European History Commons^™

Chopin Mazurkas And Its Influence On Polish Nationalsim, Pablo Cintron

Masters Theses

The innovative character of Chopin Mazurkas is forever linked with Polish culture. This thesis examines how the unmistakable sound of the Mazurka captures the Polish sound more than any other work written by the composer and how it contributes to Polish cultural nationalism during the Polish diaspora of the nineteenth-century.

In this study, the author presents a brief examination on Chopin's traditional interpretation of his mazurkas as well as isolating the characteristics of Polish interpretation that sets the Mazurka performance apart from the non-traditional style. A research case is made when contrasting the current concept of the classical execution of …

Chopin Mazurkas And Its Influence On Polish Nationalism, Pablo Cintron

Masters Theses

The innovative character of Chopin Mazurkas is forever linked with Polish culture. This thesis examines how the unmistakable sound of the Mazurka captures the Polish sound more than any other work written by the composer and how it contributes to Polish cultural nationalism during the Polish diaspora of the nineteenth-century. In this study, the author presents a brief examination on Chopin's traditional interpretation of his mazurkas as well as isolating the characteristics of Polish interpretation that sets the Mazurka performance apart from the non-traditional style. A research case is made when contrasting the current concept of the classical execution of …

Victorian Domesticity And The Perpetuation Of Childhood: An Examination Of Gender Roles And The Family Unit In J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, Abigail Nusbaum

Masters Theses

This work examines JM Barrie's Peter Pan in light of its cultural context. It works to show how the Victorian ideology of the separate spheres narrowed the scope of roles for men and women within the home, which ultimately led to an obsession with childhood that manifested itself strongly in the works of the children of the Victorians, the Edwardians. A study of the Victorian society in which Barrie grew up and first imagined Peter Pan, accompanied by a close reading of the text, reveals Barrie using the various characters' interactions with the title character as cultural artifacts that illuminate …

Tunes, Textures, And Trends: The Transformation Of Johann Walther’S Geistliches Gesangbüchlein (1524, 1525, 1537, 1544, 1551), Emily Marie Solomon

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the contents of Geistliches Gesangbüchlein, a sixteenth-­‐‑ century German Lutheran hymnal by Johann Walther, published in five editions between 1524 and 1551, the contents of which were substantially augmented, particularly between the 1525 and 1537 editions. Specifically, this project focuses on the twelve hymns with multiple settings, one or more of which were published in the first two editions and replaced by one or more settings in the last three editions, while assessing the characteristics across the original and removed settings and noting discernable trends of revision employed by Walther. Observable revision trends include length increase …

An Examination Of The Martyrdoms Of Lyon In Ad 177: A Critique Of The Theory Of The Trinqui, Timothy Yonts

Masters Theses

Historical research concerning the Christian persecution of Lyon in AD 177 has attempted to solve the question of relationship between the events in Lyon and the political and religious context of the Roman Empire. One such theory, the trinqui theory, posits that the Gallic aristocracy exploited Christians as sacrificial victims in an ancient Celtic ritual involving the use of criminals in gladiatorial entertainment. If true, the trinqui theory effectively shifts the responsibility for the killings from the imperial government under Marcus Aurelius to the provincial and aristocratic authorities in Gaul. This thesis will critique the trinqui theory by showing that …

Recovering The Saumurois: Lay Patronage To Saint-Florent Of Saumur, Ca. 950-1150, Adam C. Matthews

Masters Theses

In the mid-tenth century, the lay powers of the Loire valley established the abbey of Saint-Florent at Saumur with the local aristocracy welcoming the monks and forming spiritual and economic relationships through acts of patronage. The brothers remembered gifts of property, grants of rights, and exemptions in charters which were ultimately collected into the abbey's first cartulary, the Livre Noir. Despite this wealth of sources, historians have paid only cursory attention to Saint-Florent in recent scholarship. The present study incorporates the abbey's charter sources into broader debates concerning society in eleventh-century France. The use of case studies provides insight …

Putting Down Roots: A Tolkienian Conception Of Place, Kayla Snow

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the way in which J.R.R. Tolkien's develops and expresses his nuanced sense of place through his major literary works--namely, The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Tolkien's sense of place, as expressed through his fiction, encompasses both metaphysical and geographical relational structures that are operative at both the local and global levels. As Tolkien develops his sense of place in his fiction, he draws from the Distributist principles--largely informed by Catholic social policy of the late nineteenth century and popularized by G.K. Chesterton--to build the economy in Middle-earth. The resulting economy resists industrialization …

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 …

Agriculture, Influence, And Instability Under The Ancien Régime: 1708-1768, Adam J. Polk

Masters Theses

The French Revolution has been studied from myriad perspectives. The majority of scholarship focuses on the political and urban chaos of the times. Agricultural conditions and the influence of onerous taxation and stagnant agricultural options are given only a cursory examination in most research. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between agronomic and environmental conditions and the eruption of violence in urban centers during the French Revolution and the years leading up to it (1708-1768). This period prior to the French Revolution serves as a template to investigate the nature of the rural-agricultural influences, with a particular focus paid …

"Videbantur Gens Effera": Defining And Perceiving Peoples In The Chronicles Of Norman Italy, Jesse Hysell

Masters Theses

The goal of this project is to analyze the ways different cultural groups in Sicily and southern Italy were depicted in a set of historical texts associated with the Norman takeover of those regions in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. To achieve that aim, I consider social vocabulary applied to three distinct peoples (native Italians, Greeks, and Muslims) in five sources written by Amatus of Montecassino, Geoffrey Malaterra, William of Apulia, Alexander of Telese, and Hugo Falcandus. Although recent scholarship has posited that medieval identity was often felt through a "self versus other" or "Christian versus non-Christian" dichotomy, I have …

Nutrition And Stature: The Residents Of The Island Of Gotland, Sweden Killed In The Battle Of Wisby, 1361, Michelle A. Miller

Masters Theses

This research examines stature in order to assess the socio-economic status of Gotland, an island (and municipality) off the coast of Sweden, before the 1360's. Gotland was known as a wealthy and autonomous peasant republic although it was loosely ruled by the Swedish Crown. In 1361, the Danish Army laid siege on the seaport city of Wisby to obtain its riches. Three days after the battle, the approximately 1800 dead Gotlanders were tossed haphazardly into five common graves. Archaeological excavations took place from 1905-1930 by Bendt Thordeman, among others. The human remains were analyzed in 1937. Osteological analysis in the …

The Obstacles To The Integration Of Muslims In Germany And France: How Muslims And The States Impair The Smooth Transition From Immigrant To Citizen, Yael R. Cohen

Masters Theses

The place of Islam has been an ongoing debate for decades and still remains unresolved. Since the inception of the guest worker program initiated by European countries following the devastation of WWII, particularly France and Germany, Europe’s largest economies, the unanticipated occurred; what was conceived to be a temporary imported labor force which would eventually return home, turned into permanent settlement. For France, the labor pool emanated from colonial holdings predominantly from Maghreb, North Africa. Germany had no such labor source, but had a long ongoing relationship with Turkey which dated back to the Ottoman Empire. The entrance of this …

The Impact Of The European Economy On An Indigenous Productive Regime: Coca Production In The Yungas Of La Paz, 1548-1570, Krista Anderson

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a European system of mercantile production on the indigenous organization of coca production in the yungas of La Paz in the years immediately following the Spanish conquest until the administration of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo (1569-1581 ). European mercantile ambitions in the earliest years of Spanish rule had an enormous, and often adverse, impact on the people of the yungas and their productive capabilities. The transformation of the yungas was introduced largely through the reorientation of coca production toward a market economy. This contact resulted in a marked increase …

Castles In The Crusader Kingdom Of Valencia, 1257-1276, Marius Nielsen

Masters Theses

For my thesis I proposed to study the registered charters of James I (1208-1276), King of Aragon, to examine how castles were distributed and utilized in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia for the period 1257-1276. A little over two thousand register charters were issued for Valencia during this period. Around 250 of the two thousand charters mention castles indicating the importance of castles in the administration of the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia. Although there are many works on Western European castles the majority focus on castles in France, Britain and the Crusader States in the Middle East and rely on …

Steamboat Passenger Ferries In Nineteenth Century London: A Cultural Survey, Jennifer Wohlberg

Masters Theses

Traditionally, steamboats and their history have belonged to the area of antiquarians. Many sources in my bibliography focus on the design and use of the boats and neglect the social and cultural impact the boats had on mid-Victorian London life. Steamboats, however, were an important transportation system in mid-Victorian London, so that a study of steamboats can provide an insight into mid-Victorian times. In this thesis, I will place steamboat design construction and use in the context of the social and cultural worlds of mid-Victorian London and the River Thames.

The results of my research yielded a thesis describing the …

The Sense Of The Past In Saint Antoninus Of Florence's Summa Historialis, Brian Nathaniel Becker

Masters Theses

This study examines Antoninus of Florence’s Chronicles for the presence of a "sense of the past.” Through the careful examination of those sections of the Chronicles that are original to Antoninus and the utilization of important scholarly works on medieval and Renaissance Italian literature, it is shown that the Chronicles is characteristic of both a history written in the traditional "medieval” style and the increasingly modem style of historical writing that was coming into vogue during the later part of his life in mid-fifteenth century Florence. By defining a "sense of history” as containing, and organizing the three body chapters …

Saxo Grammaticus: History And The Rise Of National Identity In Medieval Denmark, Christopher L. Bailey

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

French Influences On The Historical And Nationalist Thought Of Nicolae Balcescu: An Inquiry Into The Structure Of Romanian Nationalism, Ion Matei Costinescu

Masters Theses

In the past decade nationalism has been conceptualized as a cultural artifact, a product of invention and social engineering. Yet despite the flourishing interest in questions of national identity, we still have no theory explaining the reasons why nationalism presents itself in a manifold diversity of forms and aspirations. One way of . accounting for the malleability of modern nationalism is to approach it as a product of dialectical interactions between various national ideals. In this respect, the case of Romanian nationalism is particularly instructive. Its nineteenth-century proponents consciously borrowed and adapted French cultural mores and ideological forms since they …

The Autumn Celebrations Of The Ritual Calendar Year In The Later-Stuart Period, Alexander James Dove

Masters Theses

This thesis discusses the patterns in the celebrations of the autumn ritual calendar of the later-Stuart period. It focuses on the annual celebrations of the Gunpowder Treason and Plot (5th of November) and the Anniversary of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth (17th of November). For comparison, the Lord Mayor's Show (29th of October) is studied. The central theme of this thesis is to distinguish between the customs and traditions of the two dominant cultures of the later-Stuart period: elite and non-elite.

This thesis is broken down into three chapters. The first chapter discusses the November celebrations of the later-Stuart period. …

James Tyrrell, John Locke, And Robert Filmer: Ideas On Property In Late Seventeenth Century England, Christopher Chatlos Strangeman

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I examine the political theories of Sir Robert Filmer, John Locke, and James Tyrrell and, in turn, compare their respective conceptions of property which are at the foundation of their political theories. This political debate about property must be set amongst the political circumstances of the exclusion crisis. Arising from the Whig-Tory division, which arose in part from the Popish Plot, Filmer, Locke, and Tyrrell reveal the ideas of the parties they represented. Locke and Tyrrell, as Whig representatives, refuted the patriarchal theory of Filmer's Patriarcha, representative of the Tory party. In refuting Filmer, Locke and …

A Fabric Unravelled: The Rise Of Party Politics In York, England, 1679-88, Vernon A. Mcguffee

Masters Theses

Many historians are engaged in a debate over whether party politics emerged in England before 1688. Perhaps the most prominent current conflict is between Jonathan Scott and Tim Harris. Scott believes that, despite ideological foundations, political parties could not exist before 1688 because of their lack of organization. Harris, on the other hand, argues that parties were indeed organized, and this organization revolved primarily around religion. Harris charges historians to examine the political structures of the localities to help resolve the debate. This thesis does just that. It looks at England's second city, York, from 1679-88 and addresses the question …

The South Tyrol And The Principle Of Self-Determination: An Analysis Of A Minority Problem, Eva Pfanzelter

Masters Theses

For almost three quarters of a century the South Tyroleans had fought for the preservation of their ethnic identity. The idea of self-determination introduced by Woodrow Wilson in 1918 legitimized their quest for protection of their ethnicity and language. Yet, the peace of Paris of 1919 denied the South Tyrolens' the right to self-determination and incorporated the German-speaking territory of the South Tyrol into Italy. During the following two decades Italian fascism eliminated the South Tyroleans' right to struggle for their cultural identity. Mussolini's ideology pursued the Italianization of the South Tyrol. The German-speaking minority in Italy could not even …

Contracts In Conflict: Perestroika And The Decline Of Soviet Legitimacy, Karl Glenn Hokenmaier

Masters Theses

Gorbachev's perception of the Soviet Union's socio-economic crisis and his subsequent actions to correct the economy and reform the political system were linked with attempts to renegotiate the social contract between the state and the Soviet people. However, reformulation of the social contract was incompatible with the conditions of a second arrangement between the leadership and the nomenklatura--the Soviet ruling class. The failure of Gorbachev's reforms and the decline of Soviet legitimacy were linked to the irreconcilability of the nomenklatura's "political contract" and the social contract.

The construct of the social contract was utilized to represent the Soviet state-society relationship …

William Morris And The Society For The Protection Of Ancient Buildings: Historic Preservation In Victorian Great Britain, Andrea Elizabeth Harger

Masters Theses

This research examines the philosophy of William Morris, how this influenced his founding of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (S.P.A.B.) in 1877, and how this Society functioned in Victorian Great Britain. Two case studies, specifying the S.P.A.B.'s involvement with Westminster Abbey and Edinburgh Castle, are highlighted to detail how the Society operated in secular and ecclesiastical situations. The research concludes with an appraisal of the S.P.A.B. in the twentieth century.

This research emphasizes primary source materials, such as letters and annual reports, from the S.P.A.B archive in London. These materials demonstrate how the S.P.A.B. met their goals …

The Original Rule Of The Knights Templar: A Translation With Introduction, Robert T. Wojtowicz

Masters Theses

This study consists of a complete translation of a previously untranslated, twelfth-century Latin text: the original Rule of the Knights Templar (Regula commilitonum Christi). Furthermore, since previous scholarship has not dealt much with the content of the original Rule, the introduction, using the Rule as its source, attempts to present a more detailed exploration into the structure and organization of the Order during its incipiency.

Though the body of the text is chiefly translation, findings noted in the introduction indicate i that further research into the Rule is necessary to understand the main areas of influence which comprise the Order's …

The United States And German Reunification: The Stalin Note Of 1952, Klaus P. Grillmaier

Masters Theses

This thesis discusses the American and West German reaction to the Soviet note of March 10, 1952. In this so-called Stalin Note the Soviet dictator proposed the reunification of Germany on terms of neutrality and acceptance of the Oder and Neisse rivers as the German-Polish border. By launching his proposal Stalin sought to prevent the integration of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) into the Western alliance system.

The paper starts out sketching the emergence of the United States and the Soviet Union as superpowers after World War II. It also analyzes the impact the Cold War had on Europe. …

The American Reaction To Germany's Annexation Of Austria, Mark A. Tarner

Masters Theses

Germany's annexation of Austria in March 1938 was the cumulation of almost twenty years of Austrian dissatisfaction with the Treaty of Saint Germain, the lack of consistent political and economic support by the western democracies and the international instability of the 1930s. All these factors worked in favor of pro-Anschluss Germans and Austrians and to the handicap of the allies. Once Adolf Hitler came to power, he drastically changed German policy toward Austria. Anschluss had special significance for Hitler and his decision to abandon an evolutionary revision of Austria's political status to one of radical expansionism and annexation proved fatal …

The Fragmentation Of The Ulster Unionist Party, Declan Lawson George Hall

Masters Theses

In 1973, the Ulster Unionist Party fragmented after fifty years as the dominant party within Northern Ireland. However, this fragmentation did not simply occur in reaction to the events of the 1960's and early 1970's. It was a long ongoing process that can be traced back to the 1940's and 1950's.

This study is concerned with the splintering of the Ulster Unionist Party and the reasons that lay behind the division. The first contention in this thesis is that the Ulster Unionist Party was never the single united political party that it was often supposed to have been. It was …

Dissident Artists' Associations Of Germany 1892-1912, Mary Jo Eberspacher

Masters Theses

With the end of the Franco-Prussian War on January 18, 1871, the German Empire under the leadership of the Hohenzollern king, William of Prussia, was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Now Emperor Wilhelm I, Otto von Bismarck, his chancellor, and their staff as federal executives of the Empire possessed important legislative and economic powers. However, the individual states retained rights in some areas such as: education, health services, police protection and some powers of taxation, and in some instances, there was a distrust of the newly organized federal institutions. Consequently, this states' rights concept seemed to have …

The Influence Of The Introduction Of Heavy Ordnance On The Development Of The English Navy In The Early Tudor Period, Kristin Macleod Tomlin

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.