Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Killing Time: An Analysis Of Civil War Soldiers' Discussion Of Free Time In Camp, Madeline Norton

Honors Theses

While most Civil War history deals with a glorified and romanticized version of a soldier’s experience of war, the time a soldier spent combating the idleness of camp proved to be a more consuming battle. Though lacking in grandeur, how a soldier ‘killed time’ provides an important yet often overlooked insight into the camaraderie and culture of Civil War soldiers. Historians that have looked into camp amusements and vices tend not to go beyond the soldiers psychological need to mentally manage the war. This thesis takes their theory a step further. Examining soldiers’ records of their experiences in camp activities …

Rape In World War Ii Memory, Sonia Tiemann

Honors Theses

This thesis examines why mass wartime rape occurred during World War II, as well as examining the reasons for the denial or elimination of rape from public memory. For purposes of analysis, the thesis has been broken down into four cases: rape by Japanese soldiers ⎯ the “comfort women,” rape by German soldiers, rape by the Russian Red Army, and rape by American soldiers in France. The study looks at different reasons that could help explain why soldiers rape during wartime and what provokes them to rape. Rape was quite prevalent during World War II, yet it is rarely acknowledged …

Letters Home: Change In Mental State Of Soldiers During The American Civil And Vietnam Wars Seen Through Their Letters Home, Austin W. Hill

Honors Theses

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has only been studied since its diagnosis after the Vietnam War. However, soldiers have always felt the affects of the wars they fought. These affects are physical, mental and emotional. Currently, PTSD is one of the most common affects of war on a soldier. While PTSD has only been studied since its discovery after the Vietnam War, symptoms almost exactly like PTSD have been present in soldiers for decades. This thesis uses letters from soldiers in the Vietnam War to create a basis of trauma that could create PTSD in soldiers. Using this base of …

La Identidad De Los Carabineros De Chile: The Evolving Identity Of Chile's National Police Force And The 1973 Military Coup, Jeffrey O. Lamson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of Los Carabineros de Chile, Chile's national police force, from their origins under Carlos Ibáñez in 1927 until their involvement in the 1973 military coup against President Salvador Allende. Various presidencies primarily used this corps during this period as a weapon against popular mobilization and thus influenced the development of the Carabineros' institutional identity. To explore how this identity evolved, this thesis examines primary sources, mostly in the form of newspapers found in the National Archives in Santiago, Chile, that illuminate the Carabineros' relations with the public. The knowledge of the Carabineros' institutional identity contributes …

Just Good Advice: The American Advisors In The Vietnam War, Anna Rikki Nelson

Honors Theses

This thesis uses government documents and post-combat interviews to explore the effectiveness of the American Advisory effort during the Vietnam War. This study focuses on the war in 1963 and 1964 before American ground forces entered the war and the advisory effort changed to include supporting American forces. By analyzing the reasons given by each advisor for his successes and failures, the American military could learn why the initial advisory effort failed, and why some American advisors could not work well with their counterparts in the Vietnamese leadership.

Chapter One examines the advisory effort as a whole before and during …

The Great European Empires: British And Roman Rule, Edward A. Tomlinson

Honors Theses

The greatest European imperial forces ever to exist were Rome and Britain. They controlled much of their known world and subjugated many foreign peoples to their rule. Rome ruled lands from India to the Atlantic Ocean, while Britain had colonies across the entire globe. The British Empire was at the height of its power in the Nineteenth Century, nearly 1200 years after the city of Rome was sacked by invading barbarian tribes. Even with more than a millennia passing between the fall of one empire and the rise of the other; they still shared many similarities in their manner of …

Morale Maintenance In World War Ii Us Army Ground Combat Units : European Theater Of Operations, 1944-45, Kevin Kane

Honors Theses

This paper examines how both the Army as an organization and its small unit leaders attempted to maintain the soldiers’ morale in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Morale was critical to the Allied victory in the war, yet the morale of frontline GIs was often neglected. This occurred with such frequency that many combat soldiers suffered from a new category of wound known as “combat exhaustion.” Through an examination of what influenced combat soldiers’ morale, a clearer understanding of what the Army did well and how it failed to support combat GIs emerges, as does an …

The American Rifled Musket: Technical Revolution Or Tactical Redundancy?, Alexandre F. Caillot

Honors Theses

The German soldier and military writer Freiherr von Bülow (1755-1816) once said that tactics were “the science of movements which are made in the presence of the enemy, that is, within his view, and within reach of his artillery.” This viewpoint, which he espoused in his seminal text Spirit of the System of Modern War (published in German in 1799), was representative of principles that would hold dominion over much of 19th-century-military thought. However, the 1850s was hardly a time of intellectual stagnation in which innovation lacked amongst the military theorists of Europe. Indeed, it was a period of discovery …

When The Confederates Terrorized Maine: The Battle Of Portland Harbor, Carter Stevens

Honors Theses

Saturday, June 27, 1863, dawned brightly over Portland, Maine. As the city’s residents began to go about their weekend business, they suddenly realized that the Caleb Cushing, the United States Revenue Cutter (U.S.R.C.) which had been stationed in Portland Harbor on and off again since 1853, was missing. Rumors flew about a traitorous Southerner on board, the work of pirates on the coast, and more. Before the day was over, the revenue cutter would be destroyed and the Casco Bay area would be transformed forever, a victim of one of the northernmost events of the Civil War on the periphery. …

Green Light Over The Drop Zone: American Army And Marine Paratroopers In World War Ii, Audrey Lomax

Honors Theses

One of the greatest military inventions to come from World War II, a war unprecedented in casualties, geographic scale, and technology, was the addition of Special Forces to the military. As a pioneer of Special Forces in the United States, the airborne proved to be one of the most unique, dangerous, and expensive Special Forces in the war. By the end of 1940, many belligerent countries had airborne units, including Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Japan, France, and the United Sates. American Chief of Air Service William Mitchell came up with the idea at the end of …

Invisibly Wounded Warriors: The Psychological Repercussions Of War On American Soldiers, Maisy Bragg

Honors Theses

The demands that come with war can be both physically and mentally traumatizing and damaging to the soldier in many ways. These psychological injuries manifest themselves in what physicians call Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. The purpose of this paper is to examine Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in American Soldiers by analyzing the training methods, human’s natural aversion to killing, pre-deployment medical exams, type of warfare, and treatment options provided in war; specifically the Civil War, World War I and World War II, Vietnam, and the Iraq War. By taking into account the history of PTSD as a disease, as well as these …

American Aid For German War Prisoners: Humanitarian Relief As Reconciliation Between Heritage And Patriotism, Erica Fugger

Honors Theses

When Europe was thrown into conflict in 1939, German Americans feared treatment reminiscent of the discriminatory practices of World War I. Recent immigrants were in an especially difficult position, as they sought to remain loyal to their adopted country, while also desiring to assist those affected by the war abroad. In answer to this dilemma, Emil Auer, a native of Munich and naturalized resident of Buffalo, New York, formed a war relief organization in 1940. Initially focusing its efforts on the British Commonwealth camps established in Canada, the American Aid for German War Prisoners grew to assist Axis soldiers and …

Reflections On The Atomic Bomb’S Effect On America Since Its Dropping On Hiroshima And Nagasaki, Matt Grogan

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the issues and controversies that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused in the United States. Four chapters all deal with different periods in the history of these controversies. The first chapter deals with the actual decision to drop the bomb and the American public’s initial reactions, while the second chapter deals with subsequent reactions as the topic got more controversial. One of these topics include Henry Stimson’s article entitled “The Decision to Use the Bomb,” which attempted to justify the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The third looks at the beginnings of …

The Making Of A War Memoir, Mary Smethers

Honors Theses

Each of us is able to experience only small slices of history. We live only a shade of the painting. This does not give us a false perspective, but a unique, slim portion of the bigger picture. Though many of us live through epic periods of history that have been enumerated in many millions of pages, it is only a few dozen of those pages that we can actually point out as moments that we lived. Each memory comes with its own perspective. We can only experience that moment of history from the view of the life that we lived …

British Perspective On The Colonial Rebellion, Kayla Smith

Honors Theses

Great Britain and her colonies began their disagreements leading up to the American Revolution over the idea of taxation and representation in Parliament. A new form of taxation came with the passage of Sugar Act in March, 1764. This form aimed at raising revenue to pay for part of the cost of Britain's colonial expenses in North America. All previous taxation on the colonies had only been used to regulate commerce. The British judged the colonists should be taxed to help pay for the cost of the French war that had been fought in their defense and protection. The previous …

The Art Of War : Deconstructing The Monolith Of The World War Ii Poster, Sean Williams

Honors Theses

For most Americans, the introduction to World War II posters, or even the entire field of posters during wartime in general, comes in the form of an elderly, yet bold looking man wearing red, white and blue. He wears a striped hat, and stands with his finger pointed outwards. The message he gives is clear --"I want YOU!" This image has been faithfully reproduced in social studies and history textbooks for years. (Indeed, both generations of my family saw such an image in their school books).

Uncle Sam, though, dapper as he may be, is merely one example of hundreds …

Devotedly Yours: The Prison Letters Of Captain Joseph Scrivner Ambrose Iv, C.S.A., Rebeccah Helen Pedrick

Honors Theses

Tales of war-valor, courage, intrigue, winners, losers, common men, outstanding officers. Such stories captivate, enthrall, and inspire each generation, though readers often feel distanced from the participants. The central figures of these tales are heroes, seemingly beyond the reach of ordinary men. Through a more intimate glimpse of one such figure, the affectionate letters of Joseph Scrivner Ambrose to his sister, written from prison during America's Civil War, perhaps one can find more than a hero- one can find a man with whom one can identify, a man who exemplifies the truth of the old adage, "Heroes are made, not …

Waiting For Orders: The Civil War Diary Of Micajah A. Thomas, Jason Hentschel

Honors Theses

As with all history, researchers cannot draw an accurate conclusion or understanding of a particular historical event, state of mind, or philosophy through mere generalizations. The historian, like any proponent of truth, must seek to understand the individual facts and principles of the subject matter in an effort to inductively form his final thesis on what truly constitutes history. In achieving the full factual record of "Johnny Reb" entrenched in the complex social heritage of the Confederate South with all its various nuances and distinctions, a direct account of a Confederate soldier's life proves indispensable. Concordantly, the Civil War diary …

Keeping A Town Alive?: The Civil War Re-Enactment Of The Battle Of Pilot Knob, Laura Marie Gentry

Honors Theses

There is a place surrounded by thousands of acres of natural forests encircled by seven beautiful state parks nestled between the highest peaks in Missouri with rich Ozark history. Imagine three small towns situated in a valley of the Ozarks Mountains surrounded by breathtaking scenery, a perfect retreat from busyness of the city and the working world. Would you be interested in escaping here for a weekend or possibly for the rest of your life?

If you even entertained the idea, local Chamber of Commerce officials succeeded in making you believe that Arcadia Valley or the towns of lronton, Arcadia, …

The International Military Tribunals: An Overview And Assessment, Joshua Daniel Franklin

Honors Theses

As World War II drew to a close in Europe, the victorious Allies faced the question of what to do with the political and military leaders of defeated Germany. The war had been like none other; they needed a drastically new approach to the final treatment of those in charge of the Axis powers. While war crimes could be punished under the Geneva and Hague Conventions, no international agreements assigned personal responsibility to those who ordered the crimes.

While Axis leaders could have been simply executed, the Allies chose to plan a cooperative international trial. The resulting International Military Tribunal …

Snapshot Within A Portrait: The Civil War In Clark County, Arkansas, 1861-1865, Stephanie Harper

Honors Theses

Pointilism is described as "the application of paint in small dots and brush strokes so as to create an effect of blending." From a distance, the artistic style of pointilism appears to be a complete work of art but closer inspection reveals a series of miniscule dots that combine to form the entire image on the canvas. The American Civil War is a large portrait in American history. However, its description is not limited to battles and war heroes. A true portrait encompasses all aspects of the war effort from the citizens on the home front to the soldiers in …

Pibun Songkram's Role In Thailand's Entry Into The Pacific War, Lukasz Staniczek

Honors Theses

On January 25, 1942, Thailand followed the Japanese example and declared war on the United States and Great Britain. The reasons for Thailand's entry into the war remain controversial. The extent and timing of Japanese pressure and the genesis of the Thai commitment to the Axis side are in dispute. There is not a generally accepted view on why Thailand declared war; however, the issue has been thus far analyzed principally in consideration of Thai national interest. This paper provides a different approach by focusing on the main decision-maker: Thai Prime Minister Pibun Songkram, as the key to solve the …

Confederate Matrons : Women Who Served In Virginia Civil War Hospitals, A. Elise Allison

Honors Theses

In September 1862, the Confederate Congress authorized hospitals to employ white women as chief matrons, assistant matrons, and ward matrons. This paper examines the lives and experiences of matrons who worked in Confederate hospitals in Virginia. It concludes that only ''exceptional" women with the stamina to endure physical and mental hardships were able to defy conventional ideas about their proper role and contribute to the care of Confederate sick and wounded as matrons.

General Joseph Wheeler And The Mounted Rifles: Cavalry Proves Its Worth In The Chattanooga Area, Josh Correll

Honors Theses

There is a commonly held opinion among some historians that cavalry, men fighting from horseback, were obsolete by the time of the American Civil War. The problem with this perception is the definition of obsolescence. While it is true that cavalry as a charging, frontline force was mostly ineffective, this was not the kind of cavalry used in that conflict on a large scale. Instead, a new kind of cavalry, the Mounted Rifles, was put into practice by some of the commanders, most notably one of the Confederacy's youngest cavalry generals, Joseph Wheeler. Wheeler's cavalry instead worked within an army, …

An Analysis Of Success And Failure: The Manhattan Project And German Nuclear Research During The Third Reich, Jon Tate Self

Honors Theses

Without doubt, the years since World War II have seen a new player on the international scene. Not a person, yet to many, it personifies man's inhumanity to man. Neither is it a nation, yet it wields more power than the most powerful empire or state. Nor is it good or evil in and of itself, but like all fruit of knowledge, it defers to man in its use. The new player is the atom by virtue of its awesome explosive power.

The atom did not burst onto the scene in our context until 1939. That year saw the discovery …

The Prisoners In German Concentration Camps, Debbie Jo Smith

Honors Theses

The term Holocaust comes from the Hebrew word olah, meaning burnt sacrifice. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, this word became holokauston. Today, the word Holocaust is used to denote the Nazi persecution of the Jews, resulting in the extermination of some six million men, women, and children in concentration and extermination camps. The term should bring to mind horrible images of torture, death, and destruction. Yet, in most cases, this does not happen. Although many people are familiar with The Diary of Anne Frank, The Hiding Place, and The Holocaust, even in today's highly educated society, …

Washington, Arkansas: "The War Years" (1860-1865), Don Yancey

Honors Theses

To the ignorant visitor to Washington, Arkansas, it may seem a bit strange that this tiny, decaying Southern town played such an important role during the War Between the States. The strangeness disappears, however, when one learns of how its location in the South, its people, and its monetary and troop contributions meant to the war effort here in Arkansas. Even when the Federals took control of Little Rock, the state capitol, Washington volunteered its services to serve as the Confederate State Capitol. Despite its later decline, Washington occupies a commanding position in the state history of Arkansas and the …

The Camden Expedition: Spring, 1864, James Adrian Ryan Jr.

Honors Theses

General Nathaniel P. Banks assumed command of the Department of the Gulf for the United States on November 8, 1862. IN assuming his office Banks received orders from General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck conveying President Lincoln's concern that no time be lost in opening the Mississippi River for military and naval operations. As soon as this was accomplished, Banks was to consider other operations, such as an expedition up the Red River to liberate the cotton and sugar in Northern Louisiana and Southern Arkansas. He was also to establish a base of operation for the invasion of Texas. This decision was …

The U.S. Policy In Vietnam, As It Relates To The Geneva And S.E.A.T.O. Agreements, Bobby Shepherd

Honors Theses

Few chapters in American history have been filled with more importance and had more impact upon this nation politically, socially and morally than has the era of active involvement in the land war in Vietnam, during the mid 1960's. The war has taken almost 50,000 American lives, has contributed directly to the political end of one American President and had plunged the United States into an ordeal of examination and internal turmoil rarely seen in U.S. history.

As great as the impact of this war has been, it is remarkable that little is recalled by American citizens or acknowledged by …

Revolutionary Development In The Republic Of Viet Nam, James N. Davis

Honors Theses

The scope of this study is three-fold. It attempts mainly to explore United States involvement in the Republic of Viet Nam from the perspectives of the history, the aims and the effectiveness of the pacification program.

The rationale for the use of such a method as pacification in the rural areas of the Viet Name may be traced back at least as far as the beginning of Western colonial interests there. Saigon submitted to colonial rule by France in 1885.