Fall 2020

World War II: European Theater, 4070

Syllabus

American and Soviet soldiers dance in the German village of Cobbelsdorf in April 1945, as their fellow fighters look on. This was one of the first
Soviet-American encounters in the closing stages of World War II. Getty Images.

Course Information:
World War II: European Theatre, 4070
Instructor: Dr. Vojin Majstorovic
Email: vojin.majstorovic@unt.edu
Lectures: Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-4:50 pm, Eagle Student Services Center (ESSC) 255
Office Hours: Wednesday 10:40 am-12:00 pm and by appointment. Meetings only via Zoom.
Zoom meeting ID: 921 9656 8473, Invite Link: https://unt.zoom.us/j/92196568473. Please email
me by 9:30 am on the day of office hours if you are planning to come.
Tutor: Constance Wallace, constancewallace@my.unt.edu. Office hours: Tuesday 11:00 - 12:00
pm (https://unt.zoom.us/j/96780602835) in Wooten Hall in the History Help Center from 8-1:00
pm on Thursdays.
Course Description:
A survey of the European experience of World War II, the defining conflict in modern history
that continues to cast its long shadow even into the 21st century. How did Germany, defeated in
World War I, vanquish much of Europe only twenty-years later? How did the Soviet Union,
after losing millions of troops and its most important territories, manage to come back from the
brink and completely reverse the German gains? Did the Axis have any chance of winning after
the USA entered the war, with its vast industrial and human resources? How did the Americans
and British plan and execute the largest sea-born invasion in history? How did millions of
European civilians experience the war – including the Holocaust, bombings, combat, and various
military occupations? What was the legacy of the war for postwar European society and
international relations?

In this course, we will answer these questions by looking at the military, diplomatic, political,
and social history of the war.

Course Requirements:
Article Review: 15%
Midterm exam: 15%
Source Review: 10%
Term paper: 30%
Final exam: 30%

The article review, 2 pages long, is due on October 5 by 3.30 pm. No outside research is
required. The goal of the review is to briefly summarize the content of the article and then
evaluate how successful it is as a study. Some questions to keep in mind when reading the article
and writing the review include: Does the author prove their thesis? What sources is the article
based on? What is the author’s contribution to our knowledge of the history of World War II?
Can you tell if the article is part of a larger academic discussion? If so, how does it add to it?
You must review one of the following articles:
- Geoffrey Roberts, “The Soviet Decision for a Pact with Nazi Germany,” Soviet Studies,
44.1 (1992): 57-78;
- P. E. Caquet, “The Balance of Forces on the Eve of Munich,” The International History
Review 40:1 (2018): 20-40;
- Elizabeth Kier, “Military ‘Culture’ and the Fall of France in 1940: A Review Essay,”
International Security, 24.4 (2000), 157-180.
- David Stahel, “The Wehrmacht and National Socialist Military Thinking,” War in
History 24.3 (2017): 336-361.

The midterm, on October 14, will be based on lectures and readings. You will take it on Canvas
during class time. It will consist of identifications (requiring paragraph-long answers), short-
answers (multiple-choice, matching, etc), and an essay question.

Source review, 1 page long, is due on November 9. A month before the deadline I will post on
Canvas up to four primary sources (such as a document, interview, letter, diary, or original film
footage) that you will analyze. Some questions to keep in mind when analyzing the sources are
the following: who is the author and audience of the document? Is the information found in the
source trustworthy? How does it change or enrich your understanding of historical events?

Term papers, 5-6 pages long, are due on November 25. You will write a comparative analysis
and review of 3 works on an aspect of World War II that interests you. One of your sources must
be a scholarly monograph (a single author academic book published by academic press). The
remaining two sources could be a combination of academic monographs, memoirs, primary
document collections (including interviews), films, or novels. You may use more than one
academic monographs, but you should use only one of each type of sources (one memoir, one
film, etc.) Proposals for papers are due on October 7. Your proposal should simply state your
topic and include a bibliography of your sources. I will approve your topic and sources or
indicate which ones you need to replace. You must keep the proposal and submit it with the term
paper.

The final exam is accumulative, and it will be based on lectures and readings from the
beginning of the course. It will consist of identifications, short-answers, and an essay question.
The final exam will be administered on Canvas on December 9, from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm.

All written work must be in Times New Roman Font, 12pt., double-spaced. You must use
Chicago-style citation format (here is the citation guide for Chicago style:
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html). Penalty for all
late work is 5% per calendar day.

Please note that you will take the midterm and the final exam on Canvas at a time specified
above. The tests are time-restricted. You may not be late for them any more than you could be
late for an exam in the classroom.

Required readings:
Frans Coetzee and Marilyn Shevin-Coetzee, The World in Flames: A World War II Sourcebook
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). The book is available in the UNT. All other readings
are available online.

Recommended reading:
Beevor, Antony. The Second World War. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2012. This
book will help you provide the context for required readings, which consist mostly of primary
sources. It is not required, but if you miss many lectures, I urge you to get Beevor’s book.

Attendance
The midterm and the final exam are based on lectures and readings, and you won’t be able to do
well without regularly coming to class. All lectures will be either streamed live on zoom or
uploaded on Canvas after the class. Regular attendance and participation are expected. Thus,
your physical presence in class is welcomed but not mandatory.

While attendance is expected, it is more important for all of us to be mindful of the health and
safety of everyone in our community, especially given concerns about COVID-19. Please contact
me if you are unable to attend class because you are ill, or unable to attend class due to COVID-
19 including symptoms, potential exposure, pending or positive test results, or if you have been
given specific instructions to isolate or quarantine from a health care provider or a local
authority. It is important that you communicate with me prior to being absent.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19 please seek medical attention from the
Student Health and Wellness Center (940-565-2333 or askSHWC@unt.edu) or your health care
provider PRIOR to coming to campus. UNT also requires you to contact the UNT COVID
Hotline at 844-366-5892 or COVID@unt.edu for guidance on actions to take due to symptoms,
pending or positive test results, or potential exposure. While attendance is an important part of
succeeding in this class, your own health, and those of others in the community, is more
important.

Face coverings
Face coverings are required in all UNT facilities. Students are expected to wear face coverings
during this class.

Class Recordings
Class sessions in this course will be recorded for students enrolled in this class section to refer to
throughout the semester. Class recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor and are
reserved for use only by students in this class and only for educational purposes. Students may
not post or otherwise share the recordings outside the class, or outside the Canvas Learning
Management System, in any form. Failing to follow this restriction is a violation of the UNT
Code of Student Conduct and could lead to disciplinary action.

Equipment that Students Need

To successfully participate in this course, students will need to have access to a reliable Internet
connection, access to a reliable computer or laptop with a microphone and speakers, and access
to Zoom.

Potential Change of Class Format

In case that the mode of instruction switches from in-person to online/remote delivery, the course
will continue in online format. In that case, the classes will be uploaded to Canvas or they may
be held “live” on Zoom.

Laptops and Cell Phones:

Laptops must only be used for taking notes, but the connection to the Internet must be turned off.
Anyone observed using their computer for purposes other than note-taking (messaging, surfing
the Internet even if related to the course) will not be permitted to use their laptop for the duration
of the course. Also, please ensure that cell phones are turned off and put away before you enter
the classroom. Smartphones cannot be used in class for any purpose and must be kept off the
tables. Students are not allowed to record lectures without the instructor’s permission.

Academic Integrity:
According to UNT Policy 06.003, Student Academic Integrity, academic dishonesty occurs when
students engage in behaviors including, but not limited to cheating, fabrication, facilitating
academic dishonesty, forgery, and plagiarism. A finding of academic dishonesty may result in a
range of academic penalties or sanctions ranging from admonition to expulsion from the
University.

Accommodation Statement:
UNT makes reasonable academic accommodation for students with disabilities. Students seeking
accommodation must first register with the Office of Disability Accommodation (ODA) to verify
their eligibility. If a disability is verified, the ODA will provide a student with an
accommodation letter to be delivered to faculty to begin a private discussion regarding one’s
specific course needs. Students may request accommodations at any time, however, ODA notices
of accommodation should be provided as early as possible in the semester to avoid any delay in
implementation. Note that students must obtain a new letter of accommodation for every
semester and must meet with each faculty member prior to implementation in each class. For
additional information see the ODA website at disability.unt.edu.

Emergency Notification & Procedures:

UNT uses a system called Eagle Alert to quickly notify students with critical information in the
event of an emergency (i.e., severe weather, campus closing, and health and public safety
emergencies like chemical spills, fires, or violence). In the event of a university closure, please
refer to Canvas for contingency plans for covering course materials.

Class Schedule/Syllabus
I reserve the right to make changes to the course schedule and syllabus with appropriate advance
notice. Readings noted for each topic should be read before the class meeting time

Class 1, August 24: Introduction

Class 2, August 26: The Legacy of World War I and the Versailles Treaty
- “Meet the Freikorps: Vanguard of Terror 1918-1923” (available on Canvas)

Class 3, August 31: The Nazis in Power

- Frank McDonough, Chapter 4 “The Ideology of Hitler and the Nazi Party,” pp. 50-65 in Hitler and the Rise of the
Nazi Party (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017) (available on Canvass)

Class 4, September 2: German Aggression and Appeasement throughout the 1930s

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 1-29; 38-40 (“Rethinking Armored Warfare”)

Class 5, September 9: Poland Falls

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp.30-35

Class 6, September 14: The Soviet-Finnish War, Fall of Scandinavia, France, and Low Countries
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 36-48

Class 7, September 16: The Battle of Britain

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 49-5; 281-283; 289-290

Class 8, September 21: The Italian Expansionism in the Balkans and North Africa
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 61-65; 87-90
Class 9, September 23: Operation Barbarossa
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 91-95

Class 10, September 28: The Battle of Moscow

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 96-101; 268-269

Class 11, September 30: From Moscow to Stalingrad

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 149-150; 194-195; 192-193; 285-286

Class 12, October 5: The Axis Defeat in Africa

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 141-148; 271-272
- Article review due

Class 13, October 7: The Battle of Atlantic and Allied Bombings of the Axis
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 159-178; 284-285
- Term paper proposal due

Class 14, October 12: Home Front

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 102-134; 139-140; 188-190; 296-297; 303-307

Class 15, October 14: Midterm Test

Class 16, October 19: Europe under the Nazis I: France, Low Countries, and Scandinavia
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 52-56

Class 17, October 21: Resistance and Genocide in Poland, Yugoslavia, and Greece
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 182-189; 308-315; 324-345

Class 18, October 26: Life and Death in the Axis-occupied Soviet Union
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 319-323
- Sonke Neitzel, Tapping Hitler's Generals: Transcripts of Secret Conversations: 1942-1945 trans. by Geoffrey
Brooks (St. Paul, MN : MBI, 2007), 184-191; 194-195; 230-231 (available on Canvas)

Class 19, October 28: The Axis lose initiative: The Kursk and the Fall of Italy
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 196-198

Class 20, November 2: Multinational and Multiracial Armies

- Watch interview with Lawrence Young, Sr., WWII African American veteran, part of Central Connecticut State
University Veterans History Project, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmwxp45M6dc; transcripts of the
interview can be found here, https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.76177/transcript?
ID=mv0001.

Class 21, November 4: Operation Bagration and the Red Army Summer & Autumn Offensives
of 1944
-Alexander V. Pyl’cyn, “Chapter 4: Operation Bagration” in Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal
Company Commander, 1943-1945 (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2009), 50-67 (available on Canvas)

Class 22, November 9: D-Day

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 198-203
- Source Review due
Class 23, November 11: From Normandy to Ardennes
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 272-275; 279-280
- David K. E. Bruce, “Diary Entry 24 August 1944,” in Voices of World War II: Contemporary Accounts of Daily
Life, ed. Priscilla Mary Roberts (Santa Barbara: GREENWOOD, 2012) 90-92 (available online through UNT library
catalog)

Class 24, November 16: Allied Armies Come Face to Face with Genocide
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 346-348; 351-353; 355-357

Class 25: November 18: German Collapse and Capitulation

-Antony Beevor, The Second World War (New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2012), 723-756 (available on
Canvas)

Class 26, November 23: Wartime Sexual Violence

- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 349-351
- Jeffrey Burds, “Sexual Violence in Europe in World War II, 1939—1945,” Politics & Society 37.1 (2009): 35-73.
(available through the UNT library catalog)

Class 27, November 25: Collaborators and Perpetrators after the War
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 359-362
- Tony Judt, “Retribution” (Chapter 2), pp. 41-62 taken from Postwar: a History of Europe since 1945 (available on
Canvass)
- Term paper due

Class 28, November 30: Memory and Relevance of the War Today (the lecture will be posted on
Canvas by 3:30pm, no in-person class)
- Coetzee and Shevin-Coetzee, pp. 386-388; 392-400

Class 29, December 2: Prep for the exam in the form of Q&A session on Zoom, attendance
voluntary