History Commons^™

A Grim End For Europe's First Civilization: The Fall Of Minoan Crete, Ashley Arp

Honors Theses

Early popular theories about the collapse of the Minoan civilization center around natural disasters, but geoarchaeological research from the past few decades has disproved these earlier theories. It is evident that the Minoan civilization continued to thrive for around a century after the volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami that had previously been credited as the cause for the collapse. Evidence of manmade destruction has been uncovered across the island of Crete c. 1450 BCE and this period was quickly followed by a drastic cultural shift that included more Mycenaean elements than had been found on the island previously. These destructions, …

The Third Horseman: Preventability Versus Apocalypse In The Great Famine Of 1315 And The Irish Potato Famine, Luke Ziegler

Honors Theses

Famine is a huge problem for societies, even in the modern world. Throughout history, famine has reared its ugly head and brought about demographic and societal collapse. The Great Famine of 1315 Famine and the Irish Potato Famine, despite their differences, had similar underlying factors of land management and overpopulation paired with an environmental catalyst, and also show that governmental response has the potential to both cause and prevent a famine, but only if the scale of the problem is limited. They both examine the question of national identity and create a multitude of debates in later historiography. Although these …

Socialist Legality On Trial: The Purge Of The Ukrainian Nkvd, 1938-1943, Reide Petty

Honors Theses

In the winter of 1938, Grigorii Iufa was put on trial in a Soviet court for the violation of socialist legality, a charge alleging that he had manipulated Soviet legal processes and undermined the rule of law during his work. Prior to his arrest, Iufa had worked in the Moldavian division of the NKVD, the Soviet Union’s state security agency. In that capacity, he had played a significant role in the Great Terror, which was a highly concentrated campaign of mass violence conducted by the Soviet Union between 1937-1938 against perceived enemies among its own citizenry. This campaign primarily consisted …

Die Deutsche Nationalversammlung Und Weimar: On The Creation Of Democracy In Weimar Germany, Jason Wendling

Honors Theses

This paper is a historical analysis of the creation of the Weimar Republic, as well as a political analysis of the Weimar Republic’s constitution. In reviewing both Weimar’s history as well as the constitution, I hope to inspire learners to look back to the Weimar Republic, and not focus primarily on the failures that led to the rise of the Nazi Regime, but rather celebrate the successes that the drafters of the constitution were able to achieve. I review the history of the 1918 November Revolution, the history and party programs of the three important parties of the Weimar Republic, …

Maybe The Real Prize Was The Connections They Built Along The Way: A Legal Analysis Of The Role Of Privateering In The Creation Of The Trans-Imperial Greater Caribbean, Daniel Hall

Honors Theses

While study of the eighteenth-century Caribbean has traditionally focused on the stark separation between the European empires of the region, this thesis seeks to reveal privateering’s role as an important force in creating what has come to be referred to as the trans-imperial or trans-national Caribbean. This will be based in an analysis of the legal structure of British privateering as a means of both drawing attention to the practice’s intrinsically legalistic nature as well as highlighting the fact that this regional creation was a result of colonists working within imperial guidelines as much as it was an act of …

Keep Calm And Carry On: Uncovering The True Blitz Spirit, Lauren Niedergeses

Honors Theses

First shown by Britain’s civilian population during the Blitz, this Blitz Spirit is widely understood today as a heroic display of courage, cheerfulness, unity, and the ability to “keep calm and carry on” in the face of danger and discomfort. Drawing from radio broadcasts, photographs, propaganda posters and films, and the wartime morale reports of Mass-Observation, I seek to uncover the true Blitz Spirit and how it became an integral – if somewhat mythicized – element of Britain’s modern identity. First, I explore the emergence of the Blitz Spirit during World War II, identifying gaps between reality and propagandistic myth. …

Crisis And Catalonia: An Analysis On The Impact Of Crisis On The Public Opinion Of The Secessionist Movement In Catalonia, Rachel Ducker

Honors Theses

Catalonia, the autonomous region of Spain has seen an increase in secessionist sentiments in recent years. While the past inclination toward independence has been centered on economic autonomy and cultural identity, there has been a recent emphasis on political independence, particularly in the times of crisis. In this thesis. I analyze the relationship between the economic changes during the period of a crisis and the public opinion about the potential Catalan secession. Specifically, it investigates the relationships between the economic change and public sentiment during the financial crisis of 2008, the political crisis of 2017, and the pandemic crisis of …

Terrorists Or Freedom Fighters : An Analysis Of The Irish Republican Army In Northern Ireland With Respect To The Idea Of Just War, Allison Jean Fritz

Honors Theses

For more than two decades, Northern Ireland has suffered the high social cost of a violent political conflict. Debates over the nature of this conflict have been wide-ranging, but the dominant view is that the conflict is criminal rather than political in nature. This view holds that the violence is widespread terrorism, with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) seen as the chief protagonist. But while this view is dominant, it is not ubiquitous. It is held neither by those who challenge the foundations of the Northern Irish state nor by those communities which are tolerant if not supportive of those …

A Historical Analysis Of The Causes Of The French And Indian War, Jake Althouse

Honors Theses

The current study attempted to answer the following research question: what were the causes of the French and Indian War between Great Britain and France in 1754? To do so, the current study researched secondary sources from a historical perspective, political theories regarding the causes of war, and primary sources from individuals involved in the build-up to conflict. Previous research by historians and political scientists have mainly attributed the causes of the French and Indian War to a security dilemma and the spiral theory of war. The current study does not support this assertion. Instead, the current study asserts that …

Cartel Practices And Policies In The World War Ii Era, Caleb Yoken

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to examine cartels in the World War II era: how and why they operated, why they existed, and any assistance they may or may not have received from their respective governments. This thesis, in particular, will focus on three countries, the United States, Germany, and Britain. Cartels are typically defined through the lens of monopolized business activity that can deal with anything from petroleum and steel to pharmaceuticals, and take actions to restrict output and raise prices to eliminate their competition. The research finds that cartels that operated in Europe during this era were …

Englands Happie Queene: Female Rulers In Early English History, Emily Benes

Honors Theses

This paper examines the historical records and later literature surrounding three early mythic and historical British queens: Albina, mythic founder of Albion; Cordelia, pre-Roman queen regnant in British legend; and Boudica, the British leader of a first-century CE rebellion against the Romans. My work focuses on who these queens were, what powers they were given, and the mythos around them. I examine when they appear in the historical record and when their stories are expanded upon, and how those stories were influenced by the political culture of England through the early seventeenth century. In particular, I examine English attitudes toward …

The Downfall Of Chivalry: Tudor Disregard For Medieval Courtly Literature, Jessica G. Downie

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I have examined the notion of the gradual demise of chivalric ideals throughout the late-Middle Ages and culminating in the sixteenth century, analyzing how and why the developments of the sixteenth century both enabled and required the English monarchy and the aristocracy to redefine social identities and values, public responsibilities, political duties, and national and religious power. This thesis addresses why the Tudor monarchs appear to have disregarded the examples of chivalric behavior championed by late-medieval writers like Sir Thomas Malory and Jean Froissart, and instead, relied on new works of literature that were more relevant forms …

Future And Past Anxieties : A Look At The Origins Of The British Welfare State Through Wwii, Emily Maanum

Honors Theses

The scope of this project focuses particularly on how members of Parliament and the media, specifically newspapers, understood the establishment of the welfare state. My use of the term “Britons” reflects political rhetoric used by MPs to illustrate unity within the public sphere and to shape the terms of debate. Their instrumentalist rhetoric was meant to unify the community, stop fascism and honor citizens. It is important to study the political rhetoric because these discussions within Parliament led to social policies and the eventual establishment of a welfare system. How MPs started early debates affected the structure of later debates …

Britain's Failed Attempt At Fascism : The British Union Of Fascists, Years 1933-1934, Katherine L. Collier

Honors Theses

This honors thesis examines how and why Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists (BUF) tried to present itself as a viable political entity to mainstream British society in the years 1933- 1934. Though the BUF admired Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Italy and Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, this thesis argues that they sought to create their own distinctly British version of these Fascist movements. The BUF promised that Britain would again thrive, but only under strong fascist leadership which would provide an economic restructuring of government and a cohesive society, free from selfish individualism, decadence, and foreigners. The BUF promised to …

Les Femmes Mythiques: Ce Que Ces Symboles Révèlent De La Société Française Et Les Valeurs De La France, Rachel Mayer

Honors Theses

In history, women have always played traditional roles and - in general - submitted. However, there are women who are developing symbolic and powerful images in French society. These women have a mythical and symbolic quality. But what do they symbolize? Every woman who resonates with French society plays another important role: to unveil the dimensions of French values ​​that they represent in French society. Moreover, the way they have established their roles and places in culture unveils the status of women across the story. We can examine mythical and symbolic women of different ages to understand the role of …

The Lithuanian-Polish Dispute And The Great Powers, 1918-1923, Peter Ernest Baltutis

Honors Theses

In the wake of World War I, Europe was a political nightmare. Although the Armistice of 1918 effectively ended the Great War, peace in Eastern Europe was far from assured. The sudden, unexpected end of the war,combined with the growing threat of communist revolution throughout Europe created an unsettling atmosphere during the interwar period.The Great Powers-the victorious Allied forces of France, Great Britain, Italy, and the United States-met at Paris to reconstruct Europe. In particular, the Great Powers had numerous territorial questions to resolve. One of the most fascinating territorial struggles concerned the city of Vilnius (Vilna in Russian, Vilna …

Sturdy Rogues And Wanton Wenches : Response To Vagrancy And Development Of The Tudor Poor Laws, 1530-1597, Sonia T. Banerji

Honors Theses

Tudor England experienced crisis levels of poverty and unemployment which manifested in the form of widespread vagrancy during the sixteenth century. From 1530 to 1597 the central government, often with inspiration from local initiatives, enacted a series of laws which attempted to address the causes of the problems as perceived by the public, in an effort to quell popular fears and anxieties regarding vagrancy.

The focus of this paper is on the response of Tudor society to the problems of poverty and vagrancy. It studies the statutory distinctions drawn between various states of poverty and how these differences disposed society …

The Sacheverell Affair : Its Causes And Implications, Robert A. Kester

Honors Theses

The Sacheverell Affair of 1709-10 is a much overlooked event in English history. It was not significant in itself, being a rather trivial incident, but was significant for its far-reaching implications, in terms of its impact on both the political situation in Britain and diplomacy on the continent.

Henry Parker's Doctrine Of The Consent Of The Governed /, Barbara Cahoon

Honors Theses

The role of Parliament in England's history has been one of interest to historians for centuries. The background and origin of a rule based on the people's consent has been attributed to many people in England's past. I hope to show that one of the first men who developed this theory of government which was later taken up by Locke and other philosophers was Henry Parker. The people choosing their types of government and laws was a new idea that few had voiced. Parker writing in the 1640's saw the tendency of government evolving to Parliamentary sovereignty, not monarchy.

I …

The Establishment Of The Baptists In England In The Early Part Of The Seventeenth Century, Eugenia Henderson

Honors Theses

In 1558 with the accession of a Protestant Queen on the throne, England had the appearance of religious freedom. Around 1559 Dutch and Flemish dissenters emigrated to England bringing with them Baptist beliefs. Elizabeth's religious policy, however, was not one of toleration. Not being a religious zealot, she desired a workable religious situation. As a result the Elizabethan Settlement was a compromise and came to mean no religious liberty but no inquisition. In 1559 Elizabeth became Supreme Governor of the Anglican Church in the Act of Supremacy. The Act of Uniformity passed in the same year forced the people to …