Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Plague, The Poor, And The Problem Of Medicine, Celina Muñoz

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

In 1665, the city of London did not bustle with its usual activity. Streets were uncharacteristically vacant of its citizens, the unholy plague on the minds of all. “But Lord, how empty the streets are, and melancholy,” citizen Samuel Pepys observed.1 London residents were locked behind hundreds of shut doors, hastily detailing death records or helplessly succumbing to the plague themselves. Some declared that the disease could affect anybody, yet informed readers that it originated in poor regions of the city. Others preached religious calls to action, claiming that sins had caused God to place the plague upon them. It …

Vienna In The Age Of Uncertainty: Science, Liberalism, And Private Life - Book Review, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

Liberal parties fared poorly in the politics of late Habsburg Austria, yet Deborah Coen argues that nineteenth-century Austro-German liberalism should be imagined in a context larger than lost elections. We must recognize liberalism’s importance in the realms of sensibility, lifestyle, science, pedagogy, and leisure. In refreshing ways, Coen’s book revises the half-truths of Carl Schorske’s picture of Austrian liberalism as a father’s credo overwhelmed after 1880 by rebellious oedipal sons, anti-Semitism, and aesthetic modernisms. Although acknowledging elitist and utopian aspects of the liberal ethos, Coen depicts liberal strategies for navigating pre-1914 change with pronounced sympathy and claims that liberalism was …

Survival First: The Role Of Switzerland In The Second World War, Tommy Lingbloom

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The storied survival of Switzerland in the face of fascism during the Second World War has long been an inspiring topic to historians. But with the reemergence of issues surrounding Swiss banking and economic practices during the war, the question of how a nation with an overwhelming ethnic German population surrounded by the Axis Powers could maintain its independence has become highly contentious. Oftentimes the most simplistic of explanations are offered to explain this paradox, but these analyses are very one-sided and tend to overlook the broad scope of strategy employed by the Swiss to guarantee their continued autonomy. The …

Protestant Dissent In Nazi Germany: The Confessing Church Struggle With Hitler's Government, Jenisa Story

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves ... Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."

This passage in Romans highlights the struggle many have faced over the centuries regarding the relationship between church and state. While most Christians believe that God has …

Creating A High School European History Class, Brien Mcguire

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This class shall cover the course of European history from the rise of the Greek Empire up to the most recent clashes in the Balkans. In all, we will cover about 3000 years of history in 180 days. During the first quarter of the year, we will explore ancient Europe during the time of the Greeks and Romans. The second quarter will take us through the darkness of the Middle Ages. Semester number two begins with a study of early modem Europe, including the Renaissance and Reformation all the way up to the start of the French Revolution. Finally, during …

Madjaristan: The Ottomans In Hungary 1520-1686, Matthew Pearsall

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Europe has traditionally been viewed in terms of conflict. History books are full of accounts of the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans and of Constantinople, as well as the conquest of Hungary and the ensuing conflict with the Habsburg Empire, which would stretch into the twentieth century. When the topic turns to questions outside the realm of warfare, however, things become murkier. While the many wars—as well as the occasional bout of peace—between the Ottomans and the West are focused on in detail, the role of the Ottomans in Europe outside of war …

From Habsburg To Hitler To Haider: The Peculiarities Of Austrian History, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

In broad overview, the defining feature of Austrian history since 1866 has been dramatic and - since 1918 - sometimes wrenching change.* A greater contrast between the country's serene, touristic image and the real historical experiences of its people can scarcely be imagined. Other regions - Poland, the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union - endured, to be sure, greater human extremes and far greater total misery in our century. Sadly, the plight of these nations often occurred at the hands of Austrian-bred officials and soldiers, from Hitler, Eichmann, Globocnik, and Kaltenbrunner on down.' Yet if other countries suffered more, …

The ''Long Shadow'' Of The State: Austrian Social History In The 20th Century, 1890-1990 - German - Book Review, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

Ernst Hanisch's new survey of Austrian Zeitgeschichte is one of the first volumes to appear in Ueberreuter Verlag's projected ten volume history of Austria from ancient times to the present, edited by Herwig Wolfram. If the other contributions equal this work in quality, the series will be a brilliant success. Hanisch's book will be a touchstone for all future efforts to synthesize and extract meaning from Austria's turbulent twentieth century experience.

Franchisement And Election In Vienna 1848 – 1932 – Book Review, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

This volume, conceived as one of several commentaries on the Historischer Atlas von Wien (appearing in installments since 1981), is a careful survey of franchise laws, voting procedures, and election results for the city of Vienna from the beginnings of popular politics in 1848 to the establishment of the Dollfuss dictatorship.

Austro-German Liberalism And The Modern Liberal Tradition, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

In a widely-cited essay on turn-of-the century Vienna, Carl Schorske alludes to the"dissolution of the classical liberal view of man in the crucible of Austria's modern politics .... [and] the emergence of psychological man from the wreckage of the old culture."' The theme of liberal decline has provided Schorske with the backdrop for several important articles on late nineteenth century Austria, and a number of interesting monographs. Relatively few historical studies, however, address the subject of Austrian liberalism per se, and those which do are mostly broad surveys.

Fin-De-Siecle Vienna: Politics And Culture – Book Review, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

For the past two decades, Carl Schorske has been one of the most interesting writers in the field of late nineteenth-century Austrian history. The appearance of this handsomely illustrated collection of his essays - most of which originally appeared in historical journals - provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature of his contribution. The book consists of seven studies on topics ranging from the Ringstrafienstil in urban planning to Kokoschka's expressionism and Schoenberg's musical explorations. The finest, entitled "Politics in a New Key," is an examination of the irrational "sharper key" in political rhetoric and deportment which arose in …

Grasping Toward Austria: The Anschluss - Book Review, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

The 1970s were an interesting and significant decade for the historiography of contemporary Austria. Among Austrian scholars, the tradition of Koalitionsgeschichtsschreihung, a reflection of the political and bureaucratic system Proporz which reigned in the 1950s and 1960s, began to break down. With the triumph of Social Democracy under Bruno Kreisky, fewer historians especially those of the "left" were willing to continue sharing in the orderly division of responsibility for the recent past. Moreover, some of the controversy aroused in Germany by Fritz Fischer's work began to invigorate Austrian historical studies. Both in Austria and abroad, historians became less inclined to …

Hermann Neubacher And Austrian Anschluss Movement, 1918-40, Harry Ritter

History Faculty and Staff Publications

The Anschluss problem was one of the most vexing legacies of nineteenth-century nationalism and the peace settlement of 1919. Seen in broad perspective, the Anschluss movement belongs to the final chapter in the history ofthe idea o Grossdeutschland, a dream born in 1848 and shared after 1867 by German-Austrians of the most varied cultural backgrounds and political opinions. Support for Ger? man union intensified following the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918, but was frustrated by the restrictions placed upon union by the treaties of Versailles and Saint-Germain. After 1919 sympathy for Anschluss transcended party lines in the infant …