1. society
2. unrest and war

HISTORY DEPARTMENT
TRENT UNIVERSITY
HIST 3351H: World War I
2014 (Fall)
Peterborough
Instructor: Dr. Mark Celinscak
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 748-1011 (x. 7119)
Campus: Peterborough
Office Location: Champlain
College E 1.4
Office Hours: Wednesdays,
2:00-2:50 p.m.
Secretary: Trisha Pearce
Email: [email protected]
Office Location: Lady Eaton College, S 101.3
Telephone: 705-748-1011 (x. 7706)
Course Description: This past summer marks one hundred years since the start of World War I.
Few at the time realized that the conflict would surpass all previous wars in terms of both scope and
horror. Indeed, the war ushered in modern warfare and revealed to the world the destructive
capability of highly industrial societies. While World War II frequently overshadows its
predecessor, World War I is widely considered as the turning point of the twentieth century: it
ended the reign of a number of empires, it redrew the map of Europe and it created much of the
instability that led to a second world war. As a third year course of study, World War I will
examine the origins of the war and the opening campaigns, the policies that made it possible to
wage such a total, brutal and lengthy war, as well as the armistice and peace settlement. In addition,
this course will provide an overview of the historical, cultural and social conditions of the war, as
well as an analysis of the responses to and representations of these wartime conditions.
Learning Objectives: As a third year course of study, World War I provides students with an
opportunity to explore, in depth, a major event in world history through class discussion of the
scholarship in the field and through advanced independent research. Students should be able to use
their knowledge of the field and skills in critical thinking, historical writing, historical approaches
and methodologies to research a topic in depth, produce an original analytical argument based on
the evidence and situate it in the appropriate historiographical and theoretical contexts. Students
should be able to communicate their arguments to the instructor and their peers with clarity,
accuracy and logic through essays and seminar discussions. Upon successful completion of the
World War I, students should understand the conventions of historical writing, the rules of
academic integrity and professionalism, the importance of personal initiative and accountability, as
well as the evolving nature of historical knowledge. They should be able to evaluate historical
writing effectively through examinations of sources, arguments, and methodologies. By the end of
the course a successful student should:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explain and analyze key features of the history of World War I
Situate significant texts in both their social and historical contexts
Evaluate and interpret primary and secondary source documents
Demonstrate clear and effective writing
Refine rhetorical skills through seminar discussions
Required Text:

*David Stevenson. Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy. New York: Basic
Books, 2004.
*The above text is available in eBook or paperback form at the Trent University Bookstore.
Recommended Texts:
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Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. London: Allen
Lane, 2012.
Englund, Peter. The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War.
London: Profile Books, 2011.
Gilbert, Martin. The Routledge Atlas of the First World War. London: Routledge, 2008.
Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: Vintage Books, 1998; 2000.
Strachan, Hew. The First World War: Volume I: To Arms. Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2001.
Course Format (Peterborough Campus)
Type
Day
Time
Location
Lecture
Wednesdays
9:00-10:50 AM
Eaton Commons, Room 201
Seminar 1
Wednesdays
12:00-12:50 PM
Eaton Commons, Room 208
Seminar 2
Wednesdays
1:00-1:50 PM
Eaton Commons, Room 208
Seminar 3
Wednesdays
3:00-3:50 PM
DNA Building, Room B110.2
Seminar 4
Wednesdays
4:00-4:50 PM
DNA Building, Room B110.2
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Course Evaluation
Assignment
Description
Value
Contribution to Punctual, regular attendance and active participation during seminars demonstrating
a grasp of the central ideas and themes of the weekly readings. Ongoing.
Discussions
Film Response
Assignment
20%
In October we will screen the film Wooden Crosses (Les Croix de Bois, 1932)
directed by Raymond Bernard, which is an adaptation of the novel of the same name
by Roland Dorgelès. Incorporating the readings from that week, students will
critically analyze the film. Papers will assess how the filmmaker represents the
events in question and consider how well it relates to the historical, cultural and
social issues of the time. Due 15 October 2014.
Seminar
Presentation
Each week a pair of students will be responsible for giving a presentation on the
seminar readings. This will involve providing context and highlighting the themes of
the readings. Moreover, students will prepare and present a list of questions to the
class for discussion. Dates will vary.
Seminar
Presentation
Written
Response
Working individually, one week following their seminar presentation, students will
post to Blackboard a written response to the readings and the issues that arose
during seminar. Responses will be written formally and assess the readings for the
week of the student’s seminar presentation. Dates will vary.
Final Exam
Covering material from the entire semester, students will respond to a selection of
short answer and essay questions. Students will be allowed to choose from a variety
of questions in each section. To help students prepare, a semester-end review will
occur during the first week of December. To be scheduled during the university
exam period in December 2014.
20%
15%
15%
30%
*Note: A detailed description of each of the above, along with a rubric, will be
posted to Blackboard at the start of the term.
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Course Schedule
* Please note: [B] designates availability on “BlackBoard”
Hyperlink designates online availability in the library catalogue
Week
World War I
~ Autumn ~
Introduction to World War I
(1)
10 September
(2)
17 September
Seminar Readings:
 C.R.W. Nevinson, “Paths of Glory” (1917), Imperial War Museum, 61cm x 46cm, oil on
canvas and Paul Nash, “We are Making a New World” (1918), Imperial War Museum, 71 cm x
91cm, oil on canvas.
 Guillaume Apollinaire, “The Little Car” in Calligrammes: Poems of Peace and War (19131916). Translated by Anne Hyde Greet (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1918; 1991),
pp. 104-111. For an alternate translation, click on the following link.
Origins of the War
Seminar Readings:
 David Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy (New York: Basic
Books, 2004), pp. 3-36 (Chapter 1).
 Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age (Toronto:
Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1989; 1994), pp. xiii-xvi and 1-5. [B]
 Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War. Translated by
Cecil Parrott (London: W. Heinemann 1923; 1973), pp. 3-23. [B]
1914: Opening Campaigns
(3)
24 September
Seminar Readings:
 Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy, pp. 37-78 (Ch. 2).
 Ruth Harris, “The ‘Child of the Barbarian’: Rape, Race and Nationalism in France during the
First World War.” Past & Present, No. 141 (November, 1993): 170-206.
 Louis Raemaekers, Raemaekers Cartoons (London: Hodder and Stoughton, c. 1916), pp. 1-40.
Return of the Dead: Film Response Assignment
*In-Class Screening: Wooden Crosses (Les Croix de Bois). Directed by Raymond Bernard, 1932.
(4)
1 October
Assignment and Seminar Readings:
 Jay Winter, “Mythologies of War: Films, Popular Religion, and the Business of the Sacred” in
Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), pp. 119144. [B]
 Annette Becker, “Faith, Ideologies, and the ‘Cultures of War’.” In A Companion to World War
I. Edited and translated by John Horne (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), pp. 234-247. [B]
1915: The War Widens
(5)
8 October
Seminar Readings:
 Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy, pp. 87-122 (Ch. 4-5).
 Donald Bloxham, “The First World War and the Development of the Armenian Genocide.” In
A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire. Edited by
Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Müge Goçek and Norman M. Naimark (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2011), pp. 260-275. [B]
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Atrocity, Propaganda and Public Opinion
(6)
15 October
Seminar Readings:
 John Horne and Alan Kramer, German Atrocities 1914: A History of Denial (New

Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 291-325. [B]
Arthur Ponsonby, Falsehood in Wartime: Containing an Assortment of Lies Circulated
Throughout the Nations during the Great War (London: Allen & Unwin, 1928), pp.
91-3, 102-13, 128-34, 161 (Ch. 13, 17, 23 and 28).
*Film response assignment due in seminar (20%)
No Classes
Residential Reading and Laboratory Week begins
October 20-24
1916: War of Attrition
(7)
29 October
Seminar Readings:
 Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy, pp. 123-177 (Ch. 6-8).
 David French, “The Meaning of Attrition, 1914-1916.” The English Historical Review 103,
No. 407 (April 1988): 385-405.
Trench Warfare and the Battle of the Somme
(8)
5 November
(9)
12 November
Seminar Readings:
 Henri Barbusse, “Bombardment” in Under Fire. Translated by Fitzwater Wray (New York:
Dutton, 1916; 1917), pp. 205-220.
 Ernst Jünger, “Guillemont” in Storm of Steel. Translated by Michael Hofmann (London: Allen
Lane, 1920; 2003), pp. 67-80. [B]
 *Otto Dix, Der Krieg (1924).
*Please read the introduction, slide show and view the images in the downloaded zip file.
1917: Year of Crisis
Seminar Readings:
 Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy, pp. 263-302 (Ch. 14).
 Douglas Gill and Gloden Dallas, “Mutiny at Étaples Base in 1917.” Past & Present, No. 69
(November 1975): 88-112.
 Leonard V. Smith, “Remobilizing the Citizen-Soldier Through the French Army Mutinies of
1917” in State, Society, and Mobilization in Europe during the First World War. Edited by
John Horne (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 144-159. [B]
War Wounds
(10)
19 November
Seminar Readings:
 Janet S. K. Watson, “Khaki Girls, VADs, and Tommy's Sisters: Gender and Class in First
World War Britain,” International History Review 19, No. 1 (February 1997): 32-51.
 Mary Borden, “Blind: A Story” in The Forbidden Zone: A Nurse’s Impressions of the First
World War (London: Hesperus, 1929; 2008), pp. 91-104. [B]
5
1918: Armistice, Settlement and Reaction
(11)
26 November
Seminar Readings:
 Stevenson, Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy, pp. 379-430 (Ch. 17-18).
 Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World (New York: Random
House, 2001; 2003), pp. 485-494. [B]
 Robert Graves, “Armistice Day, 1918,” E. E. Cummings, “my sweet old etcetera” and
Siegfried Sassoon, “Aftermath.”
World War I: Exam Review
(12)
3 December
No seminar readings
Course Policies: Students are expected to attend lectures and seminars on a regular basis. A
significant portion of the final grade involves seminar participation, leadership and attendance.
Class discussion and instruction relate directly to the various assignments in the course. In addition,
students are required to attend tutorials having completed the readings and should be prepared to
discuss the material in class.
Students will provide the instructor with a digital copy of each assignment. Submissions of all
assignments are expected by the due date. Late submissions will be penalized two percentage
points per day.
Useful Course-Related Websites:
 Society for Military History
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World War I Document Archive
National Archives and the First World War
European Film Gateway 1914 Project
Western Front Association
The Heritage of the Great War
Internet History Sourcebook Project - WWI
The Great War and the Shaping of the Twentieth Century
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University Policies
Academic Integrity:
Academic dishonesty, which includes plagiarism and cheating, is an extremely serious academic
offence and carries penalties varying from a 0 grade on an assignment to expulsion from the
University. Definitions, penalties, and procedures for dealing with plagiarism and cheating are set
out in Trent University’s Academic Integrity Policy. You have a responsibility to educate yourself –
unfamiliarity with the policy is not an excuse. You are strongly encouraged to visit Trent’s
Academic Integrity website to learn more: www.trentu.ca/academicintegrity.
Access to Instruction:
It is Trent University's intent to create an inclusive learning environment. If a student has a
disability and/or health consideration and feels that he/she may need accommodations to succeed in
this course, the student should contact the Student Accessibility Services Office (SAS), (BH Suite
132, 705-748-1281 or email [email protected]). For Trent University in Oshawa
Student Accessibility Services Office contact 905-435-5102 ext. 5024. Complete text can be found
under Access to Instruction in the Academic Calendar.
Group Portrait of the 93rd Overseas Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force
PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO – 19 MAY 1916
Canadian War Museum, Photo Archives 52G 14.15
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