History Commons^™

Casar Public Lecture: The Gaza War: Implications For The United States And Egypt, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Director of CASAR Professor Mark W. Deets, also a current member of the History department of AUC specialist in African Studies acted as moderator for this Event. CASARs two guest panelists in this discussion were visiting scholar Professor David Dumke and Professor Karim Hagag. Dumke is the Executive Director of the Office of Global Perspectives & International Initiatives at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He teaches Middle East history, U.S. foreign policy, and American politics, and “has written extensively on these subjects.” He also is host and executive producer of WUCF-TV’s award-winning Global Perspectives (Public Broadcasting Service). Dumke spent …

Historical Trauma: Literary And Testimonial Responses To Hiroshima, Mariam Ghonim

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of trauma is controversial in literature. While one may be able to come up with ways to describe trauma in fiction, representing historical trauma is a hard task for writers. Some argue that trauma can not be described through those who did not experience it, while others claim that, provided some elements are added, one can represent trauma to the reader. This thesis focuses on twentieth-century historical traumas related to a nuclear catastrophe and explores the different literary and testimonial responses to the catastrophic man-made event of Hiroshima (1945). In this thesis, Kathleen Burkinshaw’s historical fiction The Last …

Utilization Of Propaganda Throughout The Great War: A Revolutionary Experience, Andrew R. Thibaudeau

CAFE Symposium 2023

This project delves into the impact of propaganda on countries and citizens throughout World War I. It shows how the impacts of this bloodless revolution still resonate in society today, and how it has changed the world eternally, especially with the modern usage of the internet.

​​​​From Repression To Appropriation: Soviet Religious Policy And Reform, 1917-1943, Andriy Dyachenko

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyses the dynamics of religious reform in the USSR from 1917 to 1943. It argues that the early Bolshevik policy of persecution was increasingly substituted by state co-optation. This dynamic was shaped primarily by Stalinist concerns with state security and problems of ideology.

The Infinite Crisis: How The American Comic Book Has Been Shaped By War, Winston Andrus

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis project argues that war has been the greatest catalyst for the American comic book medium to become a socio-political change agent within western society. Comic books have become one of the most pervasive influences to global popular culture, with superheroes dominating nearly every popular art form. Yet, the academic world has often ignored the comic book medium as a niche market instead of integrated into the broader discussions on cultural production and conflict studies. This paper intends to bridge the gap between what has been classified as comic book studies and the greater academic world to demonstrate the …

Shock And Awe, Sectarianism, And Violence In Iraq Post-2003, Sarim Al-Rawi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The violence systematically deployed upon the prosperous nation of Iraq in 2003 was directly influenced by the Shock and Awe doctrine set forth by Harlan K. Ullman and James P. Wade in their 1996 book Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance. The experimental methods of warfare and violence outlined in the text describe methods for the systematic destruction of every major aspect of a nation and society, militarily, economically, and socially. In the wake of the US Invasion of Iraq, we saw the direct implementation of these methods by the occupation forces, setting off a brutal cycle of violence that …

Requisitioned: American War Art Of The Second World War, Spenser Carroll-Johnson

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The United States requisitioned artists to assist with military objectives and servicemen requisitioned art as a form of rhetoric. This research reexamines the role of “official artists” and thereby extends its definition to include the multitude of art they produced during the Second World War. The underpinnings of this thesis reside during the economic crises of the 1930s that brought about American emergency relief initiatives for artists under the direction of Holger Cahill and, by extension, Edward Bruce. For the first time in history, the American public engaged with state-sponsored art. Due to a symbiotic relationship that formed between the …

Women Of The War: Female Espionage Agents For The Confederacy, Sarah Stellhorn

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Although historians have frequently examined the role of women on the home front during the Civil War, women who contributed to the cause in more direct ways, such as espionage, are often neglected. An in-depth examination of specific females spying for the Confederacy, such as Rose O’Neal Greenhow and Belle Boyd, proves that their actions, both remarkable and uncharacteristic of women at the time, had a direct impact on the war. A vast network of spies and smugglers existed not only in the southern and border states but also throughout the North, even in Washington D.C. itself. This network was …

Texas, War, And Empire: The American Empire In The Conquest And Annexation Of The Floridas And The American Southwest, Jon A. Welk

The Purdue Historian

Arguments surrounding American Imperialism focus heavily on the 1890s and after, but preceding actions by the United States in the process of continental expansion present an image of imperialism in the first half of the nineteenth century. This paper examines the annexation of Florida, Texas, and the rest of the American Southwest through the lens of Mexican-American relations and international imperial competition to determine whether the United States was exercising an imperial agenda between 1803 and 1848. It then reapplies pre-existing arguments on American imperialism by Frank Ninkovich, Thomas McCormick, Dane Kennedy, and others to the same 1803-1848 timeline as …

Dynamics Of War: Culture, Society, Environment, And Pedagogy, Breanne Jacobsen

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

War is an ever-present feature of human civilization. Nearly all cultures and societies show accounts of human conflict. This portfolio seeks to provide both a multidimensional analysis of war and a means of instructing students to appreciate its significance as a driving force of history using three different components.

The syllabus project provides a long-term view of how the various wars and conflicts came to be and progressed in Western Civilization in the modern era.

The chapter-length paper shows the ravaging effects that war and conflict can have on a physical landscape and the environment in which the conflict takes …

Anime And War, Carol Sun

Honors Papers and Posters

This poster examines the growth and development of anime in Japan in post-World War II Japan, particularly its ability to make audiences question the trajectory of humanity and society and to "critique the society that relies on technology...as a means to prevent or discourage war and conflict".

Mr. Jefferson's Army In Mr. Madison's War: Atrophy, Policy, And Legacy In The War Of 1812, David Alan Martin

Master's Theses

President Thomas Jefferson is a well-known figure, who is not well understood. His military policies are under-examined in the historiography. Yet, he had a tremendous impact on martial development in the Early Republic. Jefferson reshaped the military to suite his pragmatic republican ideals. His militia system expanded while the regulars were disbanded. The Navy was greatly decreased, and the remainder of his military was used for frontier exploration, riverine trade, road development, and other public works. This disrupted the precedent of strong federal military development as set by his predecessors: George Washington and John Adams. His reforms also left the …

A One Percent Chance: Jabotinsky, Bernadotte, And The Iron Wall Doctrine, Andrew Harman

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This thesis is an examination of the long historical processes that have led to the Israel/Palestine conflict to the contemporary period, focusing mostly on the period before Israeli independence and the 1948 war that created the Jewish state. As Zionism emerged at the turn of the twentieth century to combat the antisemitism of Europe, practical and political facets of the movement sought immigration to Palestine, an area occupied by a large population of Arab natives. The answer to how the Zionists would achieve a Jewish state in that region, largely ignoring the indigenous population, fostered disagreements and a split in …

The Meaning Of The Soldier: In The Year Of The Pig And Hearts And Minds, Laura Browder

English Faculty Publications

In the Year of the Pig (1968) and Hearts and Minds (1974)—the first an Academy Award nominee, the second an Academy Award winner—are the two best-known Vietnam War documentaries of their time. They are works that could hardly be more different—one a cool, intellectual take on the origins and then-current state of the war, and the second a highly emotional appeal to end the war. By viewing them together it is possible not only to connect the dots between the contrasting intellectual and filmic traditions from which each emerged, but also to see, through the viewpoints of each film, how …

Faith In War: The American Roots Of Global Conflict, Gregory A. Daddis

History Faculty Articles and Research

War has become a form of secular religion for many Americans in the modern era. Much of our deployment of military power during the last 50 years has rested on a set of absolute beliefs about the overall utility of war. In the process, policymakers and citizens alike maintain an enduring faith that the United States, via its military forces, has the power to transform societies abroad.

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

A Conquering Race: The Birth Of Social Darwinism In Pre-War Germany, Andrew T. Murphree

Andrew T Murphree

Popular opinion suggests that certain political and military leaders throughout history are the primary agents for change in civilization; however, such a conclusion represents a serious oversight regarding the powerful potential of emerging worldviews to dictate epochal moments throughout mankind. Certainly, dynamic figures rise to prominence to lead movements of conservatism, progression, and moderation, but the conduit of ideas serves as the essential catalytic force that ignites and sustains these patterns. The Great War of the twentieth century was a complex global conflict of immense proportions, unlike anything the world had ever known. Historians perhaps express the greatest perplexity in …

Scars Of War, Corinna Martell, Camille Hanna, Brandon Bauer

Student Creative and Scholarly Works

Scars of War: The Psychological and Physical Traumas of War Depicted through Art.

War is shattering, leaving behind gaping wounds in need of healing. Some require bandages, other wounds are psychological and not visible. Both leave a scar. These scars are an inevitable part of the human experience. The psychological and physical ramifications of war exist as long as strife pervades. This collection of works, depicting war from the French Revolution to present day Iraq, illustrates the scarring impact war has on the people and places within its grasp. New technology and art styles have transformed the way we see …

Not Another Cuba: Lyndon Johnson And The Dominican Republic, 1956-66, Andrew T. Murphree

Senior Honors Theses

This Honors Thesis will examine President Lyndon Johnson's foreign policy surrounding America's complex diplomatic relationship with the Dominican Republic throughout the 1960s. Regarded throughout the last few decades as a less dramatic or telegenic study, the Johnson administration's involvement in the Dominican Republic has been largely overlooked and forgotten. In the wake of an emerging third generation of scholarship, historians are now beginning to uncover the intricate entanglement of information and circumstances supporting Johnson's role in establishing the parameters of U.S. Policy.

At the heart of this discussion exists a robust argument currently taking place among scholars who debate the …

Inventing A Foundation Myth: Upper Canada In The War Of 1812, Jeffrey Wasson

Student Works

Using the Canadian Government’s War of 1812 bicentennial commemoration campaign as a springboard this thesis will explore the events and effects of the War of 1812 on Canada by focusing on three of this campaign’s main assertions. These three areas are the Canadian population’s role in the defense of Upper Canada during the conflict, the role of Native Americans in the conflict and its long term effects on them as a group, and finally the War’s effects on the development of Canadian nationalism and nationhood. On these three topic areas this thesis seeks to accomplish three things. First, it will …

Fighting The Great War: Reconsidering The American Soldier Experience, Jennifer D. Keene

History Faculty Articles and Research

Why men fight is a particularly apt question to ask about the American soldier in World War I. Unlike Europeans in 1914, Americans went to war with their eyes wide open. They had already seen the worst of industrial warfare both on the high seas when the 1915 Lusitania sinking illustrated the dangers of ocean travel and on the battlefield when the 1916 battles of the Somme and Verdun left no doubt about the staggering casualties trench warfare engendered. Nonetheless, Americans displayed a certain naive enthusiasm for war in 1917. When American soldiers arrived overseas, French soldiers noted how much …

Art+Politics, Shannon Egan, Jenna L. Birkenshock, Hillary B. Goodall, Tessa M. Sheridan, Josiah B. Adlon, Megan E. Hilands, Emily A. Francisco, Molly E. Reynolds, Shelby P. Glass, Colleen L. Parrish, Francesca S. Debiaso

Schmucker Art Catalogs

For the exhibition Art + Politics, students worked closely with the holdings of Gettysburg College's Special Collections and College Archives to curate an exhibition in Schmucker Art Gallery that engages with issues of public policy, activism, war, propaganda, and other critical socio-political themes. Each of the students worked diligently to contextualize the objects historically, politically, and art-historically. The art and artifacts presented in this exhibition reveal how various political events and social issues have been interpreted through various visual and printed materials, including posters, pins, illustrations, song sheets, as well as a Chinese shoe for bound feet. The students' …

Body Of Lies, Ananda Boardman

Honors Theses

The idea that the government rarely tells the whole truth, and usually only communicates with the general public through propaganda, is not a new one. However, the idea that they now do so using specific terms that call into question the truthfulness of anything and everything is a more modem idea. "Framing" is one of the terms used to describe this new type of propaganda, and it is active in all aspects of communication, from the mainstream media to the White House, and everywhere in between. People use frames when they tell stories to each other, newspapers use frames when …

The Experience Of The 756th Tank Battalion In World War Two: A Microcosm, Scott Millenbach

Senior Theses

December 7, 1941, "a day which will live in infamy," was the moment that the United States was plunged into the largest conflict that the world had ever seen. The sovereignty of the United States was being threatened at two ends of the globe by tyrannical leaders on the continent of Europe and the islands of the Pacific. In the years to come, the U.S. would have to fight to stop the spread of Emperor Hirohito's army in the Pacific and Hitler's Nazi Wermacht in Europe. It would take all the resources our mighty country could muster and the fighting …

Matthew S. Weinert On Back To Peace: Reconciliation And Retribution In The Postwar Period Edited By Aránzazu Usandizaga And Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, In: University Of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp., Matthew S. Weinert

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Back to Peace: Reconciliation and Retribution in the Postwar Period edited by Aránzazu Usandizaga and Andrew Monnickendam. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2007. 320pp.

Law In Times Of War: The Case Of Chechnya, Federico Sperotto

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In October 1999 “the second Chechen war” broke out. In December the Russian federal army started an operation to take control of Grozny. During the confrontation between the Federal forces and the Chechen separatists, serious human rights violations occurred. Several cases concerning violations of fundamental rights, in and around the city, have been brought before the European Court of Human Rights against Russia. The lawsuits concerned in particular physical integrity issues. This study provides some insights on the jurisprudence of the European Court on Human Rights in order to ascertain the adequacy of the mechanism of protection provided by the …

The Killing Machine Of Exception: Sovereignty, Law, And Play In Agamben’S State Of Exception, Puspa Damai

English Faculty Research

Giorgio Agamben’s slender but profound monograph on the state of exception is an intervention into a world that is becoming more and more exceptionalist. The events of 9/11, the War on Terror, and the successive decrees and acts authorizing fingerprinting, interrogation, and indefinite detention of suspects in terrorist activities, all testify to Agamben’s prophetic portrayal of contemporary politics in which the state of exception—normally a provisional attempt to deal with political exigencies— has become a permanent practice or paradigm of government. When the exception becomes the rule, it results, argues Agamben, not only in the appropriation of the legislative or …

Untitled Memorandum, 1932, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of an untitled memorandum by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, likely dating from around 1932. Within, Wilson discusses his view of how America should proceed in European and Eastern affairs while dismissing commonly held misperceptions about foreign policy.

A Wise Senate And A Foolish Diplomacy, Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson

Documents, 1919-1938

A typed copy of an unpublished essay entitled, "A Wise Senate and a Foolish Diplomacy", written by Francis Mairs Huntington-Wilson, dated March 26, 1920. Within, Wilson argues the benefits of the Senate's recent rejection of the Treaty of Versailles and warns against the dangers of foreign entanglements.