HR214-5-SP-CO:
The Social and Cultural History of the First World War
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Spring
Undergraduate: Level 5
ReassessmentOnly
Monday 15 January 2024
Friday 22 March 2024
15
01 March 2022
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
The First World War is one of the most significant thresholds in modern history. It changed Europe and European societies profoundly, and had social and cultural repercussions on a global scale. This "total" or "industrial" war was not only about the immense loss of lives; it also brought about significant social, cultural, and political changes: democratization, women's suffrage and emancipation, challenges of traditional gender roles.
It ended the "long" 19th Century, largely destroyed the existing European political order and changed the political map of Europe profoundly. It caused the break-up of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman land empires, sparked the crisis of the British and French colonial empires, and led to the rise of the United States of America as the dominant world power.
The module will go beyond the traditional foci of 1914-1918 because the war was not only fought on the Western front, but also in Eastern Europe where the war went over into civil wars and interstate wars of newly established nation states. There, fighting came to an end only in the early 1920s and gave birth to Fascism and Totalitarianism in many European societies.
Since the First World War was the first "industrial" or "total" war, the module will go beyond traditional military and political factors, rather address the new culture of war and politics, and in general emphasise questions of social, economic, and cultural change.
1. Conceptualize the First World War as part of a larger historical process, understanding the manifold reasons of its origins, its different facets, and its consequences and global significance for the 20th Century.
2. Familiarize students with the secondary literature about the First World War, different methodological approaches and interpretations.
3. Familiarize students with different kinds of sources of the war and how to interpret them.
1. Develop an awareness of the complexity of historical phenomena and of the interaction of different factors that shape them.
2. Enhance analytical skills through the critical evaluation of primary and secondary sources.
3. Improve organizational skills by planning and carrying out an in-depth analytical survey of the literature on a given topic.
4. Enhance research and communication skills.
General reading list:
Horne, John (Ed.), A Companion to World War I, Chichester 2010.
Winter, Jay (Ed.), The Cambridge History of the First World War, Cambridge 2014.
Sondhaus, Lawrence, World War I: the Global Revolution, Cambridge 2011.
Chickering, Roger & Stig Förster (Eds.), Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918, Washington D. C. 2000.
Gerwarth, Robert & Erez Manela, Empires at War: 1911-1923, Oxford 2014.
This module does not appear to have a published bibliography for this year.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Felix Schnell, email: fschnell@essex.ac.uk.
Belinda Waterman, Department of History, 01206 872313
Yes
Yes
No
Dr Miriam Dobson
University of Sheffield
Reader
Available via Moodle
Of 40 hours, 40 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s).
Disclaimer: The University makes every effort to ensure that this information on its Module Directory is accurate and up-to-date. Exceptionally it can
be necessary to make changes, for example to programmes, modules, facilities or fees. Examples of such reasons might include a change of law or regulatory requirements,
industrial action, lack of demand, departure of key personnel, change in government policy, or withdrawal/reduction of funding. Changes to modules may for example consist
of variations to the content and method of delivery or assessment of modules and other services, to discontinue modules and other services and to merge or combine modules.
The University will endeavour to keep such changes to a minimum, and will also keep students informed appropriately by updating our programme specifications and module directory.
The full Procedures, Rules and Regulations of the University governing how it operates are set out in the Charter, Statutes and Ordinances and in the University Regulations, Policy and Procedures.