International Politics ·  Gwleidyddiaeth Ryngwladol

The Second World War in Europe 

Yr Ail Ryfel Byd yn Ewrop

http://users.aber.ac.uk/rbh/ww2/si31%5b1%5d.jpe

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The Second World War was the greatest military conflagration in history, killing some sixty million people and ending with the advent of the atomic age.  Unsurprisingly, its legacy is still very much with us to this day.  The Second World War was fundamental in shaping the modern world politically, while its murderous impact made a profound impression on the cultures of any numbers of peoples across the globe.  This module will provide the opportunity for students of military history to make a rigorous examination of the course of the Second World War in Europe. It will chart the course of the war and analyse how and why the Allies eventually won after a period where the Germans had seemed invincible.  The module will introduce students on all degree schemes not only to the history of the period but also to the evolution of war in the twentieth century with its enormous impact on all aspects of global society.  The subject material will seek to provide an understanding of the Second World War that will enable students to more usefully engage with questions on the evolution of warfare to the point where it would come to threaten life on earth.

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Course convenor

·        Dr. R. Gerald Hughes  

Assessment

·        1 x 2500 word essay (40%)

·        1 x 2hr final examination (60%).  Answer any TWO questions from a selection of TEN.

Essay Questions

Answer ONE of the following. 

1. 1.    To what degree were the expectations of theorists and students of warfare in the period 1919-39 proved correct by the events of the Second World War?

2. 2.    What were the main strengths and weaknesses of the German armed forces in their attempt to subjugate Europe, 1939-1941?

3. 3.    What were the underlying assumptions behind Allied strategic bombing policy?  What degree of success did the bombing of Germany and German-occupied Europe achieve?

4. 4.    Assess the contribution made by women to victory in ONE of the following states: a) Britain; b) United States; c) Soviet Union.

5. 5.    Compare and contrast the role of Hitler and Churchill as national war leaders.

6. 6.    How and why did the Allies win the Battle of the Atlantic?

7. 7.    Assess the importance of amphibious warfare to victory in the European theatre of war, 1942-1945.

8. 8.    Could a bolder strategy have allowed the Western Allies to win the war in late 1944?

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:

·        Outline the essence of military strategies of the protagonists and the relation of these strategies to the political aims of the warring states.

·        Discuss the character of the war in European between 1939 and 1945.

·        Discuss the general interpretive approaches to the military history of the Second World War.

·        Discuss the nature of the military course of the Second World War and its impact on the international system.

·        Discuss the impact of technology upon the Second World War.

·        Discuss the utility, and accuracy, of the term ‘Total War’ as a framework for analysis. 

·        Assess the relationship between war on land and air and sea power in the Second World War.

·        Demonstrate an understanding of the impact of the Second World War on civilian populations.

·        Assess the role and importance of political and military leadership in the Second World War.

·        Compare and contrast the predictions of inter-war military thinkers (e.g. Douhet, Liddell Hart) with the actual course of events after 1939. 

·        Assess the military lessons of the Second World War.

·        Debate the continued significance of the Second World War.

Teaching outlines and methods

The course consists of eighteen lectures and five one-hour seminars.  The lectures will be twice a week and the seminars will be once every two weeks.  Attendance at lectures is strongly recommended.  Seminar attendance is compulsory.  Where possible, students should inform the module convenor of any unavoidable absences prior to the seminar in question.  Excuses for non-attendance should be given in writing and submitted to the module convenor.  Students who ware absent from their usual seminar should make every effort to attend alternative group, informing the tutors of this arrangement.  Persistent failure to attend seminars may result in the student being deemed ‘unsatisfactory’ and, thereby, barred from the module examination.  Non-attendance, therefore, may have serious implications.  Students should refer to the Undergraduate Handbook for further information on Departmental and UWA attendance requirements.

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Core texts

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Lectures

  1. Introduction
  2. Germany triumphant
  3. The German failure to subjugate Britain and the widening war, 1940-1
  4. ‘The world will hold its breath’: Operation Barbarossa 
  5. The ‘soft underbelly’?  North Africa and Italy, 1941-1944
  6. ‘The Cauldron’: Stalingrad
  7. ‘The Mother of all battles’: Kursk
  8. The War at Sea
  9. Britain and America at War
  10. Germany and German Occupied Europe, 1939-1944
  11. Russia at war, 1941-1945
  12. Resistance, partisan warfare and racial extermination
  13. The Air War
  14. Men and Machines: strategy, leadership and industrial war
  15. To the heart of the Reich: invasion from the East; D-Day to the crossing of the Rhine
  16. Endgame: the end of Nazi Germany and the new Europe

Seminars

  1. Allied failure and Germany triumphant
  2. The Clash of Titans: the German-Soviet War
  3. Air and Sea Warfare
  4. The ultimate fighting machine?  The Soviet People and the Red Army
  5. Inevitable victory?  Leadership, economies, mobilisation and technology

 

Group one         ·        Group two          ·        Group three       ·        Group four

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 Seminars: details

1. Allied failure and Germany triumphant. 

The First World War is conventionally seen as a static war of attrition whilst the Second World War is seen as a war of manoeuvre.  German generals are usually credited with bringing movement back to the battlefield in the ‘Blitzkrieg’ campaigns. This seminar will examine how the German Wehrmacht built on the tradition of German war making and successfully exploited the lessons of the First World War and the teachings of the inter-war theorists to achieve spectacular successes in the initial phase of the war.  The seminar will also examine the first cracks in the German forces and the roots of the later disasters that were to overtake German arms. 

Additional Reading

2. The Clash of Titans: the German-Soviet War. 

This seminar will examine how the German war machine approached the colossal task of the conquest of the USSR.  What lessons had been learned from the first two years of war?  Was Barbarossa ever likely to succeed or did it simply expose the gaping holes in German strategy and in Hitler’s leadership?  The seminar will address wider questions arising from this – in particular, those questions relating to Blitzkrieg and the concept of ‘Total War’. 

Additional Reading

Also

3. Anglo-American Power: Air and Sea Warfare

While the destruction of the bulk of German land forces was achieved on the Russian Front, the Western Allies made a significant contribution to this by virtue of their triumph at sea and in the air.  This seminar will examine the use of air power at the tactical and the strategic level – in both the German successes of 1939-42 and in the subsequent bomber offensive and Anglo-American drive through Italy and France.  At sea, the seminar will examine the Battle of the Atlantic and the allied use of their control of the sea to achieve ultimate victory.  Special attention will be paid to the influence of pre-war theorists on sea and air power - from Mahan to Douhet.

Additional Reading

Volume 18(1), March 1995, of The Journal of Strategic Studies is devoted to the theory and practice of air power.

On air power generally:

4. The ultimate fighting machine?  The Soviet People and the Red Army

Following the disasters of 1941, the Soviet people and the Red Army survived to destroy the bulk of the German army and, at enormous cost, crush Nazi Germany.  This seminar will examine the magnificent achievements of the Soviet people whilst, additionally, examining the emergence of Soviet strategic and tactical thinking.  It is often forgotten that, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Red Army leaders, such as Tukhachevsky, developed ideas similar to those then current in Germany (often drawing on the writings of the British General J.F.C. Fuller).  Examining notions such as ‘deep battle’, this seminar will seek to understand the initial resilience and eventual war-winning ability of the Soviet Union.   

Additional Reading

Key text: R.J. Overy, Russia's War (London: Penguin Books, 1998).

5. Inevitable victory?  Leadership, economies, mobilisation and technology

This seminar will focus on the reasons most commonly cited for the allied victory in the Second World War – leadership and resources.  The inter-action between these two will be examined.  For instance, why was it that Britain was able to mobilise so much more effectively early in the war than was Germany?  Thus, while Britain supposedly ‘Stood alone’ in 1940, it was out-building Germany in terms of aircraft.  The manner by which the United States was able to build a phenomenal capacity for fighting modern war will be examined and the seminar will attempt to place the Second World War in the context of the progressive industrialisation of conflict over the past few centuries.

Additional Reading

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General course bibliography http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=hhjT3CCc6VU&bids=28707.10000006&type=4&subid=0

The number of journal articles on this subject defies belief so students should make use of the following search aids:

URL:http://www.jstor.org

URL:http://www.ingentaconnect.com 

Reference: Ian Dear and M.R.D. Foot (eds.), The Oxford Companion to World War II (Oxford university Press, 2005). 

Some useful additional general texts:

RGH 2008

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