History 351 - World War Two – Fall 2015
Instructor: Rob Kirchubel - rkirchub@purdue.edu
Office: REC 419, by appointment
I. Overview: History 351 is a military history course. As in the real world where the
military does not exist in a vacuum - separate from politics, economics, culture and other
considerations – so it is with military history. While the majority of the course will deal
with military operations, personalities and technologies, we will also cover the major
combatants’ diplomacy (which does not automatically end once the shooting begins),
domestic politics, home fronts, genocide and occupation policies.
History 351 and 349 (WW I, Spring 2016) will treat the period 1914-1945 as a
modern Thirty Years War, therefore both will deal with the interwar period. Unlike
WWI, fought mainly in Europe, WWII was truly global. Armies fought on the Arctic
Circle, deserts and jungle islands. The war at sea was dominated by submarines below the
surface and naval aviation above. Military aircraft included jet fighters and strategic
bombers riding the jet stream. Ultimately, WWII ushered in the nuclear age.
Although there are no prerequisites for our course, before we begin students
should be familiar with the history of the first third of the twentieth century and with
world geography. As with any specialized discipline, military history has its own
vocabulary: students will learn to distinguish between admirals and colonels, corps and
squadrons or battleships and cruisers. Military history also has specialized tools: students
will become comfortable with those two-dimensional representations of the earth’s
surface known as maps – I will use many maps.
War is a terrible thing and our course is not meant to glorify it. The World Wars
were tremendously destructive so students must accept death on a massive, almost
abstract scale. Casualties, measured in thousands or tens of thousand per day were the
principal currency of both conflicts, completely dwarfing America’s losses on 9/11 and in
Afghanistan/Iraq.
II. Objectives: At the conclusion of this course students will understand:










Distinctive features of the major combatants.
Underlying and immediate causes of WW II.
War’s opening moves and reasons for Axis success through 1942.
Secondary theaters such as north Africa and mainland Asia.
The transitional year of 1942.
War’s effect on the home front, “battles” for food and production, role of women.
American, British and Soviet strategic conferences.
The Allies’ strategic bombing campaigns.
The decisive years 1943-44.
Allied victory and the beginning of the Cold War.
III. Daily Schedule: See separate spreadsheet.
IV. Text: H.P. Willmott, The Great Crusade, Revised Edition, ISBN-13: 978-1597971911
V. Grading: We will play hard (few things are as fun and rewarding as studying military
history!) and work hard (the American education system requires periodic feedback from
students to measure learning: grades). Since this is a 300-level course I assume that all of
you are here because you want to be, not because you need to “check the box” by taking
some humanities course (bad assumption?). The major elements of grading are:
A. “Staff Studies,” 31% of course grade (cumulative, and the only group work allowed):
At four times during the semester I will divide the class into national groups (using
Blackboard). I will give you a strategic, operational, diplomatic, economic, etc. problem
to discuss and solve according to the rubric that I will provide. At four times during the
semester each group will turn in a written “staff study” with your findings.
B. Book analysis, 14% each: Every student will READ TWO PAIRS of books listed
below, write a comparative analysis of each pair based on a rubric that I will provide and
submit it on Blackboard. Specifically the book pairings are:
(i) Students interested in reading about Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan should
choose, Richard Evans, The Third Reich at War and Aaron Moore, Constructing East
Asia.
(ii) Students interested in micro histories of land combat (in this case the NaziSoviet War) should read Jeff Rutherford, Combat & Genocide on the Eastern Front and
Norman Davies, Rising ’44.
(iii) Students interested in reading war memoirs should choose Jean Guehenno,
Diary of the Dark Years, 1940-1944 and Elena Kockina, Blockade Diary.
(iv) Students interested in the United States at war should Kenneth Davis, FDR:
The War President and David Roll, The Hopkins Touch: Harry Hopkins and the
Forging….
(v) Students who want to learn about WWII in the air should read Randall
Hansen, Fire & Fury: Allied Bombing of Germany and Herman Wolk, Cataclysm:
General Hap Arnold and the Defeat of Japan.
(vi) Students who want to read about WWII at sea should choose Bernard Ireland,
Battle of the Atlantic and Edwin Hoyt, How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz…
C. Exams: Exams will be made up of objective (fill in the blank, etc) and subjective
(essay) questions. I will determine exam format, hard copy or online, with your input.
You will have three mid-terms (9% each) and one mid-term/final exams (14%, date
TBD). By “mid-term/final” I mean that the mid-term portion will cover material since the
third mid-term plus have questions to tie together the entire course.
D. Extra credit: Can be book review, research project, etc., approved ahead of time (topic
and outline due to me beforehand), must be submitted on Blackboard and is worth a
maximum of 10% of the course grade.
VI. Course Policies: Class behavior will be judged by my standards of adult courtesy
and mutual respect. Unfortunately, a small number of students make the following
caveats necessary: Arrive in class on time, prepared, well rested, with all personal drama
on hold for 75 minutes. Do not start “closing shop” 5-10 minutes before the end of class.
Do not risk possible humiliation by texting, falling asleep, etc. in class. If you must leave
class early, be sure to sit near an aisle and door so you keep disruption to a minimum.
As it is elsewhere at Purdue, we will conduct all substantive communication via email;
always follow-up with an email.
Attendance is expected but I will not take roll. Absences from class are your business, I
will not ask you about an absence nor do I want you to “explain” it to me. Pay close
attention to the course schedule for important dates and plan ahead. Do not miss an exam;
make arrangements with me to take it ahead of time instead. Thanks to modern
technology you can submit assignments on time regardless of where you happen to be or
what you are doing. Late work will be penalized. However, if you will be absent on
school business, such as ROTC, sports, band, etc., do tell me in advance.
Learning is a participatory endeavor. Even though our class is technically a lecture,
student participation is encouraged. Actively listen to lectures and read course materials.
Feel free to initiate discussions and ask questions during class. Each class period I will
ask if students have questions and this is not an insincere gesture.
A final word on cheating and plagiarism: don’t. Make sure all work that you submit is
yours. You should all know that there are many technologies to detect intellectual
dishonesty. Dishonest work will earn a “zero” and may lead to further consequences.
Disclaimer: In the event of a major campus emergency, the above requirements,
deadlines and grading policies are subject to changes.