European History Commons^™

Sloan On Geopolitics, Geography, And Strategy History In Geopolitics, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Geopolitical literature is experiencing a renaissance and scholars representing classical and critical perspectives in this field bring multifaceted assessments to historical and current international political and security issues. Sloan’s Geopolitics, Geography and Strategic History, which is part of Routledge’s Geopolitical Theory Series, examines connections between geography, strategy, and history and is the subject of this review and analysis. Three thesis questions examined by the author include why the geographical scope of political objectives and following strategies of nation states change, how do these changes occur, and over what time period do these changes occur. Sloan examines why the geopolitical theories …

Experiences Of Soviet Women Combatants During World War Ii, Michelle De Jesus Reyes

History Theses

World War II was arguably the most heroic event in the history of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), so much that it was known as the “Great Patriotic War.” Tens of millions of Russians were killed during the large scale conflict against their “fascist foes.” Still, the large population of the USSR were moved to action primarily by mass propaganda distributed by the Communist Party leaders. Women played a large role during the war, not just in the factories on the home front or as partisans, but as combat nurses and snipers as well. Since the losses …

Review Of Dirksen's "Religionsfreiheit In Ungarn. Verfassungspolitik Und -Wirklichkeit Am Beispiel Kleiner Religionsgemeinschaften In Ungarn 1845–1945 Unter Besonderer Berücksichtigung Der Horthy-Zeit" [Freedom Of Religion In Hungary: Constitutional Politics And Reality For Small Churches In Hungary Between 1845-1945, With Special Focus On The Horthy Era], András Máté-Tóth, Péter Tóth

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Review of Dirksen, Annegret. Religionsfreiheit in Ungarn. Verfassungspolitik und -wirklichkeit am Beispiel Kleiner Religionsgemeinschaften in Ungarn 1845–1945 Unter Besonderer Berücksichtigung der Horthy-Zeit. [Freedom of Religion in Hungary: Constitutional Politics and Reality for Small Churches in Hungary between 1845-1945, with Special Focus on the Horthy Era]. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2016. 690pp.

Thirteen Washington University Students And Their Deep Dive Into The Study Of The Holocaust: Reflections From A Trip To Germany, Poland, And Lithuania And A Year Of Intensive Study, Brian Vetruba, Cecily Hibbs, Talia Wazana, Abigail Wippel

WashU Libraries Presentations

This poster exhibit offers reflections and images from Washington University (WU) students, faculty, and staff who traveled across Germany, Poland, and Lithuania in May 2016. The trip took place after a year of intensive study in 2015-2016 as part of the FOCUS program “The History, Memory, and Representation of the Holocaust.” The exhibit encompasses critical perspectives on the history, memory, and representation of the Holocaust alongside students’ first-person reflections. The exhibit is being held at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center from Feb. 2 to Marcy 15, 2017. A video recording of interviews with students and faculty accompanies …

Review Of Muslims And Jews In France. History Of A Conflict By Maud S. Mandel, Bryan Turner

Publications and Research

The mood of European scholarship with respect to the recognition and integration of Islam is typically pessimistic. The rise of anti-immigrant and anti-Islam political parties – Golden Dawn in Greece, the Northern League in Italy, Marine Le Penn and the National Front in France, and the English defense league in Britain – have exposed a hitherto hidden or ignored under-current of resentment against foreigners. In the context of these developments, Maud Mandel’s study of Muslims and Jews in France is a welcome corrective to the dominant focus on anti-Islam in the academic literature and in the popular media. The historical …

The History, Memory, And Representation Of The Holocaust: Reflections On A Yearlong Freshman Seminar And Study Trip, Brian Vetruba, Cecily Hibbs, Talia Wazana, Abigail Wippel, Erin Mcglothlin, Anika Walke

WashU Libraries Presentations

Presented at the Lessons and Legacies conference on Holocaust Studies in November 2016, these posters document a year-long freshman FOCUS seminar held at Washington University in St. Louis in 2015-2016 that aimed to give incoming college students a sophisticated understanding of the causes, dynamics, representation, and memory of the Nazi genocide. Created and co-taught by Anika Walke and Erin McGlothlin, this intensive academic engagement featured two semesters of coursework focusing on the history and the literary and filmic representation of the Holocaust and a twelve-day trip to Germany, Poland and Lithuania. The group visited important Holocaust-related sites to deepen their …

Bethlehem Chapel: How A Place Can Be Reinterpreted By Government, Maya Lemaster

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

An important source of legitimacy for all types of government is the creation of or building up of a sense of nationhood for the citizens of the state. This can be achieved in many ways, including through the use of physical nationalist symbols. In my paper, I address this topic by exploring how the Communist government of Czechoslovakia reinterpreted and changed the traditional meaning of the historical Bethlehem Chapel in Prague in order to fit their own ideology. I found that the Communist government emphasized the communal aspects of the Hussite movement and ignored religious associations. My research is primarily …

Jules Verne Constructs America: From Utopia To Dystopia, Dana L. Radu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In my dissertation, I examine visions of the United States in Jules Verne’s (1828-1905) Voyages extraordinaires (1863-1905). Of the sixty-four novels that make up that series, twenty-three, over one-third, feature American characters or take place on American soil. I demonstrate that in his early novels (1863-1886), he presents the United States in an optimistic and utopian light, while in his later novels (1887-1905), his depictions of the United States take on a pessimistic and dystopian aspect. In also showing that Verne had been influenced by utopian socialists Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837) and Étienne Cabet (1788-1856), I provide …

Bosnia: Doomed To Failure Or A Rising Hope?, Caitlin V. Moore

Politics Honors Papers

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that suffers from a lack of a national identity as it has three main ethnic groups, Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs, who are all fighting for power. After the Bosnian war, which lasted from 1992-1995 and involved genocide that was committed against the Bosniaks, the ethnic divisions were further entrenched. These divisions were not helped by the provisions of the Dayton Peace Accords, which was the peace settlement that brought an end to the war. Dayton created an ethnocracy within Bosnia that places more importance on ethnic groups than national identity. In order to see …

History, Historical Fiction, And Historical Myth: 'The German Doctor' By Lucía Puenzo, Nathan W. Cody

Student Publications

The escape of thousands of war criminals to Argentina and throughout South America in the aftermath of World War II is a historical subject that has been clouded with mystery and conspiracy. Lucía Puenzo's film, The German Doctor, utilizes this historical enigma as a backdrop for historical fiction by imagining a family's encounter with Josef Mengele, the notorious SS doctor from Auschwitz who escaped to South America in 1949 under a false identity. While Puenzo sought to tell a story within a historical context, the film still has important historical commentaries. Ultimately, The German Doctor demonstrates the intersections of history, …

Battle For The People: Ideological Conflict Between Soviet Partisans, The German Military, And Ukrainian Nationalists In Nazi-Occupied Ukraine, David L. Heim

Student Publications

Soviet historiography discusses the People’s War during the Second World War, the idea that all of the Soviet people rallied to the cause and fought off the Nazi invaders, but this is far from the truth. Within the western borderlands of the Soviet Union multiple conflicting groups fought for control of and support from the people. This was especially true in Ukraine where the German Army, Soviet Partisans and Ukrainian nationalists all fought ‘for the people’ and for their own ideologies. This paper is an attempt to discuss the ideological conflict between the Nazis, the Soviets, and the Ukrainian nationalists, …

A Coercive Courtship: German Awareness Of And Responses To The Sudeten Germans, 1929-1934, Jesse E. Siegel

Student Publications

Following the end of World War I and the creation of the first Czechoslovak Republic, the Sudeten Germans sought to raise the awareness of Germans in Germany and Austria of their situation under Czechoslovak rule. In the period between 1929 and 1934, the public discourse in Germany altered, as Nazi control began to direct further concentration on the Sudeten Germans, away from broader discussion of their minority status to a German nationalistic perspective. The Nazis, however, were both manipulative and ambivalent in their awareness of the Sudeten Germans, treating them as an extension of the Nazi Party while also beyond …

Do You Hear The People Sing?: Populist Discourse In The French Revolution, Rebecca Dudley

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

The rallying cry of the French Revolutionaries was "Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!" (liberty, equality, fraternity), and the French Revolution, a pivotal moment in French, European, and world history, has been consistently considered one of the first and most significant nationalist movements. Research and literature thus far on discourse in this revolution have focused on nationalism Qenkins 1990; Hayward 1991; O'Brien 1988), along with the discourses of violence and terror that led to the graphic revolution (Ozouf 1984; Leoussi 2001). The presence of nationalist discourse and nationalist sentiment in the French Revolution is undeniable, but there are other elements potentially missing from …

Europe’S Refugee Crisis: Assessing The Factors Preventing A Coordinated Eu Response, Ali Albassam

Master's Theses

In order to escape increasing political violence in the Middle East and Africa, many refugees are fleeing by sea to seek asylum in Europe. As a result, Europe has witnessed the highest influx of refugees since World War Two. European Union member states have scrambled for a solution, seemingly unable to form a collective response. The reemergence of nationalism amid the arrival of thousands of refugees not only clouds Europe’s moral compass, but also weakens the EU and its founding principles. In an effort to contribute to the protection of refugees and the EU and its values, this thesis aims …

Volkswagen And Volkswagen: The Concept, The Car And The Company In Four Germanies And The United States, Stuart Treavor Bailey

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the changing cultural meanings that the Volkswagen took in Germany in an attempt to understand the cultural exchange between the United States and Germany. In sum, it establishes that the car takes a distinct cultural form in the two countries governed by unique and particular historical developments. Over the last decade researchers working with car cultures have realized the long standing error of taking American values associated with the car as a normative marker of global car cultures, yet no one has suggested a working methodology to ensure that non-normative meanings are captured in analysis. I suggest …

The Cold War: Over, Renewed, Or Never Ended?, Matt Phipps

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Cold War has been studied repeatedly since the war supposedly ended in 1991. However recent events are starting to cause some concern and make many question whether or not the Cold War actually ended, if it took a different shape or perhaps has just been on pause. I argue that the Cold War has been a conflict that has been going on since 1947 and although the conflict has looked differently in recent decades the conflict was never properly put to an end. The research analyzes US decision making with respect to Russian and Asian relations over the last …

The Decision To Invade: Stalin In 1950, Elliot Estebo

Ex-Patt Magazine

Examining the past and recently discovered Soviet-Era documents to determine how Stalin came to the decision to invade.

Seato Stumbles: The Failure Of The Nato Model In The Third World, Louis T. Gentilucci

Student Publications

NATO as an alliance has stood the test of time since the early post-war years. Yet similar alliances such as SEATO passed into history long ago. The problem with the NATO model of alliance was its inability to be applied to the Third World. The particular circumstances of Southeast Asia prevented SEATO from becoming a true successor to the NATO alliance system. In addition, the approach of Eisenhower and his administration to Southeast Asia and anti-communist alliances was undermined by their own political needs and personal experiences. Southeast Asia was fit into the mold of the post-war period and the …

Driving Away: A Macro And Micro View Of The Prague Car Transit System, Danny Meyers

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The purpose of the this study is to understand the rise in auto traffic in the city center of Prague since the Velvet Revolution and to use this understanding to make my own recommendations for policies I believe the city should enact to limit traffic in the macro and micro scale. The theoretical framework was created through observations of three specific streets and through interviews with urban planning experts. Although there are many different strategies for calming down traffic in Prague, the most important are to execute long term planning and to focus on limiting the numbers of cars in …

Swenson Center Report, Dr. Christopher Strunk

Swenson Center Faculty Research Stipend Reports

As a migration scholar, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to spend a week this summer conducting research in the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center. During my three years at Augustana, my students and I have explored urban development and recent patterns of immigrant and refugee settlement in the Quad Cities. In places like the Floreciente neighborhood of Moline, located about a mile from Augustana’s campus on the west side of the city, the Mexican and Mexican American community is transforming a landscape that had already been influenced by a much earlier wave of migration from Sweden.

Creating Knowledge, Volume 8, 2015

Creating Knowledge

Dear reader,

I am delighted to introduce this eighth volume of Creating Knowledge: The LAS Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. This volume features 19 essays and 14 art works, representing advanced coursework produced in twenty different departments and programs during the 2014-2015 academic year. Several of the essays have been honored with department awards and several draw on research supported by undergraduate research grants. Many were originally written in senior capstone seminars, research-intensive seminars, and independent studies, and many were presented in some form at one of the numerous conferences and showcases sponsored by departments and programs throughout the year. All …

Interrogating The "Collapse" Of The Roman Empire: Historiography And Instruction, Jon Pesner

History - Master of Arts in Teaching

No abstract provided.

“El No Murio, El Se Multiplico!” Hugo Chávez : The Leadership And The Legacy On Race, Cynthia Ann Mckinney

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

“Chávez, Chávez, Chávez: Chávez no murio, se multiplico!” was the chant outside the National Assembly building after several days of mourning the death of the first President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. This study investigates the leadership of Hugo Chávez and his legacy on race as seen through the eyes and experiences of selected interviewees and his legacy on race. The interviewees were selected based on familiarity with the person and policies of the leadership of Hugo Chávez and his legacy on race. Unfortunately, not much has been written about this aspect of Hugo Chávez despite the myriad attempts …

Navy, Russian (1991-), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a historical overview and analysis of events affecting the Russian Navy from 1991-present. Emphasizes how this force still has mammoth strategic ambitions despite limited resources and an obsolete infrastructure. Stresses the ongoing presence of nuclear weapons, the increasing importance of the Northern Sea Route in Russian and international trade and strategy, and how U.S. and NATO countries budget constraints may make it hard for them to resist Russian assertiveness in areas such as Ukraine.

State Defense Council, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides an overview and analysis of the Russian Federation's State Defense Council which was Russia's equivalent to the U.S. National Security Council for a few years after 1996.

Strategic Rocket Forces, Soviet, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Describes and analyzes the historic development and evolution of the Soviet Union's Strategic Rocket Forces which were a key part of this country's nuclear weapons arsenal. Covers the technical, political, economic, and military reasons for this force's development. U.S. efforts to monitor and assess the quantity and quality of these weapons are also covered.

Yom Kippur War (October 6-25, 1973), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Reviews and analyses U.S. and Soviet policymaking during the Yom Kippur War between Israel and various Arab countries during October 1973.

Atomic Weapons Program, Soviet, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a history of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation's nuclear weapons program. It emphasizes the role of espionage in acquiring this capability, personalities such as Igor Kurchatov and Andrei Sakharov, this arsenal's multifaceted capabilities, arms control treaties with the U.S., the Nunn-Lugar Agreement, the environmental damage caused by this program, and the continuing role of nuclear weapons in Russian national security.

Army, Russian (1991-), Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Provides a history of the Russian Army from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 until the "annexation" of Crimea in 2014. Places emphasis on this force's strengths and weaknesses, military operations during this period, and emerging security challenges.

Heroes Of Berlin Wall Struggle, William D. Bowman

History Faculty Publications

When the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, on Nov. 9, 1989, symbolically signaling the end of the Cold War, it was no surprise that many credited President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for bringing it down.

But the true heroes behind the fall of the Berlin Wall are those Eastern Europeans whose protests and political pressure started chipping away at the wall years before. East German citizens from a variety of political backgrounds and occupations risked their freedom in protests against communist policies and one-party rule in what they called the "peaceful revolution." [excerpt]