History 295: Ivan and Fritz Go to War The Nazi-Soviet Conflict on World War II’s Eastern FrontCourse descriptionCourse readingsTwo 5-page papers (25% of your total grade). In the first half of the course, you will write two 5-page papers, due on Wednesday, October 1 (at midnight) and on Friday, October 17 (in class.) Important notesHistory 295: Ivan and Fritz Go to War The Nazi-Soviet Conflict on World War II’s Eastern Front Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11:00-11:50 Fall 2008 Edward Cohn [email protected] Mears 315 (X3107) Office hours: MW 3:00-4:00, TTh 10:00-11:00 (or by appointment) Course description To many Americans, the most familiar images from World War II concern military exploits on the Western front, from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge. In this course, however, we will focus on events from a less familiar but arguably more important side of the conflict: the struggle between Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s USSR. This lecture/discussion course will begin with an overview of the main military events of the war, but it will focus on the conflict’s larger political and social significance. How did Russian and German soldiers experience the war, and to what extent did they believe in the cause of the totalitarian state they were fighting for? What accounted for the unusual savagery of fighting in the east? What role did fighting on the Eastern front play in the development of the Holocaust? And how have memories and myths of the war shaped European history since 1945? We will examine questions like these by looking at primary and secondary texts on the bloody struggle for mastery of the Eastern front. Course readings The following books are all available for purchase at the college bookstore and are on course reserve at Burling Library: Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men Geoffrey Megargee, War of Annihilation Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War Richard Overy, Russia’s War Ben Shepherd, War in the Wild East The course readings will also include a series of journal articles and excerpts from primary sources, which will be available electronically on the class’s Pioneerweb site. Assignments and Grading This course will have four main requirements, described below: Two 5-page papers (25% of your total grade). In the first half of the course, you will write two 5-page papers, due on Wednesday, October 1 (at midnight) and on Friday, October 17 (in class.) 1I will hand out the topic for each paper roughly ten days before its due date; both papers will require you to synthesize materials we have read for class. Research paper (25%). In the second half of the course, you will write a 10-page paper on a topic of your choice related to the war; it will be due to me by email at midnight (the end of the day) on Wednesday, December 10. You will be free to select a topic of interest to you (developing a topic discussed in class in greater depth or pursuing a subject we haven’t covered), but I’ll need to approve your topic. After fall break, I’ll hand out a timetable for this project, which will include several preliminary assignments (such as sending me a list of books you’ve looked at or giving me a 1-page summary of your argument.) Final exam (25%). The course will end with a take-home examination, due to me by email by 5:00 PM on Thursday, December 18. You will most likely need to answer two essay questions (from a selection of at least three choices.) Class participation (25%). The final requirement for this course is active and informed participation in classroom discussions. I will base this part of your grade on several criteria, including attendance, frequency of participation, the insightfulness of your classroom comments, and the timely completion of the preliminary assignments connected to your final paper; although I hope that everyone will participate regularly, note that the insightfulness of your comments is more important than the frequency of your participation. NOTE: In addition to the requirements listed above, I reserve the right to fail (or to further lower the grade of) any student with more than six unexcused absences. If your grade seems likely to suffer significantly from your absences or your lack of participation, I will let you know early enough that you have time to correct the problem. If you have any concerns about your level of participation, feel free to contact me at any time and we can discuss ways to increase your involvement in discussion. Important notes Grinnell College makes reasonable accommodations for students with documented disabilities. Students need to provide documentation identifying any special needs to the Dean for Student Academic Support and Advising, Joyce Stern, whose office is located on the third floor of the Rosenfield Center. Students should then notify me within the first few days of class. Students should also be aware of Grinnell’s policy on academic honesty. Plagiarism, it goes without saying, will not be tolerated in this course. 2Schedule of Readings Friday, August 29: Introduction to the course Reading: Ronald Smelser and Edward J. Davies II, The Myth of the Eastern Front, pp. 1-6 [Pioneerweb] David M. Glantz, Colossus Reborn, pp. xv-xix [Pioneerweb] Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War, introduction Monday, September 1: The Dawn of a New Age of Warfare? Reading: Omer Bartov, Murder in Our Midst, pp. 15-50 [Pioneerweb] Roger Chickering and Stig Förster, “World War II and the Theory of Total War” [Pioneerweb] Wednesday, September 3: The October Revolution and the Lead-up to War Reading: Merridale, ch. 1 Richard Overy, Russia’s War, ch. 1 Friday, September 5: Nazi Germany and the Road to War Reading: Volker Berghahn, Modern Germany, excerpts [Pioneerweb] Monday, September 8: German War Aims and the Origins of the War Reading: Wolfram Wette, The Wehrmacht, ch. 1 [Pioneerweb] Geoffrey Megargee, War of Annihilation, ch. 1-2 Wednesday, September 10: Soviet Planning for War Reading: Geoffrey Roberts, Stalin’s Wars, excerpts [Pioneerweb] Richard Overy, ch. 2 Friday, September 12: The Chaos of 1941 Readings: Vasilii Grossman, A Writer at War, pp. 18-26 [Pioneerweb] G. H. Bidermann, In Deadly Combat, pp. 13-35 [Pioneerweb] Megargee, ch. 3 Monday, September 15: Why so Chaotic? Reading: Merridale, chapters 2-3 Overy, ch. 3 3Wednesday, September 17: