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Thinking On A Higher Plane: The Evolution Of A Strategic Mindset In The Navies Of America And Great Britain At The Turn Of The Twentieth Century, Bryan Keith Robbins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation examines how the American and British schools of naval thought matured in the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. Specifically, this is an ideological and institutional comparison of the two navies through the development of higher education for senior officers focused on strategic thinking. These programs helped define the role of naval forces as an element of power projection and influenced the ideology within each navy from a perspective emphasizing command of the sea in support of national interests and objectives. Principal elements discussed are the impact forums like the U. S. Naval Institute and the …

Dr Stuart Cox: Memories Of 5bfts And The Raf During Ww2, Jenifer A. Harding

Documents

Dr Stuart James Cox was born on April 1, 1923, and ‘handed in his logbook’ on October 16, 2016. He was a member of Course 11, 5BFTS at Clewiston from September 25, 1942, to April 8, 1943.

After Clewiston, Stuart was posted to several airfields in the UK, one being Barrow in Furness where he met and married Eithne Forman, a Wren, in August 1944. Their son Robert (Bob) was born in December 1945 and their daughter, Amanda (Mandi), in 1950.

He qualified as a doctor in 1953 and became a GP in Gillingham, Kent, until retiring in 1980.

He …

Thatcherism's Triumph: How Margaret Thatcher’S Neoliberal Policies Brought Prosperity To Britain, Carl J. Demarco Jr.

Student Publications

By 1979, the British economy was in complete and utter disarray. Inflation was at record highs along with unemployment. The post-world war consensus was built off the idea of embedded liberalism, which stressed that the government must play a large and active role in regulating the markets and that it was in the government's interest to keep unemployment at its natural low. Similar to the United States, since the Great Depression the welfare state in Great Britain had been expanding. The post-war consensus proclaimed and exhausted the economic theories of John Maynard Keynes who believed in embedded liberalism and the …

"The Most Glorious War Recorded In The British Annals”: Portugal In British Figurations Of The Peninsular War, Manuela MourãO

English Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

“THE MOST GLORIOUS WAR RECORDED IN THE BRITISH ANNALS,” AS ROBERT Southey described it in the dedication of his History of the Peninsular War,1 the conflict that brought together Portugal, Spain, and Britain against Napoleon’s armies between 1807 and 1814 was a dominant preoccupation of the British public in general, and of the first generation of Romantics in particular.2 Many critics have shown the extent to which the Iberian uprising against the tyranny of Napoleon galvanized the British people, united the British nation, and afforded Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge a renewed opportunity to sympathize with the cause of …

The Great Wave: Margaret Thatcher, The Neo-Liberal Age, And The Transformation Of Modern Britain, John M. Zak

Student Publications

Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1979-1990. During this period she implemented policies that profoundly changed British society, politics, and its economy through neoliberal policies. This work seeks to analyze those policies and its impact on Great Britain. From Thatcher’s economic policies of neoliberalism, social policies toward the unemployed, and her foreign policy of national reinvigoration, this work seeks to provide a panoramic analysis of Thatcher’s premiership and its long term impact on Britain.This work will also seek to argue that Thatcher and her policies were both revolutionary in their thinking and contributed to realigning British political …

Jackson, Carlton Luther, 1933-2014 (Mss 581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 581. Research and manuscripts for books written by Western Kentucky University history professor Carlton Jackson. Includes some personal and professional correspondence, unpublished writing, and a partial memoir. Click on "Additional Files" below to see a listing of correspondents who provided information about the influenza pandemic of 1918. This correspondence is found in Boxes 13 and 14.

A Thirst For Empire: How Tea Shaped The Modern World, Jane T. Merritt

History Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In A Thirst for Empire: How Tea Shaped the Modern World, Erika Rappaport, specialist in British consumer culture, explores the influ- ence of the quintessential English beverage on the rise of mass markets and British identity. Drawing from a variety of research tradi- tions, including recent commodity studies, the author argues that tea was both a product of and a producer of empire. The commercial success of tea created powerful corporate entities with imperial ties, such as the English East India Company and Lipton’s. But, it was the practice of drinking tea that defined and transformed “Britishness.” …

Britain Can Take It: Civil Defense And Chemical Warfare In Great Britain, 1915-1945, Jordan I. Malfoy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that the origins of civil defense are to be found in pre-World War II Britain and that a driving force of this early civil defense scheme was fear of poison gas. Later iterations of civil defense, such as the Cold War system in America, built on already existing regimes that had proven their worth during WWII. This dissertation demonstrates not only that WWII civil defense served as a blueprint for later civil defense schemes, but also that poison gas anxiety served as a particular tool for the implementation and success of civil defense. The dissertation is organized …

Confrontations With Colonialism: Resistance, Revivalism And Reform Under British Rule In Sri Lanka 1796-1920, Vol 1, C. R. De Silva

History Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) In one of the most challenging and thought-provoking history books published in Sri Lanka in the last decade, P. V. J. Jayasekera has used a wide variety of sources to challenge a number of existing interpretations relating to Sri Lanka under British colonial rule in the nineteenth century. While the book is based partly on his own doctoral dissertation completed in 1970, in Jayasekera’s own words “The scope and the foci of the original study have been substantially changed” (p. ix) in view of new theoretical approaches in the study of colonial history and the debates on history …

What Does The Fawkes Say? History And Public Festivity, Scott Culpepper

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"The contemporary popular evaluation of Guy Fawkes is a great example of how iconic historical figures can become completely separated from their real-life inspiration."

Posting about ­­­­­­­­British history from In All Things - an online journal for critical reflection on faith, culture, art, and every ordinary-yet-graced square inch of God’s creation.

https://inallthings.org/what-does-the-fawkes-say-history-and-public-festivity/

Winchel, Beulah Rhea, 1912-2015 (Mss 609), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 609. Correspondence, photographs, travel materials, genealogy, and other personal papers of Beulah R. Winchel, a Breckinridge County, Kentucky, native and a teacher and librarian who served in Japan, Germany and France with the U.S. Army Special Services and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools.

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

Student Publications

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 …

British Appeasement 1936-1939: The Debate Between Parliament And The Public, Kylie D. Johnson

Calvert Undergraduate Research Awards

While it is now clear that appeasement of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler did not prevent another war, there is a historical debate on whether British appeasement policies were shameful, a set of well-intentioned blunders, an attempt at keeping peace internationally, or a strategy to keep domestic resources focused on Britain. Within the debate between historians, lies a debate between the British public and Parliament, and even within Parliament itself. An important factor in the British decision to implement appeasement policy in the 1930s often underemphasized in the literature is the governmental prioritizing of domestic issues and national security over …

The British Conceptualization Of Belgium, 1914, Maci Reed

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The complicated political agendas surrounding the various nations’ decisions to enter World War I have led to an ongoing debate about the war’s actual cause. This research project will investigate the effect that Germany’s invasion of Belgium had on Great Britain’s decision to enter the war. I will use the Hansard transcripts of debates in the British Parliament to investigate the extent to which the defense of Belgian neutrality was involved in the pre-war deliberations. A comparison between the transcripts from 28 June to 3 August and those from 4 August will illustrate the change, if one exists, or the …

Duncan, Kate Northcott (Clagett), 1892-1983 (Mss 520), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 520. Correspondence, diaries, genealogical research, and Browning Club programs of Bowling Green, Kentucky native Kate (Clagett) Duncan. Includes her writings on the history of Bowling Green’s Presbyterian Church and some correspondence and papers of her husband, Carroll Allen Duncan.

Clagett, Marjorie Elizabeth, 1900-2000 (Mss 513), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 513. Correspondence and papers of Marjorie E. Clagett, a WKU faculty member who taught French from 1928-1964. Includes field notes and slides relating to her studies of flora in south central Kentucky, Great Britain and other habitats in the United States, and research materials relating to the history of the French in Kentucky. Includes correspondence, photographs and genealogical data of the Clagett, Northcott, Strange and associated families. Also includes notes (Click on "Additional Files" below) of a Northcott ancestor's encounter with Lost River Cave in Warren County during the Civil War.

Chelf, Frank Leslie, 1907-1982 (Mss 492), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 492. Correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, audiotapes, film and miscellaneous material relating primarily to the political career of Democrat Frank L. Chelf, who represented Kentucky’s Fourth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1944-1966. Includes Chelf’s voting record and bills, research and speeches related to his legislative interests.

Hunter, Hugh B., 1922-2000 (Sc 1281), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1281. Diary kept by Hugh B. Hunter, a native of Jefferson County, Kentucky, during his service as a B-17 bomber pilot, 8th Air Force, during World War II. Stationed in Great Britain, the 8th Air Force conducted air raids into Germany and humanitarian missions into the Netherlands.

Jackson, Marjorie L., 1919-1998 (Sc 2801), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2801. Letter of Marjorie L. Jackson, serving with the Women’s Army Corps at Bowman Field, Louisville, Kentucky, to her fiance Henry J. Heusinkveld, serving on the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa. She comments on the world political situation, hopes for Japan’s surrender, and expresses her love for him. She also encloses an article about Louisiana marshlands located near her home.

Whitfield, Jon A. (Sc 1219), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1219. Letter written by Jon A. Whitfield, Brandenburg, Kentucky, to Connie Foster, Bowling Green, Kentucky, in reaction to an article she prepared for Kentucky Libraries. He related his experiences as a librarian at the American Community School in Cobham, Surrey, England, in 1984.

Kimbrough, Mary Alice (Sexton), 1907-1991 (Mss 159), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 159. Family correspondence, greeting cards, handicrafts, and newspaper clippings of Mary Kimbrough, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Also items from various family members.

Cunningham, Denise Johnson, B. 1964 (Sc 849), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 849. Research paper titled “Delbert J. Curtis, United States Army: Portrait of a Soldier, World War II” written by Denise Johnson Cunningham for a history class at Western Kentucky University, November 1990. Includes description of German prisoner of war camp in Rome, Italy, February 1943-April 1945. Also included is a newspaper clipping of Curtis’s obituary.

Reed, William Langely (Sc 859), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 859. Paper titled “World War II” and written by William Langely Reed for a Western Kentucky University U.S. history class in November 1990 based on an interview with his grandfather, Leslie E. Reed of Hodgenville, Kentucky. Leslie Reed, an army staff sergeant, installed communication systems at air bases in England and Russia.

Stephenson, Lisa Kay (Sc 861), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 861. Paper titled “World War II: A Soldier’s Perspective,” and written by Lisa Kay Stephenson for a Western Kentucky University U.S. history class in November 1990. Based on an interview with Samuel L. Swann of Springfield, Tennessee, the paper describes Swann’s infantry experiences in England and Germany and his injuries.

Wilson, Emma Meadow (Allbritten), 1891-1977 (Sc 753), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 753. Letters, 1962-1976 (24), written by Emma (Allbritten) Wilson, Bowling Green and Hazel, Kentucky, to Betty
Hemming, England; booklet and letter, 1976, written by Betty relating how her family met Mr. Wilson in 1935; letter to Betty written by Mr. Wilson, telling of Emma’s death; correspondence, 1977-1978 (5), between Betty and Pat Hodges, Kentucky Library, concerning the collection.

Atkinson Collection (Sc 715), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan of 19th Century materials (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 715. Copies of letters written by John and Jane Atkinson, Bowling Green, Kentucky, to friends and relatives in England, 1866-1879 (4 items), which contain family news, information about Bowling Green during the Civil War, description of their return trip from England, 1873, correspondence concerning these letters, 1960-1961 (12), and a photograph.

Harding, M. (Mrs. John) (Sc 467), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid, scan and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 467. Letter, 22 June 1838, from Mrs. John Harding, Audley, England, addressed to her father, Mr. Dicken, Hat Manufacturer, Birks Villa (Burkesville), Cumberland County, Kentucky, containing family news, discussion of economic conditions, and preparations being made for the coronation of Queen Victoria.

Thomas, Edison Hugh, B. 1912 (Sc 536), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 536. Typescript copy with holographic corrections of "The Thomas and Bridges Story, 1540-1840" by Edison Hugh Thomas, Louisville, Kentucky. Includes information about the origin of the Thomas and Bridges families.

Gibson, Otis Edward, 1930-1959 (Sc 528), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 528. Letters and postcards from Gibson to his parents, Guy Lyons Gibson and Ruellma (Dowell) Gibson, Hardinsburg, Breckinridge County, Kentucky, while he was stationed in Europe with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. He describes his ocean crossing and relates his impressions of post-war Germany and England.

Robert Kerr And Company - Great Britain (Sc 424), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 424. Business letter from Robert Kerr and Company, Liverpool, England, written on a ledger sheet, and addressed to Harbert A. Powell, Henderson, Kentucky, regarding tobacco shipments. Also, statement of Powell’s account is given.