History 309 – Contemporary Europe – September 7, 2005  

THE GREAT WAR  

Note:   WHERE did this awful war come from?  What was it like to be in it?  These are the key questions for the day.  

I.                    EMPIRICAL DATA.  Be sure you can define the following:

1.  J. Chamberlain

2.  K. Pearson

3.  Drumont

4.  Kishinev

5.  Nietzsche

6.  Freud

7. Treitschke

8.  Doregelès

9.  Zweig

10.  Remarque

11.  Sassoon

12.  Owen

13.  Loughnan

 

II.                CRITICAL THINKING.    

1. Where did this dreadful war come from?  Why did young Europeans slaughter themselves in such vast numbers?  One tentative answer centers on IMPERIALISM.  The argument goes something like this:  Europe’s leaders had become convinced that Imperialism was both necessary and good; that Imperialism sometimes required military force; that the use of military force became something of an ingrained habit (“militarism”) and that finally, the Imperialists used force against themselves.  Look carefully at the selections from Joseph Chamberlain and  Karl Pearson.  What exactly to they say about imperialism?

 

2. Where did this dreadful war come from?  Another approach argues that Europeans, by 1914, had become intensely NATIONALISTIC, that is, they thought of themselves as US!  and not THEM!  The French hated the Germans who hated the Russians, and so on. This sort of nationalism posed serious problems for ethnic and religious MINORITIES.   Jewish Europeans in particular found themselves the target of constant abuse.  Look at the Materials from Drumont and the Kishinev Pogrom.  Why were Jews such a constant target?  What alternatives did Jews have? 

 

3. Where did this dreadful war come from?  Is there something fundamentally violent about human nature?  Something fundamentally “irrational” about human beings?  What do Nietzsche and Freud say?

 

4. Where did this dreadful war come from?  Yet another argument focuses on war itself.  Europeans obviously thought of war as a “normal” tool of politics, and once war got going, they found it extremely difficult to stop.  Look at the selection from Treitschke – what does he say about war?  Do you agree?  Disagree?  Why?

 

5. What was the war like?  What did it feel like, sound like, smell like?  Use your imagination – what was the EXPERIENCE of those days like?  Look at the selections from Doregelès; Zweig; Remarque;  Sassoon ; Owen; and Loughnan.  Based on this evidence, how would you describe the EXPERIENCE of World War I?

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Modified by:  H.  Kamerling