History Commons^™

European Jazz: A Comparative Investigation Into The Reception And Impact Of Jazz In Interwar Paris And The Weimar Republic, Douglas A. Kowalewski

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Both Paris and the Weimar Republic were fascinated with American jazz in the interwar period. Because of jazz's connection to African American culture, this fascination is linked with the themes of identity and race relations. This work will demonstrate that interwar Parisians were not always receptive of African Americans that played jazz, and that the citizens of the Weimar Republic were more aware of and interested in the African American culture that permeated jazz in the 1920s and 30s.

Saving Grace On Feathered Wings: Homing Pigeons In The First World War, Brandon R. Katzung Hokanson

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Soldiers of the First World War came in all shapes and sizes. The humble homing pigeon is one of the more unique and critical examples of such. They served in the armed forces of both the Allies and the Central Powers. Used as a last-ditch form of communication, the homing pigeons were exceptional in the work of sending messages back and forth between the battle lines. Little has been written about their vital role and even less in the rigorous training the birds and their handlers both endured. Understanding their training is critical to understanding how the homing pigeons performed …

Through The Eyes Of Children: Social Oppression Under Nazi Rule From 1933 To 1938 Reflections Of Three Holocaust Survivors, Lauren Ashley Bradford

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

This paper discusses the experiences of three Berlin native child survivors of the Holocaust through analysis of their oral testimonies. Their unique voices help shed light on the various ways in which lives were forever changed for those who were legally identified as Jewish in Nazi Germany by way of social oppression. This paper highlights three key years that each survivor discussed at length in their testimonies: Hitler’s Chancellorship in 1933, the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, and Kristallnacht in 1938. Ultimately, this paper argues for the importance of these years and labels them as being a crucial part in the …

The Nazi Fiscal Cliff: Unsustainable Financial Practices Before World War Ii, Parker Abt

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The Nazis inherited a weak economy, withered by the Great Depression and periods of hyperinflation, when they took power in 1933. Over the next six years, primarily through a military buildup, the Nazi economy grew like none other in the world. This paper traces the methods the Nazis used to finance this economic rebound. Through an analysis of secret government documents, Nuremburg witness statements, and the latest scholarly research, this paper posits that the methods used to finance the economy were unsustainable. Further, it finds that by September 1939, the economy was in a state of dangerous disarray.

A Different Way Of Touring Europe; One Aid Man's Journey Across Europe During World War Ii, Abigail M. Currier

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Robert Bell Bradley enlisted in the United States Army in October of 1942 as an aid man. He spent several months training to be a first responder on the front lines of combat and learning how to deal with a variety of issues. He was then attached to the 30^th Infantry Division and sent to England in preparation for operation OVERLORD and the D-Day Invasion. Two months later, he was captured by the Germans and this event began a year long journey filled with death and near misses. [1] While Bradley’s experiences cannot speak for all prisoner of war …

Creating A Statesman: The Early Life Of Prince Clemens Von Metternich And Its Effect On His Political Philosophy, Ryan M. Nadeau

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

As one of the most prolific and influential statesmen of the nineteenth century, Prince Clemens von Metternich is a man whose politics, policies, and political philosophy has received a good amount of attention from historians. Owing to the focus on his career rather than his personal story, the details of his early life have often gone unanalyzed in the context of his later views, despite the formative influence of these years on his political philosophy. An upbringing culturally influenced by France, an education focused on natural sciences and history, and a first-hand experience with the worst side of the French …

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2016

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

Gettysburg Historical Journal 2015

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

No abstract provided.

“Of The Ruin And Conquest Of Britain”: The Anglo-Saxon Transformation Of The British Isles, Bryan G. Caswell

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The history of Britain after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire has traditionally been perceived as one of invasion and domination at the hands of Germanic peoples most commonly known as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Though this is the narrative presented by medieval authors, current archaeology suggests that the settlement of Germanic peoples in Britain was peaceful and characterized by cohabitation and acculturation. Further examination and contextualization of the most nearly-contemporary sources reveal discrepancies of chronology and causation which indicate that medieval authors constructed their accounts based not upon an understanding of any Anglo-Saxon invasion but rather upon …

Learning The Fighting Game: Black Americans And The First World War, S. Marianne Johnson

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The experience of African American veterans of the First World War is most often cast through the bloody lens of the Red Summer of 1919, when racial violence and lynchings reached record highs across the nation as black veterans returned from the global conflict to find Jim Crow justice firmly entrenched in a white supremacist nation. This narrative casts black veterans in a deeply ironic light, a lost generation even more cruelly mistreated than the larger mythological Lost Generation of the Great War. This narrative, however, badly abuses hindsight and clouds larger issues of black activism and organization during and …

Strange Bedfellows : The Rise Of The Military Religious Orders In The Twelfth Century, Sarah E. Hayes

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Most people would not describe Christian monks as militaristic. However, there are instances in history when Christians have strayed from their basic pacifist beliefs in the name of defending their religion. The most famous example of this would be the Military Orders of the medieval Crusades, when full scale war was encouraged by the Catholic Church in order to protect the Holy Land. These militant monks formed a new breed of religious organization where brothers were soldiers willing die defending Christianity against the infidel. Although the Order of the Temple, or the Templars, was the most infamous of the Orders, …

“La Bretagne Aux Bretons?” : Cultural Revival And Redefinition Of Brittany In Post-1945 France, Gabriella L. Hornbeck

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

A sense of national identity in France is something that has been defined and redefined throughout the twentieth century. With a history that includes two world wars, the creation of the European Union, in addition the the notable action of decolonization on the part of France, particularly in Indo-China and Algeria, there have been evident increases in immigration into France in recent history. These actions have forced France, as a nation, to question what its identity really is, particularly in terms of its cultural identity. In addition to these immigrants who may arrive from former French colonies, however, there are …

Europe’S Little Tiger?: Reassessing Economic Transition In Slovakia Under The Mečiar Government 1993-1998, David A. Wemer

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Vladimir Mečiar, the first Prime Minister of independent Slovakia, is often criticized for his suppression of free media, political repression, and the widespread corruption of his government from 1993-1998. Mečiar has also been attacked for his economic policies, which critics suggest slowed down privatization and left Slovakia in a huge debt crisis. A closer look at macroeconomic data, however, demonstrates an impressive economic record for Mečiar, who oversaw several years of strong GDP growth, and relatively low levels of unemployment and inflation. By slowing down the privatization process, retaining control of key industries, and maintaining the social safety net, Mečiar …

The Bbc And The Shaping Of British Identity From 1922 To 1945, Mallory Huard

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

There are few institutions in British history that have had such a massive role in shaping the daily lives of British citizens as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Although the BBC is only about eighty years old, an infant compared to an institution like the British monarchy, its contributions to national identity are practically unparalleled in the twentieth century. The scope of the Corporation in terms of its influence on British life is hard to imagine in a United States with multiple competing and politically-aimed networks. Robin Aitkin, a former BBC reporter and journalist says, “For many it is an …

Credibility And Incredulity: A Critique Of Bartolomé De Las Casas‘S A Short Account Of The Destruction Of The Indies, Alexander Allen

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

A fierce advocate for the indigenous people of the New World, Bartolomé de Las Casas sought to promote awareness and enact legal change. Born in 1484, Las Casas grew up as exploration of the New World began. After embarking on several voyages to the New World, he saw firsthand the injustices committed against the natives. Years later, following a religious conversion, he began elucidating the actions of the Christians in an effort to draw awareness to the Indians plagued by the Spanish presence and to compel the Spanish Crown to take action in order to maintain its religious legitimacy in …

Sweet Tooth For Empire: Sugar And The British Atlantic World, Colin Walfield

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

With increasing productivity and rising standards of living, a new spirit of consumerism reached Britain. After its entry into the Atlantic World economy, though Scotland never fully benefited until the 1707 Act of Union, all classes eventually gained access to a wide variety and exotic assortment of consumer products. Among them, sugar, valued for its sweetness since the Middle Ages, maintained a special position, dominating all exports from British America. Embraced by the British populace, sugar provided an impetus for colonization and required imported African labor. Sugar and a newfound consumerism at home drove the British Atlantic World.

'Since This Is A Horrible Thing To Think About': European Perceptions Of Native American Cannibalism, Evan C. Rothera

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Contemporary Italian playwright Dario Fo wrote a satirical play entitled Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas which purported to be the account of one Johan Padan, a contemporary of Columbus, who journeyed to the New World, was shipwrecked, and rescued by some friendly Indians. At one point, Padan and a group of his fellows discussed the hospitality of the Indians, who were quite generous. One of them expressed the fear that the Indians simply care for them so that they will make a splendid feast. Another man remarked, quite scathingly, “This is the third voyage I’ve made to …

"You Must All Be Interned": Identity Among Internees In Great Britain During World War Ii, Elizabeth A. Atkins

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Between 1933 and 1940, the United States, Great Britain and most other developed nations saw an influx of German refugees entering their borders attempting to be free of the tyranny of Hitler’s National Socialism. Many of those fleeing from Germany were intellectuals: authors, teachers, artists, or thinkers who faced persecution in their homeland. For the men, women, and children who chose the British Isles as their new home, Great Britain symbolized hope for a life free from persecution. By 1941, however, many refugees from Germany found themselves arrested and put into camps, not by the Nazis, but by their protectors, …

An Ideological War Of 'Blood And Soil' And Its Effect On The Agricultural Propaganda And Policy Of The Nazi Party, 1929-1939, Keith R. Swaney

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

“One then builds a whole system of thought on such a brief, crisply formulated idea. The idea does not remain limited to this single statement; rather it is applied to every aspect of daily life and becomes the guide for all human activity. It becomes a worldview.” Dr. Joseph Goebbels spoke those words on January 9, 1928 to an audience of party members at the “Hochschule fuer Politik,” a series of talks that investigated the role of propaganda in the National Socialist movement. A few months prior to this event, voters had elected a farmer, Werner Willikens, in the South …

The "Powerful", Molly Kay Gale

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

History is written by the powerful. It is true that since the 1960s and the beginnings of the democratization of history, less powerful minorities have taken up the pen and more profusely expressed their views of history, but to a great extent, white males have engrained their view of history into people’s minds. Perhaps for this reason, perhaps because of its appealing nature, or perhaps for both reasons, the Renaissance stands out in people’s minds as a definitive period in history—a period during which, arguably, intellectual and cultural progress swept across Europe.

The driving force behind much of the intellectual …

The Failure Of Maternal Domesticity: An Evaluation Of Frankenstein As A Didactic Source, Keith R. Swaney

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Is man inherently good or evil? Nineteenth century Romantics, inspired by the doctrine of Jean Jacques Rousseau, hypothesized that man is a product of his or her environment. Middle class society imputed the mother as the gateway by which a child learns to become a model human being. This theory held that mothers nurture their offspring naturally. Children learn proper morals and social conduct based upon a female-inspired education. Without this domestic influence on their lives, children fall into the trap of an “eye for an eye” ideology. The monster that Mary Shelley conceives in Frankenstein defies the domestic conception …

And Then There Was One: How The Ruling Styles Of Elizabeth I And Mary, Queen Of Scots Affected The Outcomes Of Their Reigns, Anushia Sivendran

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

In the mid-1500s, England was reeling from its first experience under the rule of a female queen. Mary Tudor had proved to be a ruthless Catholic, a monarch who took every opportunity to persecute Protestants, yet in all other realms of politics, was ineffective. Near the end of her reign, England was torn by religious strife and suffered from a huge government debt.1 England was not to be alleviated of female rule even after Mary died in 1558, as she named her half-sister Elizabeth to succeed her. Not long after, Mary Stuart, the daughter of a French princess, and the …