European History Commons^™

'An Explosive Of Quite Unimaginable Force': Did Werner Heisenberg Obstruct German Atomic Bomb Research?, Aaron G. Noll

Graduate History Conference, UMass Boston

Why was Nazi Germany unable to acquire an atomic bomb during World War II? An answer to this question necessarily involves an analysis of the wartime conduct of Werner Heisenberg. As the undisputed leader of German nuclear research, Heisenberg was integral to the successful production of a bomb. Heisenberg claimed after the war that the Nazis lacked the economic resources for this project. Moreover, Nazi military strategy ruled out such a sustained long-term commitment in armaments development. Heisenberg explained that he personally felt fortunate that these circumstances prevented Hitler from having a bomb. He argued that he merely “pretended” to …

A Case Study Of Melita Maschmann: Women And The Third Reich, Lynda Maureen Willett

Graduate History Conference, UMass Boston

The case study of Melita Maschmann shows that despite the deep manipulation and gender discrimination she was subject to in her youth by National Socialism Maschmann made her own free choices as an adult and chose to zealously absorb its political ideology. The general assumption is that National Socialism, and fascism, were male dominated political ideologies in which women played a passive role, such as that professed by Gertrude Scholtz-Klink. However, many women found National Socialism appealing and became active supporters of its ideals. The purpose of this paper is to explore that appeal and analyze why certain women such …

The Avenger - March 2014, Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum

The Avenger

No abstract provided.

Dolmetscher, Spione Und Mörder: Südtiroler Im Sicherheitsdienst Des Reichsführers Ss In Italien 1943-45, Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Bei Kriegsende 1945 blickte die Welt entsetzt auf das Ausmaß der NS-Verbrechen. Auf die Frage, wie konnte das geschehen und wer war verantwortlich für Völkermord und Krieg, verwies man meist auf eine kleine Clique (größen-) wahnsinniger Führer und ihre fanatische und mörderische SS-Gefolgschaft. Alle anderen - etwa die Angehörigen der Wehrmacht und der Waffen-SS - hatten mit den Verbrechen nichts zu tun, hieß es zumeist. Seit den 1990er Jahren hat sich diese Sichtweise in Deutschland und Österreich deutlich geändert. Das jahrzehntelange Schweigen der deutschen Gesellschaft während des Kalten Krieges bezüglich der NS-Täter wurde durchbrochen. Ausstellungen wie "Verbrechen der Wehrmacht" und …

The Student Researcher Volume 1 (Full Publication), Selena Sanderfer Faculty Advisor

The Student Researcher: A Phi Alpha Theta Publication

No abstract provided.

Estudio Y Edición De Las "Poesías Varias" De José Navarro (1654), Almudena Vidorreta

Graduate Student Publications and Research

José Navarro Bermuz, an Aragonese intellectual who worked for the Italian family of the Ludovisi, was known for his active participation in the literary academies and poetic competitions of his time, and for his collection of Poesías varias. My research entails an in-depth study of the intellectual and political landscape of the second half of the 17th century in which Navarro lived and wrote. My aim was emphasize the significance of his literary production within the context of Spanish Early Modern literature, together with the critical edition of both his Poesías varias, and the Loa para la comedia …

“To Fly Is More Fascinating Than To Read About Flying”: British R.F.C. Memoirs Of The First World War, 1918-1939, Ian A. Isherwood

Civil War Institute Faculty Publications

Literature concerning aerial warfare was a new genre created by the First World War. With manned flight in its infancy, there were no significant novels or memoirs of pilots in combat before 1914. It was apparent to British publishers during the war that the new technology afforded a unique perspective on the battlefield, one that was practically made for an expanding literary marketplace. As such former Royal Flying Corps pilots created a new type of war book, one written by authors self-described as “Knights in the Air”, a literary mythology carefully constructed by pilots and publishers and propagated in the …

Hidden From Memory: Remembrance And Commemoration Of The Sherwood Foresters’ Involvement In Easter, 1916, Amanda S. Kinchen

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the level at which the Sherwood Foresters are commemorated for their service during the Easter Rising of 1916. The Sherwood Foresters, known officially as the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment, were created in 1881 in England after combining the 45^th (Nottinghamshire) and 95^th (Derbyshire) Regiments of Foot and had previously served as part of the guard to the royal family. Four battalions were sent to Dublin to quell the rebellion, yet their efforts go largely unnoticed in the annals of the history of World War I. These men are not considered …

Voices From D-Day, June 6, 1944, Musselman Library

Other Exhibits & Events

Seventy years on from D-Day, we still marvel at the stoic heroism of the men who contributed to the success of what remains the greatest amphibious invasion in the history of warfare. The Normandy campaign would, in one way or another, prove a pivotal moment in the ongoing world war. A disaster in the campaign to liberate France would set back Allied hopes for crushing Nazism in Western Europe. It would also fray the alliance with the Soviet Union that was essential to defeating Hitler’s forces. By contrast, success would mark not just the end of the beginning of the …

Call To Duty: Women And World War I, Jennifer D. Keene

History Faculty Articles and Research

"Watching loved ones depart, uncertain if they would return—this was an experience that women around the world shared during the Great War. The continual scene of women sending men off to fight was troubling; paradoxically, it was also a familiar, traditional ritual that reinforced gender roles within western societies. "

The Secret Weapons Of World War Ii: An Analysis Of Hitler's Chemical Weapons Policy, Reyn Sp Ono

CMC Senior Theses

Very little historical scholarship specifically analyzes or explores the absence of chemical weapons in World War II. This thesis seeks to fill the gaps in the historical narrative by providing insight into the personal and external factors that influenced Hitler’s chemical weapons policy. This thesis also touches upon the wartime violence perpetrated by both the Axis and the Allies, thereby offering a neutral, unbiased historical account. From 1939-1941, Hitler did not deploy chemical weapons because his blitzkrieg of Europe was progressing successfully – chemical warfare was unnecessary. With the failure of Operation Barbarossa from 1942-1943, Armaments Minister Albert Speer oversaw …

Nazi Ideology And The Pursuit Of War Aim: 1941-45, Kenneth Burgess

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine what can be considered a military blunder on the part of the Nazi Germans. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a massive invasion into the Soviet Union and Soviet territories. The political goals of Operation Barbarossa were to seize hold of the expanses of land belonging to the Soviet Union. This would serve as the foundation for increased agricultural production and the enslavement of any remaining Slavic people for the supposed greater good Germany. Additionally, the Nazis desired to erase the presence of all Jews living within the Soviet Union and …

Napoleon's Siege Of Acre: A Reevaluation Of The Historical And Archaeological Record, Morgan L. Breene

Senior Honors Projects

The modern port of Akko, Israel, has been essential to movement and trade in the eastern Mediterranean since the Hellenistic period, and used as a harbor since the Neolithic. Its many incarnations and occupations over the centuries are documented by the cultural material laying on and under the bed of the harbor, and it is an area of great fascination for historians and underwater archaeologists. One particular pivotal event in the modern history of the port, however, continues to beguile researchers.

Napoleon's failed siege of Acre (modern-day Akko), Israel in the spring of 1799 was a turning point in his …

The Avenger - October 2013, Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum

The Avenger

No abstract provided.

Warsaw Uprising Of 1944: A Touchstone In United States And Russian Relations, Jordan Szczygiel

Honors Scholar Theses

On August 1, 1944, when the Armia Krajowa [AK] comprised of Polish partisans, took to the streets against the Germans, the only question in their minds was when Warsaw was going to be liberated. Instead of a quick victory, fighting raged on for sixty-three days ending with the eventual defeat of the AK. Even though the uprising failed to free Warsaw from the grasp of the Nazis, it did become a touchstone in the relationship between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union.

Truth And Memory In Two Works By Marguerite Duras, Rachel Deborah Hunter

Dissertations and Theses

Published in 1985, Marguerite Duras' La Douleur is a collection of six autobiographical and semi-autobiographical short stories written during and just after the German Occupation. Echoing the French national sentiment of the 1970s and 1980s, these stories examine Duras' own capacity for good and evil, for forgetting, repressing, and remembering. The first of these narratives, the eponymous "La douleur," is the only story in the collection to take the form of a diary, and it is this narrative, along with a posthumously published earlier draft of the same text, that will be the focus of this thesis. In both versions, …

An Unexpected Pair: The Nazis And The Environment, Kelsey Eggert

Senior Capstone Theses

Intentionally absent.

Terror Unrealized: German Blunders, American Occupation Strategy, And The Failure Of The Nazi Werwolf Movement, Nicholas Jon Hurley

Honors Scholar Theses

The Nazi Werwolf movement is an often overlooked and forgotten subject during historical examinations of the end of the Second World War, due in large part to the fact that it never fully developed or reached the scale envisioned by its creators. Originally devised to conduct commando-style partisan operations behind Allied lines, the organization's failure can be attributed to a number of factors, both German and American. This work examines the logistical and organizational problems that crippled the movement prior to the end of hostilities in Europe, as well as the American postwar counterinsurgency campaign that wiped out what surviving …

Female Paramilitary Experience In Northern Ireland, Emily Artalejo

Honors Program Theses and Research Projects

"Peace is not what our people fought for. They fought for independence." Declared Bernadette Sands-McKevitt in response to the Provisional Irish Republican Army's acceptance of the Belfast Agreement. A former member of the PIRA, Sands-McKevitt is now an active member of the "Real IRA," a splinter group formed by republicans who were disillusioned by Gerry Adams' acceptance of the Mitchell Principles during the Northern Ireland Peace Process. She is the founder and current Vice Chair Person of the 32-County Sovereignty Committee, a single-issue pressure group designed to eliminate the partitionist articles of the Agreement and unite Northern Ireland with the …

Morale Maintenance In World War Ii Us Army Ground Combat Units : European Theater Of Operations, 1944-45, Kevin Kane

Honors Theses

This paper examines how both the Army as an organization and its small unit leaders attempted to maintain the soldiers’ morale in the European Theater of Operations during World War II. Morale was critical to the Allied victory in the war, yet the morale of frontline GIs was often neglected. This occurred with such frequency that many combat soldiers suffered from a new category of wound known as “combat exhaustion.” Through an examination of what influenced combat soldiers’ morale, a clearer understanding of what the Army did well and how it failed to support combat GIs emerges, as does an …

The Ministry Of Economic Warfare: Anglo-American Relations 1939-1941, Jonathan Davis

Masters Theses

An exploration of Anglo-American relations beginning in the interwar period to American involvement in World War II. This thesis explores the actions of the Ministry of Economic Warfare and how it affected Anglo-American relations before American commitment to the allied cause. It highlights the existing economic contention that existed between Great Britain and America before the conflict and acknowledges that the Britain and American alliance that is enjoyed today was not inevitable or necessarily desired by either nation. It demonstrates through the actions of the British Ministry of Economic Warfare the paradigm shift in Great Britain concerning the preservation of …

The Spirit Of His Men: The Development Of The Lord Nelson Legend, 1805-1905, Alexa M. Price

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

"Il Signor Mengele Di Bolzano": L'Alto Adige Come Via Di Fuga Dei Criminali Nazisti (1945-1951), Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Il tecnico altoatesino Richard Klement, il meccanico bolzanino Helmut Gregor: apparentemente semplici cittadini emigrati in Argentina dopo le devastazioni della seconda guerra mondiale. Ma questi nomi ne celano altri ben più noti: Adolf Eichmann e Josef Mengele. Sono solo due delle migliaia di nazisti che dopo la sconfitta, attraverso l'Alto Adige e il porto di Genova, riuscirono a raggiungere terre più sicure come Spagna, Sudamerica, Medio Oriente. Eichmann e Mengele si erano avvalsi per la loro fuga oltreoceano nel 1950 di documenti rilasciati loro in Alto Adige dopo aver assunto una nuova identità. Perché il prototipo del "burocrate dello sterminio" …

First World War Central Power Prison Camps, Kenneth Steuer

History Faculty Publications

This is an introduction to the First World War Central Power POW Camps photo gallery that is a companion work to Steuer's e-book, Pursuit of an "Unparalleled Opportunity": The American YMCA and Prisoner-of-War Diplomacy among the Central Power Nations during World War I, 1914-1923. The images include a wide range of photographs, drawings, paintings, maps, and other images from Austrian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, German, and Turkish prison camps during the First World War which illustrate the daily life of Allied war prisoners in and outside of prison facilities. The text and database images show the activities in these camps and …

Drugi Potop: The Fall Of The Second Polish Republic, Wesley Kent

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This thesis seeks to examine the factors that resulted in the fall of the Second Polish Republic and track its downward trajectory. Examining the Second Republic, from its creation in 1918 to its loss of recognition in 1945, reveals that its demise began long before German tanks violated Poland’s frontiers on 1 September, 1939. Commencing with the competing ideas of what a Polish state would be and continuing through the political and foreign policy developments of the inter-war years, a pattern begins to emerge -that of the Poles’ search for their place in modern Europe. The lead up to the …

Indivisible And Inseparable: The Austro-Hungarian Army And The Question Of Decline And Fall, Kyle D. Woods

CMC Senior Theses

The title of this work is “Indivisible and Inseparable” the motto of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This motto is just one of many ways in the Austro-Hungarian Empire fought against the centrifugal forces seeking to destroy it. I argue here that the historic theory of decline and fall is misguided as a model for understanding the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and question its usefulness when applied to other nation states and empires as well. I suggest that the Austro-Hungarian military, specifically its condition prior to the First World War, is an ideal lens for exploring the dissolution of the Empire …

Gen Ms 27 Early 20th-Century German Print Collection Finding Aid, Julie Cismoski, Kristin D. Morris

Search the General Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Description:

Printed materials acquired by the donor's father while serving in West Germany during the Cold War. The Collection contains 37 items, books and ephemeral material. Materials deal with German history from the beginning of World War I to the end of World War II. Dates span 1914 to 1983, with the bulk evenly spread between the periods of 1915-1923 and 1934-1942. The collection includes propaganda, war humor, poems, songs, and a film promotional leaflet; stories from German prisoners of war during WWI; and materials related to revolution (following World War I). The two issues of Stern magazine were published …

The Avenger - August-December 2012, Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale Museum

The Avenger

No abstract provided.

Darkness In The City Of Light: The Great Roundup Of 1942 & France’S Role In The Shoah., Benjamin T.C. Mead

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis explores the incident of the Vel d'Hiv Roundup in Paris in July of 1942. It was the largest roundup of Jews in France during WWII, and remains a topic that is still very taboo, but due to books like "Sarah's Key" and rising interest, other nation's roles in the Holocaust are being explored. The author drawing upon three focuses of study-- majors in History, Religious & Theological Studies, and a French minor-- attempts to show how the Holocaust impacted a nation who's national motto is "Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood."

"Sewing A Safety Net: Scarborough's Maritime Community, 1747-1765", Charles Foy

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

From 1747 to 1765 Scarborough created a safety net to keep its maritime dependents from becoming impoverished. A web of kinship connections that permitted sailors to move between land and sea as well as between maritime roles as they aged; the employment of maritime servants; the extensive hiring of elderly seamen; the use of the Seamen’s Sixpence after legislative reform in 1747 to develop locally operated seamen’s hospitals for the benefit of sailors and their families; and strong community support of the hospitals worked together to provide a social safety net that was, by eighteenth century standards, robust and effective.