Enrichment Classes Spring 2007
The Third Reich
This will be an intensive course
about the Third Reich, its origins, Hitler and other Nazi leaders, the
opposition to Hitler within Germany, the Second World War from the
German perspective, and of course the Holocaust. We will also
look closely at the end of the war and the division of Germany.
We will be thinking a great deal about the nature of the Third Reich as
a totalitarian regime. Reading will be what you make it.
General
Resources
The Wikipedia entry on "Nazi Germany" is an excellent general site
which you can use as a kind of "textbook" for the course. Wikipedia
also has entries for all the major persons and events involved.
Please use it to fill in background information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Germany
More extensive is Steve Schoenherr's outstanding "World War II
Timeline." It consists of an in-depth timeline of hundreds of
webpages and links. It takes up the story in 1917, so it is a
great start for understanding the history of the twentieth
century. Schoenherr teaches History at the University of San
Diego. One of the pages here is a specific assignment below.
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/start.html
The German Propaganda Archive is an outstanding site which you should
feel free to browse around. This site is maintained by Professor
Randall at Calvin College.
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/
Schedule
26 Jan—Introduction/Some Deep Origins of the Third Reich: German Unification, Social Darwinism,
Anti-Semitism, War Socialism
2 Feb—World War I and Adolf
Hitler: Kleiner Mann, was
nun?
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/warone.htm
9 Feb—The Founding of the National
Socialist Party (NSDAP)
Platform of the National Socialist German
Workers' Party, 1919
16 Feb—Depression, Gridlock, and the
"Seizure of Power"
Look at the short streaming newsreel video of Hitler before he came to
power:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005141
23 Feb—The Third Reich in
Action: Focus on the 1936 Olympics
Read the fascinating story in excellent illustrated narrative by the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/olympics/
In fact, this narrative is part of a bigger HSHMM site on the
Olympics. If you go to the page below, there are many
accompanying film clips etc.
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/olympics1936/
This is an excellent site, not to be missed. But give it
time: to read and look at the whole thing, I would estimate an
hour minimum. For those interested in the whole Nazi story, all
the timelines and explanations are absolutely necessary.
2 Mar—The Outbreak of World War II
This general reading on Germany and the outbreak of the war is from the
HistoryGuide.org
http://www.historyguide.org/europe/lecture11.html
9 Mar—Focus on Operation Barbarossa
The Barbrarossa page from the World War II timeline is outstanding,
with links to maps, battle plans, etc.
http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/ww2Timeline/BARBAROS.HTML
and don't forget the Wikipedia entry on Barbarossa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Barbarossa
16 Mar—The Holocaust
For a good short view, look back at the 1936 Olympics narrative
above. For more in-depth information, browse the website of the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:
http://www.ushmm.org/
especially the site just for students:
http://www.ushmm.org/education/forstudents/
23 Mar—Germany Collapses
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/berlin.htm
30 Mar—Defeat and Occupation
Read this eyewitness account of the fall of Berlin:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/berlin.htm
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