Political History Commons^™

Forgotten Mistakes: Crossing The Rhine Gorge, 1945, Michael Duncan

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In the years following World War II, official military records along with news reports and personal accounts of senior military leaders formed a narrative that emphasized American exceptionalism and focused on the success of the United States military. That original narrative became a foundation for foreign policy and military doctrine, and its characterization of the tactical and operational decisions made by American military leaders has remained almost entirely unchallenged. This thesis seeks to reverse that trend by carefully analyzing the tactical and operational aspects of one specific event, the crossing of the Rhine Gorge by the 89th Infantry Division.

The …

Bethlehem Chapel: How A Place Can Be Reinterpreted By Government, Maya Lemaster

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

An important source of legitimacy for all types of government is the creation of or building up of a sense of nationhood for the citizens of the state. This can be achieved in many ways, including through the use of physical nationalist symbols. In my paper, I address this topic by exploring how the Communist government of Czechoslovakia reinterpreted and changed the traditional meaning of the historical Bethlehem Chapel in Prague in order to fit their own ideology. I found that the Communist government emphasized the communal aspects of the Hussite movement and ignored religious associations. My research is primarily …

The Student Researcher 2016 (Title Page, Preface, Table Of Contents), Selena Sanderfer Faculty Advisor

The Student Researcher: A Phi Alpha Theta Publication

No abstract provided.

Rhetoric, Rights, And Pragmatism In The Germanies: Enlightenment Reform In Eighteenth-Century Prussia And Bavaria, Benjamin T. Harris

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project highlights the nature of Enlightenment reform in 18^th-century Germany, particularly in the Kingdom of Prussia and the Electorate of Bavaria under Frederick II and Maximilian III Joseph. Both of these rulers launch similar reforms under the guise of enlightened absolutism and enlightenment rhetoric with very different results, each catering to the specific needs of their respective principalities. Reform is offered along the lines of compulsory education, codification, humanitarian legal reform, and religious toleration, all in the spirit of the Enlightenment. However, when the extent and details of these reforms are examined, it can be demonstrated that …

African Agency In The Rally Of French Equatorial Africa, August-November 1940, Mark Reeves

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

From August to November 1940, the territories of French Equatorial Africa rallied to Charles de Gaulle’s self-proclaimed Free French government in London, rather than the Vichy government set up after the German defeat of France in June. While this episode concerns European actions in European-ruled colonies, African actors pervade the story, especially as soldiers. Africans constituted the indirect audience of all the rallies by living in the territories whose policies were affected. Africans served as actors in the role of soldiers. As soldiers, African actors exhibited agency both in actions taken during operations and by their presence in the colonial …

Promoting Unity Through Propaganda: How The British Government Utilized Posters During The Second World War, Elizabeth Tate Goins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Comprised of four separate countries, the United Kingdom is a state unlike any other. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have distinct identities, which has been a cause for discord throughout British history. However, during the Second World War the Ministry of Information, under the guidance of the Conservative government and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, launched a poster-based propaganda campaign aimed towards unifying the UK under a common national self-identity. By emphasizing shared qualities such as resilience, pragmatism, humor, patriotism and even the concept of unity itself, the Ministry of Information fostered a sense of national self-identity with the …

The Column And Coinage Of C. Duilius: Innovations In Iconography In Large And Small Media In The Middle Republic, Eric Kondratieff

History Faculty Publications

"[From the conclusion]: This discussion presents a linked series of hypotheses, each one suggested in its turn by evidence relating directly to C. Duilius (cos. 260), and contextualized by near-contemporary precedents wherever possible, or relevant-seeming analogues from slightly later periods. Taken together, these hypotheses support a plausible scenario in which the elogium on Duilius’ rostral column may be read not only as an account of a cunning and audacious commander whose pioneering efforts in naval warfare destroyed the myth of Carthaginian supremacy at sea, but also as an encomium on a generous benefactor to Rome’s citizenry. The inscription’s redactor has …

Ua11/1 On Campus, Vol. 1, No. 13, Wku University Relations

WKU Archives Records

On Campus newsletter featuring articles about faculty, staff and events at Western Kentucky University. Regular features are:

• College News
• Sponsored Programs
• Hot off the Press
• Personnel File

This issue includes articles:

• Fifth Women's Studies Conference Opens
• Hardin Planetarium Show Features Sun's Children
• President Thomas Meredith Appointed to Constitutional Improvement Policy Council
• WKU to Begin Reaccreditation Process
• Students Raise $48,715 First Week of Alumni Fund Student Phonathon
• Phillips, Hugh. Russia's Coup; A Historical Perspective
• Esion, Sheila. Jim Wayne Miller's Writing Takes New Shape
• Threads of Compassion: Fabric Art Exhibit by Penny Sisto Opens Tomorrow
• Shuttle May Have Foiled, but Summer Eclipse …

German Foreign Policy & Diplomacy 1890-1906, Lee Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

From 1871 to 1914, Germany experienced its first taste of world power and the failure of controlling and retaining that power. German power after 1871 had sought only a dominance of continental politics and a maintenance of a status quo in Europe favorable to Germany. Following 1890, however, the German course deviated to include a vision of world power. German foreign policy until 1890 was based on two things: hegemonic control of the heart of Europe and the force of will of one man, Otto von Bismarck. Yet despite relative control of the European situation and a cautious and able …

United States-Russian Relations, 1917-1933, Raymond L. Cravens

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

“One should doff one’s cap to the statue of Jupiter, in case he returned to power.” – Lord Byron

Our task in this study is to determine whether the words of Lord Byron are true in the realm of International Power Politics. This is a study of the application of the principle of non-recognition – the refusal of acknowledgement – to Russo-American relations during the period from 1917 to 1933.

The year was 1917, and the Gladiator of Capitalism stood over the prostrate form of Russian Bolshevism and appealed for the decision of “life” or “death” to be meted out …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. Xv, No. 18, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Archives Records

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news. Regular features include:

• Alumni News
• Club Notes
• Music Morsels
• Payoff with Pay
• Personals
• Society
• Tower Light
• Training School

This issue contains articles:

• Prof. Franz Strahm Gives Recital in Chapel
• Eighteen Students Receive Penmanship Certificates
• Howard Robey receives Honor at University of Kentucky
• Haywood Brown Initiated into Phi Delta
• Alumni Association Officers – Carl Cheyney, R.I. Glover
• Western Grad to Practice Surgery in Texas – Buell Lawrence
• Graduate Employed on Tour of West – Houston Gardner
• Music Building Foreman Attended Western – E.R. Baucum
• Harry Spilman Speaks for Manufacturers
• Arndt …

Ua37/23 Whas Broadcast No. 21, Whas, Western Kentucky University, Earl Moore

WKU Archives Records

Script for weekly WKU broadcast on WHAS radio. This show included Earl Moore, Franz Strahm, Frances Richards, Paul Huddleston and June Purdom.

The Origin, Development & Present Status Of County Government In Kentucky, Walton Reynolds

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is the purpose of this study to investigate the origin and development of our present county government and to give the essentials of the present status. It is intended to present a brief outline history of the growth and changes in the administrative organization of the county from the days of the shire and the Norman Invasion of England to the reign of the Stuarts; and then to transplant that form of local government into the forested wastes of James River, and there watch it adapt itself to the frontier environment of a new world. In the process of …