WORLD WAR I

Course Lectures

 

Topic 1 -- Introduction and Background

Introductory Lecture (Notes) (List)

Reading:  Europe and the World (from:  Theodore von Laue, Why Lenin?  Why Stalin?, Chapter 1)

Essay:  A Brief Introduction to German History by L. J. Andrew Villalon (Background to unification)

 Topic 2 -- German Unification (1862-1871) (Notes) (List)

 Topic 3 -- Austria-Hungary and the Nationality Problem (Notes) (List)

Test 1:  Study Guide


Topic 4 -- The Age of Bismarck (1871-1890) (Notes) (List)

Topic 5 -- The Kaiser takes the Reins (1890-1905) (Notes) (List)

Topic 6  -- A Decade of Crises (1905-1914) (Notes) (List)

Topic 7 -- 1914:  Europe on the Brink (Notes) (List)

 Topic 8 -- The Final Crisis (Summer, 1914):  Shots are Fired and the Lights Go Out (Notes) (List)

Topic 9 -- Who was Responsible? (Notes) (List)

Test 2 -- Readings

Test 2:  Study Guide

 

Topic 10 -- The Campaign of 1914:  From Liege to Tannenberg and the Marne (Notes) (List)

Topic 11 -- Stalemate in the Trenches (1915-1917)  (Notes) (List)

Topic 12 -- Attempting to Break the Stalemate  (Notes) (List)

Topic 13 -- 1917:  Year of Agony, Year of Hope  (Notes) (List)

Topic 14 -- The Russian Revolutions of 1917  (Notes) (List)

Topic 15 -- The Blockade, the Submarine, and America's Entry into the War  (Notes) (List)

Topic 16 -- The Campaign of 1918:  Germany's Final Gamble  (Notes) (List)

Topic 17 -- The Peace Settlement and Seeds for the Future  (Notes) (List)

Final Exam -- Readings

Final Exam:  Study Guide


Course Readings

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (Required:  Questions on the Final Exam)

Robert Graves, Goodbye To All That (Required:  Questions on the Final Exam)

Vera Britton, Testament of Youth (Optional)

Films

Paths of Glory  (1957) (Required:  Questions on the Final Exam)

Gallipoli (1981) (Recommended)

Joyeux Noel (2005) (Recommended)