Discussion Questions
January 17, 2006
Please note: Not all the readings will have specific
questions attached to them. However they all need to be read and they
will
be part of the weekly discussion. Be certain to pay attention to the
visual sources.
- "The war seemed to mark the beginning of a sexual
revolution, and yet there at times appeared to be little change in that
respect." Comment.
- *What were the factors
which could have/would have contributed to the level of social change argued
by Marwick?
- What does the letter from My Dear Poilus suggest
about the nature of the war experience? Why has it been included as
part of the readings?
- What are the explanations for the enthusiasm for
participation in the war demonstrated in the first year of war? Is
there any commonality of explanation or experience?
- *In the context of war,
what is free will? To what extent is the individual able to exercise
his or her free will? What are the factors or circumstances by which
individual free will is circumscribed?
- *What is
'patriotism'? What attitudes, beliefs, etc. comprise this concept?
- *How is participation in
the war justified by countries and/or individual participants? What is
common and what is unique?
- What is 'total war' according to Winter? Do you
agree or disagree with his argument?
- How would you describe Punch
as a social commentator? According to Punch, what is the
relationship of war to the homefront and to social change? What is Punch's
'point'? What is the value of this type of source for the
historian?
- In Buying and
Selling the War, how is the civilian population convinced to support the
war financially? (ie themes, emotions, arguments, etc.) Is there a
commonality which links the various nations in this aspect of the war?
- What does Images
of the Homefront tell us about the nature of the war experience on the
homefront?
**Wider Questions and Themes
In addition to the specific questions each week we will be
considering throughout the term some wider questions and themes which cut across
each week's readings. The questions above which are marked with *
represent themes or wider questions that we will be coming back to
throughout this course. Some themes (certainly not all) to be considered
include:
- the 'commonality' of experience, which could be defined
by gender, nationality, etc.
- the uniqueness of experience
- war as an element for social, political, or economic
change
- change and continuity (history is not only about what
changes, but equally important, about what does not change)
- why has this source been included in the readings?
(While perhaps sometimes mystifying, you should ask yourself this question
for all the material in this course. In asking that, what you are
doing is attempting to understand what that source tells us about the nature
of war and the impact of war on society. See question #3 above.)