)
* Fri., Jan. 18 — Explaining it to the GIs: Film: Prelude to War (Frank Capra, 1942)
Week 3
! * Mon., Jan. 21 — Causes of the Pacific War; Race in WWII. Exercise and discussion of Bess Introduction, chapters 1 and 2
Mini-essay 1 (“Causes”) due, Jan. 21 (on Bess Introduction, chs. 1, 2, 3)
• Read Keegan, pp. 10-53
• Read Bess, chapter 3
* Wed., Jan. 23 — First half of film, “Hitler” (the man’s life up to late 1930s)
! * Fri., Jan. 25 — Map quiz; discuss oral history assignment. Discuss Bess chapter 3, on origins of the war in Europe.
* * *
Part II: Fascism triumphant, 1939-1942
Week 4
* Mon., Jan. 28 — Fateful ironies of technology and strategy (Part 1)
• Read Keegan, pp. 54-127
• Read Overy, chapters 1, 2
* Wed., Jan. 30 — Fateful ironies of technology and strategy (Part 2)
* Fri., Feb. 1 — Overview of the war’s campaigns, 1939-42
Week 5
* Mon., Feb. 4 — Overview of the war’s campaigns, 1943-45
• Read Overy, chapters 4, 6, 7
* Wed., Feb. 6 — The Battle of Britain and the Near Thing in the Atlantic
* Fri., Feb. 8 — What are we fightin' for?
Week 6
! * Mon., Feb. 11 — Strategic bombing: a case of moral slippage. Discussion of Bess chapter 5
Mini-essay 2 (“Bombing”) due, Feb. 11 (Bess chapters 5, 10)
• Read Keegan, pp. 127-240
• Read Bess, chapters 5, 10
* Wed., Feb. 13 — Intrigue or cooperation? The fragile wartime coalitions
* Fri., Feb. 15 — Vichy France: A case study in collaboration and resistance
Week 7
* Mon., Feb. 18 — Against the received wisdom: British humiliation in Singapore, French vindication at Bir Hakeim
• Read Keegan, pp. 240-310
• Read Bess, chapter 7
* Wed., Feb. 20 — Art, music, and literature in wartime
* Fri., Feb. 22 — Film on the Holocaust: Forever Yesterday
Week 8
* Mon., Feb. 25 — The Navajo war against Japan (and other top-secret matters)
• Read Bess, chapters 4, 6
• Start reading Sledge
* Wed., Feb. 27 — Midterm exam
! * Fri., Feb. 29 — Deep evil and deep good: The concept of human nature confronts the Holocaust. Bystanders. Discussion of Bess chapters 4 and 6
Mini-essay 3 (“Holocaust”) due, Feb. 29 (Bess chapters 4 and 6)
* * *
Week 9
SPRING BREAK (March 1-9)
Part III: Fascism crushed, 1942-1945
Week 10
* Mon., March 10 — Kursk: the largest battle in human history
• Read Overy, chapters 3, 5
• Read Bess, chapter 8
• Continue reading Sledge
* Wed., March 12 — If D-Day was to have a remote chance of success: seven key preconditions
* Fri., March 14 — Film: The Home Front (Part 1)
Week 11
* Mon., March 17 — Film: The Home Front (Part 2)
• Read Keegan, pp. 310-450
• Read Overy, chapters 8, 9, Epilogue
• Finish reading Sledge
* Wed., March 19 — Five elements of greatness in WWII military leadership (Part 1)
* Oral history report due, Wednesday, March 19, at beginning of class
* Fri., March 21 — Five elements of greatness in WWII military leadership (Part 2)
Week 12
Mon., March 24 — Women and the war
Mini-essay 4 (“Crimes”) due, March 24 (Bess chapters 8, 9, 11)
• Read Keegan, pp. 450-536
• Read Bess, chapters 9, 11
* Wed., March 26 — Leo Szilard: the pacifist who launched the Manhattan Project
* Required films (Thursday, March 27, 6 p.m., room TBA): “The Day After Trinity”, “The Fog of War”
* Fri., March 28 — Cigars, brandy, and power-politics: from Tehran to Potsdam
Week 13
* Mon., March 31 — Hiroshima, Ground Zero
• Read Bess, chapter 10
• Read Keegan, pp. 536-587
Sledge 2-Page Paper due, March 31
! * Wed., April 2 — Quiz on “Trinity” and “Fog” films. The decision to drop the atomic bomb: discuss Bess chapter 10
Part IV: The Legacy of World War II
* Fri., April 4 — "When they said Repent, I wonder what they meant..."
Week 14
* Mon., April 7 — The long-term global transformative power of World War II
• Read Bess, chapter 13
• Read Keegan, pp. 588-595
* Wed., April 9 — The aftermath, 1945-53 (Part 1)
Mini-essay 5 (“Memory”) due, April 9 (Bess chapters7, 13)
* Required film (Thursday, April 10, 6 p.m., room TBA): “Gandhi”
* Fri., April 13 — The aftermath, 1945-53 (Part 2)
Week 15
! * Mon., April 14 — Quiz on Gandhi film. A constructive relationship with our national past: discussion of Bess chapter 13, Tibbetts reading
• Read Bess, chapters 12, Conclusion
• Read Tibbetts 1994 statement at page bottom: http://www.theenolagay.com/plane.html
* Wed., April 16 — Thought-experiments in What if...? — How the war might have ended very differently
! * Fri., April 18 — Is world peace realistically achievable? Discuss Bess chapters 11, 12, and Conclusion
Mini-essay 6 (“Peace”) due, April 18 (Bess chapter 12 and Conclusion)
Week 16
* Mon., April 21 — Closing lecture: Two meanings of “realism”
• Read Overy, chapter 10
* Last day to hand in essays for grade-enhancement option: by 3 pm, Wed., Apr. 23, in Bess’s box in History Department, Benson Hall
* * *
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Optional Review Session for Final Exam: time and room to be announced
Final Exam: Saturday, April 26, 3-5 pm (in regular classroom). Please bring two bluebooks.
There will be no alternate final examination.
