European History Commons^™

Bloody Sunday: Death & Press, Joseph Gaffney

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is a historical paper on Bloody Sunday, a day of violence in Dublin during the Irish War for Independence on November 21, 1920, analyzing primary and secondary sources centered on the subject to answer specific historiographical research questions. The primary objective of this research project is to understand the immediate social and political ramifications of Bloody Sunday in Ireland and England as reflected in the spread of information via the written press. The goal of the written analysis will be to answer a series of historical research questions. How were both the IRA’s killings and the subsequent reprisal …

Leo Schelbert Prize

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The Leo Schelbert Prize is awarded to the best submitted undergraduate or graduate research paper. The topic can be on anything that relates to the mission of the Swiss American Historical Society, which focuses on increasing an understanding of Swiss and/or Swiss-American history.

New President’S Report, Fred Gillespie

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Dear Members of the Swiss American Historical Society,

This is my second stint as president of the SAHS. During my first term, I was asked how I became president. I facetiously replied they couldn’t find anybody who wanted the job. I believe my performance while hardly perfect was acceptable since I am back. I hope not to repeat my mistakes.

Translating "La Parola Ebreo": Rosetta Loy And A Child's-Eye View Of Italian Fascism, Amelia Muniz

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis is a translation of an excerpt from the 1997 memoir of Italian author Rosetta Loy, La Parola Ebreo, and an accompanying paper which explains my translation process, gives historical context and provides an argument for the continued relevance of the text. La Parola Ebreo recounts Loy’s memories of growing up in Rome, Italy, under Benito Mussolini’s Fascist rule. This translation is not meant to be an official English version of the memoir, as it is only a short excerpt, and was not done in collaboration with Loy’s estate or publishers. Instead, it is intended to bring attention to …

From Schleswig To Anschluss: The Plebiscites And Referendums Of Interwar Germany, Matthew J. Rocha

Honors Theses

This paper aims to bridge the gap between the plebiscites following the First World War and the referendums of the Third Reich. To this point, the literatures on these sets of votes have remained completely separate. No scholars have considered the NSDAP’s votes in the context of the postwar votes. By comparing and contrasting these groups of plebiscites for the first time, this paper will shed light on the democratic backsliding of interwar Germany.

This paper argues that when planning their referendums, the leaders of the Third Reich had the immediate postwar plebiscites in mind and were, in some cases, …

Merchants Of Blood And Gunpowder: The English Arms Trade In West Africa, Jaime K. Schneider

Honors Theses

The period between 1500 and 1650 saw the development of a transoceanic trade network, multiple European colonial empires in the Americas, and rapid developments in firearms technology. Combined, these factors laid the groundwork for two interrelated phenomena, the transatlantic slave trade, and the emergence of a global trade in arms. Examining the documents of the Royal African Company and assembling a broad selection of secondary sources, this paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate over the role of slavery in the development of modern capitalism. This paper argues that the transatlantic slave trade was vital for the development of …

Jewish Presence In The Venetian Empire: A Challenge To Venetian Mythology, Avery Rosensweig

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to explain the significance of Jewish presence in the Venetian Empire in the context of the myth of Venice. Jews were officially permitted to settle in Venice in 1516, but their connection with the Venetian Empire goes further back. Jews were important for the success of the Venetian Empire, particularly from the sixteenth century onward. The permanent settlement of the Jews in Venice directly impacted the very ideology of the Venetian Empire.

Although the phrase "myth of Venice" was developed by twentieth-century historians, Venetians perpetuated the myth and wove its ideals into the foundation of the Venetian …

Front Matter

The Bridge

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Full Issue

The Bridge

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Review; Danish Tutor. Grammar And Vocabulary Workbook, Nete Schmidt

The Bridge

In “How to Use this Book,” the introduction to their new Danish textbook Danish Tutor, authors Anne Grydehøj and Jesper Hansen, both of whom are experienced Danish instructors at University College London, describe their audience:

If you have studied Danish before but would like to brush up on or improve your grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing skills, this is the book for you. The Danish Tutor is a grammar workbook which contains a comprehensive grammar syllabus from advanced beginner to upper intermediate and combines grammar and vocabulary presentations with over 200 practice exercises. (xvii)

They go on to clarify …

Review; Cooking Danish: A Taste Of Denmark, David Hendee, Polly Hendee

The Bridge

More than three decades after arriving in America, Danish immigrant and chef Stig Hansen published his first and only cookbook. Cooking Danish: A Taste of Denmark was the self-proclaimed Viking Chef’s gift to his family, his adopted countrymen, and all who love cooking and eating Danish foods. Although out of print since its 2007 publication, after selling out an initial print run of 10,000 copies, the award-winning, English-language cookbook is a staple of many Danish American kitchens. It remains available through the secondhand market.

Review; Laughter And Civility: The Theater Of Emma Gad, Susan Brantly

The Bridge

When Emma Gad is remembered in Denmark today, it is as the Danish version of Miss Manners, due to her book Takt og Tone: Hvordan vi omgaas (Tact and Tone: How We Act in Society, 1918), which is apparently still in print. However, as University of Texas, Austin professor Lynn Wilkinson so ably illustrates, Emma Gad was much more than that. Gad was a highly successful playwright and cultural mediator in the Copenhagen of Edvard and Georg Brandes. Wilkinson’s book offers a comprehensive look at the life and work of this important Danish woman playwright and seeks to reinstate Gad …

Prairie Roots Run Deep: A Geologically Grounded History Of Elk Horn, Iowa, Warren Watson

The Bridge

Clay Township is located in the southeast corner of Shelby County, Iowa. It is made up of thirty-six one-mile square sections. The top tier of sections one through six are somewhat larger due to a surveying correction. It was one of the last townships in Shelby County to be settled. The first settlers were drawn to the northeast corner of Shelby County in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Once a Dane got a foothold in Clay Township in the 1860s, the area became populated quickly. It was eventually settled by the largest contingent of Danes in America. This is …

Jutland Goes Global (But Not Haywire): An Autobiographical View Of Danish Business Culture, Poul Houe

The Bridge

This essay—or review article, if you will—continues where my presentation at the October 2013 DAHS Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, left off.1 Much like its precursor, the present text is about innovation originating from Thy (and other regions of Jutland), but unlike the earlier piece, which dealt with three innovators ranging from the early to late nineteenth century and from spiritual to material domains of culture, the following discussion will be about more recent achievements by one individual in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Moreover, the window on Danish culture at large—its spiritual dimension and Danishness not least—that …

Dannebrog On The Prairie: The Development Of Danishness In The Elk Horn–Kimballton Area Of Iowa, Lise Just

The Bridge

My father’s family comes from a small Danish farming community in Als parish in Jutland, where it was customary for young people to marry the sons and daughters of neighboring farmers. It was a closed community, largely because of a policy known as adscription (restricting peasants to the estate of their birth) that did not allow able-bodied men to leave the parish. This policy was in place for most of the eighteenth century, but in 1788, adscription was abolished. In the same period, the population in Denmark was increasing rapidly, due to, among other things, better hygiene and lower child …

Six Objects From Sned: Remembering The Past On Jens Jensen’S Childhood Farm, J.R. Christianson

The Bridge

When Jens Jensen was growing up in Denmark, the past was never very far away. Sometimes it was way too close, like the day one of the great events of Danish history happened right there on their family farm. Jens was only three years old, but it was not something one would forget, even at his age. The day was April 18, 1864, when one of the fiercest battles in Danish history was fought on the hillside where their farm lay. Needless to say, it tore the place apart.

Fostering Communist Elites: Cold War Czechoslovakia's Foreign Student Program, Emily Hackett

Slavic Studies Honors Papers

During the Cold War, educational policy became a strategic and consequential avenue of soft power. Countries on both sides of the East-West divide developed travel and study exchanges to cultivate relationships with other countries, and to prepare future generations for work in an increasingly internationalized world. Despite supporting a fear of foreigners and isolating people from travel outside of the Communist bloc, the Soviet Union sponsored select students from other countries to study in its institutions of higher education.

This thesis aims to provide insight into the structure and events of the Czechoslovak foreign student program with the Soviet Union …

Weltpolitik Und Weltkrieg: Second International Socialism And Imperialism (1907-1914), Luke P. Taylor

Honors Theses and Capstones

The outbreak of World War I tore apart the Second Socialist International (1889-1914) as the forces of nationalism overcame international solidarity. By 1917, the global socialist movement was split between reformist social democracy and revolutionary communism. Before this dramatic schism, tensions between a reformist right, a radical left, and a moderate center defined the contours of social democratic politics. Contemporary to the Second International, imperialism and competition between the great powers represented a global crisis that exploded into a worldwide conflict. While not initially responsible for the schisms that tore apart the Second International, debates over imperialism reflected, reconfigured, and …

Preliminary Report Of The Hasp 2022 Field Season: Geophysics, Coring, And Excavations At Neðri-Ás, Kálfsstaðir, Hlíð, Hrafnhóll, Hvammur, Reykir, And Víðines, In Hjaltadalur With An Appendix By Magnús Á. Sigurgeirsson, Guðný Zoëga, John M. Steinberg

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

This report outlines the 2022 work at Neðri Ás, Kálfsstaðir, Hlíð (formally called both Hrappsstaðir and Hrafnsstaðir), Hrafnhóll, Hvammur, Reykir, and Víðines (including Grófarstekkur) in Hjaltadal as part of the Hjaltadalur Archaeological Survey Project (HASP). This is the second year of a scheduled three-year project. The purpose of the project is to outline the settlement sequence and regional development in Hólar and around Hjaltadal and compare them with similar studies that have been carried out in Skagafjörður. The eight farms investigated in 2022 all seem to have been established well before the Hekla 1104 (H1104) tephra fell. Neðri Ás, Kálfsstaðir, …

Still Sticking To The Big Brother: History, German Protestantism, And The Ukrainian War, Katharina Kunter

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

It has often been revealed, in the great historical upheavals of contemporary history, that a quick, situational ad-hoc assessment and reaction is not the strength of German Protestantism. This was the case after the collapse of Imperial Germany (Kaiserreich) and the sovereign church regiment (Landesherrliches Kirchenregiment; summus episcopus) in 1918, as well as after the end of the Second World War, when German Protestantism was long at odds with democracy and Adenauer's ties to the West.4 The Peaceful Revolution in the GDR in 1989 (during the civic uprisings of 1989/90 in the other Central European countries) also surprised the leaders …