This is a module for History single-honour students at L5 but it may also be of interest to students in a variety of other subjects. This module introduces students to world history in the twentieth century. It is taught through lectures and seminars, and there is a strong element of student participation through seminar presentations. We examine wars and their consequences from a variety of geographical perspectives: Africa, China, Japan, India, Russia, the US and the Middle East, with special focus on the First World War. No other event so significantly altered political boundaries around the world, or stimulated such nationalist sentiment. We will also look at several themes that underscore the war's worldwide impact: the radicalisation of warfare; the use of propaganda; advances in medical care and psychiatry; the mobilisation of women; economic change; the emergence of new artistic movements; the stimulus given to revolution and movements for independence; and efforts to establish global governance. The module therefore provides a world history emphasising political developments but shedding light on social and economic issues as well.
On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
This module is based on weekly lectures and seminars. Each week a two-hour lecture will introduce students to the major issues of the war and its consequences. Lectures will variously cover military, diplomatic, political, economic and social themes. Emphasis will be given to how historians have debated key questions concerning war, its origins, nature and impact, and to the comparison of experiences of war in different countries around the world. The weekly one-hour seminars afford students the opportunity to demonstrate their engagement with primary source materials and secondary works on a wide variety of topics. Emphasis in the seminar is given to student presentations, in which students are expected to explain their progress on their research assignments. Students will make brief presentations explaining their choice of essay titles, their early research successes and failures, their research proposals, and their ability to master both primary and secondary materials as they become experts on their chosen topics.
| Definitive UNISTATS Category | Indicative Description | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 22 two-hour lectures, 22 one-hour seminars | 66 |
| Guided independent study | 234 | |
| Total (number of credits x 10) | 300 | |
There are both formative and summative assessments designed to encourage students to master the material, conduct research and present their views in the form of both oral presentations and written essays. Assessment will enable students to demonstrate the module's learning outcomes.
Formative
TB1 Presentation on first essay choice and early research
TB1 Final presentation on first essay choice
TB2 Presentation on second essay choice and early research
TB2 Final presentation on second essay choice
Summative
Two blog posts, each of 750 words, and a 2,500 word essay
Topics will be chosen from a list provided by the lecturer. The first essay will be due after TB1 (January) and the second essay will be due after TB2.
| Learning Outcome | Assessment Strategy |
|---|---|
| demonstrate an understanding of key aspects of war and the nature of historical change in the twentieth century | The formative presentations, blog posts and essays, which allows students to demonstrate mastery of key aspects of the war |
| critically assess different interpretations of the wars' origins, nature and impact | The formative presentations, blog posts and essays, which require students to look at conflicting interpretations |
| compare the experience of war across different countries around the world | The formative presentations, blog posts and essays, which ask the student to take a global, comparative look at the war |
| demonstrate familiarity with some of the primary source material on the origins, nature and impact of war | The Essay requires that students engage with primary source material |
| demonstrate skills of analysis, criticism and expression in both a verbal and written context | The formative presentations allow students to demonstrate their verbal skills, whilst the blog posts and essay give them the opportunity to exhibit their writing skills |
It IS NOT a requirement that any major assessment category is passed separately in order to achieve an overall pass for the module.
Gerwarth, Robert and Erez Manela (Editors). Empires at War: 1911-1923 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
Das, Santanu (editor). Race, Empire and First World War Writing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Dickinson, Frederick. War and National Reinvention: Japan in the Great War, 1914-1919 (Cambridge, USA: Harvard University Press, 1999).
Emmerson, Charles. 1913: The World before the Great War (London: Bodley Head, 2013).
Guoqi Xu, China and the Great War: China's Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
Kant, Vedica. If I Die Here, Who will Remember Me?: India and the First World War (New Delhi: Roli Books, 2014).
Paice, Edward. Tip and Run: The Untold Tragedy of the Great War in Africa (London: Orion, 2007).
Read, Christopher. War and Revolution in Russia, 1914-22: The Collapse of Tsarism and the Establishment of Soviet Power (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
Rogan, Eugene. The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East, 1914-1920 (London: Allen Lane, 2015).
Rutledge, Ian. Enemy on the Euphrates: The British Occupation of Iraq and the Great Arab Revolt 1914-1921(London: Saqi Books, 2014).
Sanborn, Joshua. Imperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
Sherry, Dave. Empire and Revolution: A Socialist History of the First World War (London: Bookmarks, 2014).
Sondhaus, Lawrence. World War One: The Global Revolution (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Strachan, Hew. The First World War in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004).
Tooze, Adam. The Deluge: The Great War and the Remaking of Global Order 1916-1931 (New York: Viking, 2014).
Ulrichsen, Kristian Coates. The First World War in the Middle East (London: C Hurst, 2014).
Wawro, Geoffrey. A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire (New York: Basic Books, 2014).