History Commons^™

The Techniques And Applications Of Hitler's Propaganda, Kelly Stone

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In March of 1924, Adolf Hitler and forty of his associates were convicted of treason for attempting to overthrow the Weimar government in the failed "Beer Hall Putsch." Hitler was sentenced to five years in the Landsberg fortress, but was released in less than a year. During his eight month incarceration, Hitler wrote a remarkable book, Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), in which he recounted his life, proclaimed his ideology, and described in detail his plans (upon attaining power) for Germany's future. Mein Kampf is not a literary masterpiece. Winston Churchill describes it as "turgid, verbose, [and] shapeless." Mein Kampf's importance …

Barry Hoffman Nazi Postcard Collection, Robyn Conroy, Lamisa Muksitu

Strassler Center Archival Collection Finding Aids

This collection is comprised of postcards that are connected to the Nazi Party in Germany. The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei; DAP), existed from 1919 to 1920. The Nazi Party emerged from the extremist German nationalist, racist and populist Freikorps paramilitary culture, which fought against the communist uprisings in post–World War I Germany. The party was …

The Night Of The Long Knives: Reconsidered, Edward G. Gunning Jr.

Dissertations and Theses

The "Night of the Long Knives"—June 30, 1934, and the murderous days that followed is one of the more fascinating episodes in the history of the Third Reich. A year after taking power, multiple circles of influence challenged Nazi control. The National Socialists perceived enemies everywhere. At times the internal challenges were as significant as the external.

Much of the conflict centered on a myriad of perspectives on the nature and direction of the Nazi revolution. For Hitler, the revolution was complete, at least for now. His real revolution was a racial one, whose full dimensions only became manifest later. …

Operation Barbarossa Interpreted In Light Of The Primacy Of Stalin's Economic Plan And Trade With Germany, Adam G. Novey

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

The controversy over who was the aggressor behind Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s 1941 attack on the Soviet Union, has focused largely on political and military analyses. However, a study of Soviet economics sheds critical light on this debate. The success of Joseph Stalin’s regime rested squarely upon a foundation of economic growth. In the late 1930s, he viewed trade with Germany as the way to achieve his capital investment objectives. Any economic gains proffered by Stalin’s Third Five-Year Plan would be threatened by the prospect of war. Thus, Stalin tenaciously held to his non-aggression pact with Germany. It is the contention …

The Winter War: Its Causes And Effects, Ethan D. Beck

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

The Russo-Finnish War of 1939-1940, also known as the Winter War, forms a curious portion of World War II history that bears further study. Occurring during the “Phony War”—the period of calm following Hitler’s invasion of Poland—the Winter War offers a glimpse into the attitudes of the major powers as the growing necessity of the coming war becomes increasingly clear during 1939 and 1940. Specifically, the Winter War provides insight into Soviet imperialism and its concerns over German aggression, and forms a crucial portion of the German decision to invade Russia in the summer of 1941. Without consideration of the …

Ms-220: Homer W. Schweppe Papers, Abigail E. Metheny

All Finding Aids

This collection is made up of a vast variety of materials pertaining to Homer William Schweppe’s experiences during World War II. Schweppe compiled various items during his initial military service in the United States, such as his Seattle Port Officer I.D. badge and his uniform patches. There are also items from his time at Camp Ritchie, including his glossary of “Nazi Deutsch” terms and a book on the Order of Battle of the German Army, to which he contributed. Schweppe also included items he collected while overseas, such as a German Map of the D-Day Invasion area, a welcome pamphlet …

Smith, Beulah Ethel (Morgan), 1894-1987 (Mss 631), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 631. Correspondence and papers of Beulah (Morgan) Smith, Bowling Green, Kentucky, documenting her family, genealogy, and activities in clubs and the community, especially her leadership of the Bowling Green-Warren County Tuberculosis Association, her involvement with the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Society Southern Dames of America, and the Kentucky Mothers Association of the American Mothers Committee, Inc., which selected her as Kentucky Mother of the Year in 1963. Includes a proposal to locate a tuberculosis sanatorium in Warren County (Click on "Additional Files" below for scan).

Review Of Pamela M. Potter, Most German Of The Arts: Musicology And Society From The Weimar Republic To The End Of Hitler’S Reich (New Haven And London: Yale University Press, 1998), David B. Dennis

David B. Dennis

No abstract provided.

Crying ‘Wolf’? A Review Essay On Recent Wagner Literature, David B. Dennis

David B. Dennis

No abstract provided.

"Honor Your German Masters": The Use And Abuse Of "Classical" Composers In Nazi Propaganda, David B. Dennis

David B. Dennis

No abstract provided.

Review Of Jonathan Petropoulos, Art As Politics In The Third Reich (Chapel Hill: North Carolina U.P., 1996), David B. Dennis

David B. Dennis

No abstract provided.

Culture War: How The Nazi Party Recast Nietzsche, David B. Dennis

David B. Dennis

High culture played an important political role in Hitler’s Germany. References to music, history, philosophy, and art formed a key part of the Nazi strategy to reverse the symptoms of decline perceived after World War I. Allusions to great creators and their works were used as propaganda to remind the Volk to love and worship their nation. In the words of the French scholar Eric Michaud, author of The Cult of Art in Nazi Germany, the Nazis used culture “to make the genius of the race visible to that race.” And to cap off these images of a great national …

Edmunds And Willis Family Papers (Mss 549), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 549. Almost exclusively correspondence of the Edmunds and Willis families of Barren County, Kentucky. The Willis family correspondence (the bulk of the collection) is almost exclusively amongst females, so housekeeping, sewing, fashion, family matters are discussed frequently. Frank Willis, the family patriarch, does discuss farming with his daughters. Many of the letters are addressed to his wife, Laura (Edmunds) Willis, and a majority of those are from her daughters.

The Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society: How Jehovah’S Witnesses Denounced And Resisted The Nazi Regime, Elena Sorchiotti

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The present thesis aims to reveal the stance of the religious organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, towards the oppression and persecution of its members - examined in the accompanying website - perpetrated by the Nazi regime in Germany, from 1933 to 1944. Unlike the majority of Christian denominations, Jehovah’s Witnesses from all around the world took a firm stand against Hitler’s political agenda and against the actions carried out by the Nazi authorities. Through the use of diplomatic means, publication of articles, special campaigns, and letters addressed to government officials, the world headquarters of …

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945 - Letter To (Sc 2926), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2926. “A Letter to Hitler” from “America,” handwritten on letterhead of The Armored Force, Fort Knox, Kentucky. The mocking letter describes in explicit verse what awaits Hitler when U.S. forces arrive in Berlin.

Sinking Into The Dark Abyss: Adolf Hitler’S Final Years,February 1943–April 1945, Joshua Chanin

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

Joshua Chanin is a junior at Austin College in Sherman TX, pursuing a history and political science degree. He hopes to attend graduate school and become a history professor.

The Confessing Church, David Willhite

History Class Publications

In the wake of the rise of Hitler’s National Socialist state a church struggle took over Germany. The “German Christians,” placed by Hitler, under the leadership of Ludwig Muller, fought to blend Christianity with nationalism and political oppression. Muller and the German Christians followed an ideology of Aryan superiority and taught that the Jewish people were sub- human. During the confusion throughout the Protestant church, theologians, pastors, and professors rose up based on their own theology to combat the German Christians. This movement was called the “Confessing Church” and at its peak consisted of about 3000 members. Though the German …

Culture War: How The Nazi Party Recast Nietzsche, David B. Dennis

History: Faculty Publications and Other Works

High culture played an important political role in Hitler’s Germany. References to music, history, philosophy, and art formed a key part of the Nazi strategy to reverse the symptoms of decline perceived after World War I. Allusions to great creators and their works were used as propaganda to remind the Volk to love and worship their nation. In the words of the French scholar Eric Michaud, author of The Cult of Art in Nazi Germany, the Nazis used culture “to make the genius of the race visible to that race.” And to cap off these images of a great …

Carmichael Family Papers (Mss 467), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 467. Correspondence, legal papers, and miscellaneous material from several related families: Standrod, Campbell, and Carmichael. Includes a claim made after the Civil War for compensation for an enslaved man who joined the Union Army (Click on "Additional Files" below).

Framed In Death: The Historical Memory Of Galeazzo Ciano, Paige Y. Durgin

Senior Theses and Projects

My thesis examines the Italian Foreign Minister, Galeazzo Ciano. Using his extensive diaries, which he kept from 1936 to 1942, as the basis of my research, I explore the political weaknesses and failures of fascist Italy that contributed to her collapse.

Mussolini maintained that Italy and Germany shared a common destiny united by the wrongdoings each suffered at the end of World War One. In reality, the Axis alliance was mired in competition and distrust. Although Ciano initially supported the partnership, after a series of events- Hitler’s dismissal of the 1938 Munich Pact, the signing of the Pact of Steel …

The Anglo-American Press And The 'Secret' Rearmament Of Hitler's Germany, 1933 To 1935, Jason Ranke

All Theses

This thesis will examine the Anglo-American press coverage of Germany's secret rearmament between 1933 and 1935, with the aim of pursuing three main objectives:
1. Describe the rearmament process occurring in Germany and how it related to, or influenced, the country's position in international affairs.
2. Investigate the accuracy and objectivity of Anglo-American press coverage of the German rearmament. This goal will be achieved by analyzing and comparing information from several major American and British newspapers and magazines from 1933 to 1935 with data gleaned from the principal secondary sources on Nazi rearmament and foreign policy.
3. Determine how Hitler …

Becoming American: Poland, 1928 To Hot Springs, 2009, Sara Ann Terlecki

Honors Theses

On September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, eliciting a declaration of war from Great Britain and France. The Second World War had begun. Hitler's authority proved detrimental to countless individuals lives. However, amid the chaos and agony felt by some, a few found a certain freedom by Hitler's presence. Edith Krueger Terlecki saw Hitler as a type of savior. This is Edith's story.

World War Ii, 1939-1945 - Relating To (Sc 1819), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1819. Five colorfully illustrated envelopes containing images and slogans related to the United States's involvement in World War II.

Thomas Carlyle, Fascism, And Frederick: From Victorian Prophet To Fascist Ideologue, Jonathon C. Mccollum

Theses and Dissertations

The Victorian Author Thomas Carlyle was in his day a meteoric voice but his popularity and reputation declined significantly due in part to his link to fascism. In the politically polarized era of the Second World War, academics and propagandists dubbed him a fascist or Nazi in both defamation and approval. Fascist scholars pressed Carlyle into service as a progenitor and prophet of their respective totalitarian regimes. Adolf Hitler, in his final days, assuaged his fears of his imminent fall with readings from Carlyle's History of Frederick the Great. This fascist connection to the once esteemed “Sage of Chelsea” marks …

The Creation Of A Worldview., Jamie Bryan Price

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is an analysis of how fin-de-siècle Vienna and its mayor, Karl Lueger, influenced the development of Adolf Hitler’s worldview.

The works of many authors were consulted in conjunction with newspapers and memoirs of the period in order to gain a better understanding of what the environment of the Austrian capital was like in the fin-de-siècle period.

Several of Vienna’s political, social, and artistic facets are analyzed in an attempt to prove that the general atmosphere of the city influenced Adolf Hitler greatly during his formative years. It is concluded that while Adolf Hitler’s Weltanschauung did not completely crystallize until …

"Honor Your German Masters": The Use And Abuse Of "Classical" Composers In Nazi Propaganda, David B. Dennis

History: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Crying ‘Wolf’? A Review Essay On Recent Wagner Literature, David B. Dennis

History: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Review Of Pamela M. Potter, Most German Of The Arts: Musicology And Society From The Weimar Republic To The End Of Hitler’S Reich (New Haven And London: Yale University Press, 1998), David B. Dennis

History: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Review Of Jonathan Petropoulos, Art As Politics In The Third Reich (Chapel Hill: North Carolina U.P., 1996), David B. Dennis

History: Faculty Publications and Other Works

No abstract provided.

Austrian National Socialism And The Anschluss, George R. Bent

Honors Papers

The Anschluss of Austria and the greater German Reich is often pinpointed as the beginning of Nazi Germany's attempt for European Hegemony. With the annexation of Austria came an improved strategic position regarding Czechoslovakia, Yugoslovakia, and Hungary, and would provide Hitler with a springboard from which he could launch his thrust into Eastern Europe. The road toward Anschluss was a difficult one to travel: Germany needed to be wary of the threat from the Western Powers during her quest for a greater German Reich, and also had to consider the Austrian domestic situation as she laid plans for a union. …