European History Commons^™

Remembering Carlo Ferarai: Life, Community, And Death In Industrial London, William W. Wilder

Masters Theses, 2020-current

During the 19^th century English medical schools relied on resurrection men to provide dead bodies for anatomical dissection. While resurrection men typically took bodies from graveyards, there were also those who committed murder in order to sell the bodies of their victims. Carlo Ferarai, an unhoused immigrant child, was the victim of just such a murder, and his death contributed to many legal and social changes which have been studied by historians. This paper recontextualizes Carlo’s death by exploring his life as a social history. Using court transcripts, newspapers, and other sources, alongside insights drawn from urban history, and …

Ritual And Revolution: Rethinking Roman Women’S Influence On Religion, Katlin Smith

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis challenges the long-standing portrayal of Roman women as passive figures. Focusing on the mid-to-late Roman Republic and early Empire (264 B.C.E.–180 C.E.), it argues that women were active participants in Roman society, particularly through their engagement in religious life. Drawing on the theory of “lived religion,” this study highlights how religion offered Roman women opportunity to interact with both domestic and public spheres in socially acceptable means. Religion allowed women to exercise influence, power, and autonomy otherwise denied to them in political or legal contexts. Through a combination of textual analysis and material evidence, such as inscriptions and …

Downfall Of Lockheed’S F-104 Starfighter: How The Rush Of Cold War Re-Armament And An Aviation Industry In Crisis Led To One Of The Bundeswehr’S First Scandals, Theresa Hilz

Madison Historical Review

The "Starfighter Crisis," one of the Bundeswehr's earliest and most notorious scandals, highlights the complexities of Cold War military rearmament and the pitfalls of rapid decision-making in the face of geopolitical pressures. This paper examines West Germany's acquisition of the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter in 1958, a move driven by the need to bolster NATO's nuclear capabilities and strengthen political and economic ties with the United States. The F-104, while a marvel of aviation technology with its record-breaking speed and altitude, proved disastrous for the German Air Force due to its high accident rate, earning it nicknames like "widow maker" and …

Iron In The New World’S Veins: Government, Ironworks, And Community In The Massachusetts Bay Colony, Abigail Adam

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The Massachusetts Bay Company conceived of a colonial iron industry as early as 1628; two years before its leaders migrated to the New World. The colony’s founders continued their efforts to establish a functioning iron industry in subsequent decades. With the General Court’s support, John Winthrop Jr. engaged in business with the London-based Company of Undertakers to make the iron industry a reality. Nevertheless, previous scholarship has neglected the iron industry’s place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s establishment. Yet surviving court records and correspondence indicates that these two bodies are inseparable. Indeed, the General Court used the ironworks to materially …

The Ubiquitous Path To War: A British Perspective On Their Relationship With The Spanish Empire From 1734-1739, Giuseppe Gerardo Vitale

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The British Empire was still relatively in its infancy throughout the 1730s and far from the global superpower it would later become, mostly due to it being the most recent of the major European imperial powers to begin colonizing the America’s. However, their long-standing feud with the Spanish carried over across the Atlantic, and the two heavyweights were embattled in a series of diplomatic struggles in the mid to late 1730s, resulting in an outbreak of war at the tail end of the decade, known as the War of Jenkin’s Ear. While most of the historiography surrounding this period in …

The Dissemination Of Learned Discourse To Common People In Pre-Modern Europe: A Finding List Of Themes Discussed In Standard Sermon Collections (Postils), John Frymire

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

The Dissemination of Learned Discourse to Common People in Pre-Modern Europe: A Finding List of Themes Discussed in Standard Sermon Collections (Postils)

Slides On Thomas More's Warning To Readers, Travis Curtright

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Slides on Thomas More's Warning to Readers, from A Treatise on the Passion (1534)

Hands-On Activity: Learning About Literacy In The Early Modern World, Andrea Wenz

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Lesson plan activity for use in an introductory course on the Reformation or Pre- Modern/Early Modern Europe.

Student Handout: Early Modern Readers And Thomas More’S Treatise On The Passion, Travis Curtright

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Lesson Plan and Handout for Thomas More's Warning to Readers, from his Treatise on the Passion

Premodern British Literature And The History Of The Book, Travis Knapp

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Book history syllabus for university literature course

Psalm Reception History Assignment, For Early British Literature Survey Or Studies In Renaissance Literature Courses, Daniel Knapper

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Psalm Reception History Assignment, For Early British Literature Survey or Studies in Renaissance Literature courses

The Bible As Book, Allison Brown

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

teaching unit, book history course

The Afterlife Of Ludolph Of Saxony's Vita Christi, Emily Ransom

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Spreadsheet of printed editions of Ludolph of Saxony's Vita Christi down to 1660.

Special Topics In European Women’S History Women And The Book, 1200-1900, Katherine Goodwin

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

book history oriented syllabus

Towards A Revised Taxonomy Of Markings In 16th-Century English Bibles, Jeremy Specland

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

overview of hand-written annotations in early printed English Bibles

Early Modern Chronicle Readers: Authority And Discourse, Shaun Stiemsma

Printing and the Book During the Reformation: 1450-1650, an NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers

Report of research findings on early readers of 16th century English chronicles.

The Conquest Of Milk: The Rise Of Lactase Persistence And The Fall Of Scandinavian Hunter-Gatherers, Nicholas Mays

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Over half of the global human population suffers from lactase nonpersistence, a condition marked by losing the ability to digest lactose after infancy. However, a minority of the global population, primarily located in Central and Northern Europe, has a genetic mutation that results in lactase persistence, which is the continued ability to process lactose after infancy. This interdisciplinary analysis blends archaeology, cultural anthropology, evolutionary biology, and archaeogenetics to explore the origin and rise of lactase persistence in Europe and its contribution to the end of hunter-gatherer societies in Scandinavia. Furthermore, the paper uses gene-culture coevolutionary theory to argue that lactase …

To The Shores Of Tripoli: A Barbary Retrospective, Kathleen J. Brett

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The First and Second Barbary Wars were incredibly influential in shaping the diplomatic and military tactics of the early United States. These wars were fought against the Barbary states of Tripoli, Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers, located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. The First Barbary War lasted between the years of 1801 to 1805. The First Barbary War began due to the United States’ desire to no longer pay tribute sums to the Barbary states, along with an increase in the number American merchantmen captured and enslaved by the Barbary states. Tripoli served as the primary aggressor in the …

A Distinction Without A Difference: Vietnam, Sir Robert Thompson, And The Policing Failures Of Vietnam, Mark J. Rothermel

Madison Historical Review

The scholarship analyzing the failure of the American involvement in Vietnam began even before the war finished. Whether the Orthodox School which considered the war unwinnable or the revisionist which argued there was a path to victory for the Americans, there have been libraries of tomes arguing who or what was to blame for the American defeat. An increased amount of scholarship recently has been written regarding the influence of British officer Sir Robert Thompson and his attempt to advise both the South Vietnamese and American war efforts.

Thompson, who gained fame as one of the key leaders for the …

Die Kunst Des Betrugs: An Analysis Of National Socialist Propaganda, Nicholas Strasser

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Modern propaganda is often associated with oppressive authoritarian regimes in the 20^th century. This project seeks to compare Nazi propaganda in the years leading up to 1933 with propaganda following the Nazi ascension to power but before the drive to war. These differences were significant and meaningful enough to warrant closer examination. This comparison seeks to determine how the Nazis altered their propaganda once they ascended to power in 1933, specifically analyzing what the Nazis emphasized and retained from before 1933 once they no longer had to compete with other parties but instead had to consolidate power. For the …

From Complaisance To Collaboration: Analyzing Citizens’ Motives Near Concentration And Extermination Camps During The Holocaust, Jordan Green

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

The role of local peoples near concentration camps, extermination camps, and mass shooting sites in Europe during World War II is a widely unexplored area of the Holocaust. Although locals both knew of these sites and their purposes, many chose to be complaisant while others collaborated with the Nazi regime. Therefore, non-persecuted Germans and occupied peoples near the camps played a substantial role in the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. These civilians’ actions, or lack thereof, in response to the crimes against humanity before their eyes were driven by three main factors: economic gain, antisemitism, and fear. Regardless of motive, …

How Dumbledore Saved Europe: A Comparison Of Fascist Rhetoric In European History And In The Harry Potter Franchises, Emma Pederson, Natalie Rice

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

In recent years, the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise has seen a resurgence with the release of the first two Fantastic Beasts films and accompanying screenplays. As parallels have been drawn between Voldemort’s Death Eaters and Nazis, it is time to examine the relationship between Gellert Grindelwald and real-life fascists. Through such a comparison, we can see common rhetoric in both real and fictional fascism.

Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore have not only a Nazi-like goal of racial purity, but employ Nazi-like language to defend themselves. Related fascist rhetoric is woven throughout other European history, particularly in the dialogues …

Blood, Meth, And Tears: The Super Soldiers Of World War Ii, Nicholas Racine

MAD-RUSH Undergraduate Research Conference

Day and night, soldiers in World War II were physically and mentally strained by fatigue and psychiatric distress. Consequently, many soldiers were left exhausted and demoralized. War efforts hinged on soldiers succeeding in missions, thus a fast-acting solution was needed. Development of the psychostimulant drugs Benzedrine and Pervitin in the 1920s and 30s spurred enthusiasm among scientists, the media, the public, and various governments. Potent and powerful, these drugs exert effects that promote wakefulness, elevated mood, and improved field performance. Governments quickly began researching use of stimulants to improve their war efforts. By the early 40s, both drugs had millions …

Battle For The Minds: Use Of Propaganda Films In Stalinist Russia And Nazi Germany, David Rosenblum

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Since the end of the Second World War, scholars and experts have examined the use of cinema in spreading totalitarian propaganda. Nazi Germany, in particular, has caught the most attention. However, most of these studies focus exclusively on one nation, and relatively few studies have tried to directly compare the cinematic propaganda of different countries. This study aims to directly compare cinematic propaganda of Stalinist-era Russia and Nazi Germany and find out who utilized the medium of film more effectively. To accomplish this, this study will examine and directly compare several critical components, such as industry structure and artistic merits, …

Casualties Of War? Refining The Civilian-Military Dichotomy In World War I, Eric Grube

Madison Historical Review

Throughout the First World War, newspapers around the world mocked the British state for its lavish spending on captured German officers kept at Donington Hall, a refurbished English estate. Why was this camp such a controversial space of perceived decadence? I argue that its comforts seemed to linger from an earlier era, one in which military men exuded genteel civility as integral to their supposedly heroic service. The British state essentially enabled such treatment, and the public decried this space for sustaining the anachronism of aristocratic privilege in the face of a globalized total war. However, the German inmates expected …

Russia's Empress-Navigator: Transforming Modes Of Monarchy During The Reign Of Anna Ivanovna, 1730-40., Jacob S. Bell

Madison Historical Review

The eighteenth century was a markedly volatile period in the history of Russia, seeing its development and international emergence as a European-styled empire. In narratives of this time of change, historians tend to view the century in two parts: the reign of Peter I (r. 1682-1725), who purportedly spurned Russia into modernization, and Catherine II (r. 1762-96), the German princess-turned-empress who presided over the culmination of Russia’s transformation. Yet, dismissal of nearly forty years of Russia’s history does a severe disservice to the sovereigns and governments that molded and crafted the process of change. Specifically, Empress Anna Ivanovna (r. 1730-40) …

A War Won In The Skies: Air Superiority In The Second World War, Chandler Dugal

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper studies the impact that air superiority had on the outcome of the Second World War in both the European and Pacific theaters of war, and argues that it was the determining factor in the outcome of the conflict. The paper outlines both the tactical and strategic aspects of air-power along the respective 'fronts'. In addition, the relative quantitative and qualitative strength of the air forces of the belligerent nations are discussed, along with their aircraft production and technological capabilities.

Der Hungerwinter: Family, Famine, The Black Market, And Denazification In Allied-Occupied Germany (1945 - 1949), Tyler Stanley

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper analyzes numerous letters written among several members of a German family living under the Allied occupation. The Lingenhoel family were one of a great many Germans enduring hunger, famine, and denazification in the immediate postwar period. Using the Lingenhoel family as the lens of analysis, this paper ultimately assesses the Allies' efforts to alleviate the widespread hunger and the Germans' responsibility of collaborating with the former Nazi government.

“‘Bere We Þe Cros’: The Persistence Of The Cross In English Ritual And Religious Practices From Bede To The Reformation”, David Black

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Long before Christian missionaries arrived in England in the 7^th century, the pagan population recognized the cross as a potent magical symbol. As a result, proselytizers shrewdly used the population’s familiarity with the cross, and their understandings of its power, to encourage converts to the new religion. Over the ensuing centuries of English Christian dominance, the magical aspects of the cross continued to develop both mythologically and theologically, without ever losing connection to their pagan origins. The Crusades, both through the propaganda of preachers and the massive influx of True Cross Relics, contributed in a substantial way to new …

The Presbyterian Enlightenment: The Confluence Of Evangelical And Enlightenment Thought In British America, Brandon S. Durbin

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Eighteenth-Century British American Presbyterian ministers incorporated covenantal theology, ideas from the Scottish Enlightenment, and resistance theory in their sermons. The sermons of Presbyterian ministers strongly indicate the intermixing of enlightenment and evangelical ideas. Congregants heard and read these sermons, spreading these ideas to the average colonist. This combination helps explain why American Presbyterians were so apt to resist British rule during the American Revolution. Protestant covenantal theology, derived from Protestant reformers like John Calvin and John Knox, emphasized virtue and duty. This covenant affected both the people and their rulers. When rulers failed to uphold their covenant with God, the …