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- Course Description: This class will study
the causes, the course, and the implications of World War II,
this greatest of twentieth century conflicts. It will handle most
of the geographic areas involved, the major diplomatic, political and military
events, and some of the key figures of the war. It covers the time
period of 1918 to the present, with an emphasis of course on the years
1939-1945.
CLASS FORMAT AND PROCEDURE:
- 1) HI 387 consists primarily of lectures, supplemented
by readings and/or viewing of videotapes and disks. For the most
part, one of the three professors will deliver lectures each day. Each
professor will be responsible for directing and evaluating student work
in the course for one section of students. Guest lecturers will be
used as the occasion and availability warrant.
- 2) The class schedule will consist of two eighty-minute
sessions each week. Parts of each session is allotted to lectures
by the instructors, film presentations, and occasional questions and discussion.
- 3) Lectures both supplement and complement reading assignments,
as well as introduce problems to be brought up in the discussions.
Discussion periods will investigate problems and look into interpretations
of subjects in the readings and/or lectures.
- 4) Some brief outlines of lectures, maps and other supplementary
materials will be distributed to students on the web.
STUDENT REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE:
- 1) Attendance: Students are expected to regularly attend lectures
and participate in classroom discussions. Attendence will be taken regularly.
Since there is no penalty for absences, there will be no excused absences.
- 2) Reading assignments: Readings from the text and supplementary
sources are given on a weekly basis.
- 3) Film Review Essays: Four movie
review essays will be assigned during the session. These essays will be
based upon viewing films and reading web sources related to them. Students
are expected to give their impressions iof the film and answer each question
on the movie review form in at least one FULL paragraph per question. The
lowest of the four movie review essay scores will be dropped. Each review
will be worth 50 points for a total of 150 points toward the course grade.
Each review will be due in class on the day stated in the syllabus. Only
those who can show that they have no possible access to a computer will
be allowed to turn in a hard copies of the essay. Since the lowest of the
five essay scores will be dropped, no essays will be accepted after this
deadline, nor makeup papers accepted.
- 4) Film Series: Four films dealing
with Word War II in Cinema: Realism or Reelism? will be presented
during the semester. Attendance or proof of viewing (rental receipt) and
a one-paragraph review and rating will be worth 10 points per movie. Students
are required to view and review three of the four films. Since one
of the four film viewings will be dropped from regular credit, no late
film review/ratings are accepted.
- 5) Examinations: Exams will be presented on the fifth, tenth,
and finals week. Each examination will include an objective section consisting
of multiple choice, true/false, matching, and map items. Each examination
will count 50 points toward the course grade. In total the three examinations
will count 50 points toward the course grade.
- 6) Makeups: Makeup examinations will be given on one afternoon
near the end of the session. Makeup examinations will be given only to
students who have legitimate excuses (e.g. medical emergency, court appearance,
etc.) and can produce a written explanation from an authoritative third
party (doctor, court clerk, etc.). No makeups for essays.
- 7) Evaluation of student performance will be made upon: a) the
three examinations [50%]; and b) the movie Review Essays [50%].
- 8) Grade scale: 270-300=A; 240-269=B; 210-239=C; 180-209=D;
0-179=F.
REQUIRED READINGS:
 
- PROJECTED CLASS SCHEDULE:
- WEEK I--1/16
- 1) Course Introduction.
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. xii-xli, Web Readings 1.
- WEEK II--1/21-23
- 1) The Twenty Years Truce"
continued with an emphasis on the rise of the dictators.
- 2) "Hitler and the Rise
of Nazism in Germany".
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 17-80; Web Readings 2.
- WEEK III--1/28-30
- 1) "Diplomatic Overview
of Europe in the 1930's".
- 2) "Fall of Poland".
- First Film Presentation: COUNTDOWN TO WAR
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 81-127; Web Readings 3-4.
- WEEK IV--2/4-6
- 2) "Sitzkrieg and Blitzkrieg".
- 3) "The Fall of France
and Dunkirke"
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 128-145; Web Readings 5-6.
- WEEK V--2/11-13
- First Film Review DUE FEBRUARY 13
- 1)"The Battle of Britain"
- 2) "Barbarossa:
The Invasion of Russia"
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 146-205; Web Readings 7-8.
- WEEK VI--2/18-20
- 1) "The United States
and the War in Europe"
- 2)"The Atlantic War"
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 206-232, 459-478; Web Readings 9-10.
- WEEK VII--2/25-27
- EXAMINATION #1
- 1)"Japan in the 1930's"
- 2) "Pearl Harbor"
- 3) "Japanese Expansion
after Pearl Harbor"
- Second Film Presentation: TORA TORA TORA
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 597-1030, especially pp. 960-1030; Web Readings
11-13.
- WEEK VIII--3/4-6
- 1)"North Africa and
the Desert War"
- 2) "Sicily and the Struggle
for the Italian Peninsula"
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 372-411; Web Readings 14-15.
- WEEK IX--3/11-13
- 1)"The Russian Front"
- 2) "Air War Over Germany"
- Second Film Review DUE MARCH 11
- Calvocoressi, pp. 479-532; Web
Readings 16-17.
- WEEK X--3/25-27
- 2) "The Invasion of
Fortress Europe--D-Day and its Aftermath"
- 3) "The Recovery of
France, including the Battle of the Bulge"
- Third Film Presentation: A BRIDGE TOO FAR
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 533-555; Web Readings 18-19.
- WEEK XI--4/1-3
- 1) "The Fall of the
Third Reich"
- 2) "Occupation and Resistance."
- Third Film Review DUE APRIL 3
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 233-346, 555-570; Web Readings 20-21.
- WEEK XII--4/8-10
EXAM #2
- 1)"The Holocaust"
- 2) "The Home Front"
- Fourth Film Presentation: COME AND SEE
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 233-283, 411-458; Web Readings 22-23.
- WEEK XIII--4/15-17
- 1)"The Pacific Naval/Amphibious
War."
- 2) "The Burma-Chinese
Theatre."
- Readings: Calvocoressi,
pp. 1073-1149; Web Readings 24-25.
- WEEK XIV--4/22-24
- 1) "The Assault on Japan"
- 2) "The Air War over
Japan"
- Fourth Film Review DUE APRIL 22
- Readings: Calvocoressi, pp.
1150-1208; Web Readings 26-27.
- WEEK XV--4/29-5/1
- 1) "The Nuclear War--Hiroshima
and Nagasaki"
- 2) "The Implications
of the War: The War Crimes Trials."
- Readings: Calvocoressi, pp.
1166-1224, 570-587; Web Readings 28-29.
- WEEK XVI--5/6-8
- 1) "The Implications
of the War: The Cold War."
- Readings: Calvocoressi, pp.
347-371, 570-587, 1209-1224; Web Readings 30.
- FINAL EXAMINATION:
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