CHST 603
HISTORY OF THE THIRD REICH
Course Outline – Summer 2008
INSTRUCTOR:
OFFICE:
INSTRUCTOR PHONE:
INSTRUCTOR E-MAIL:
WEBSITE:
LECTURES:
Peter Wronski
JOR 510 (Mon & Wed 12:45 – 1:15 & 5:15 – 5:45)
(416) 979-5000 x.6058
pwronsky@ryerson.ca [best way to contact]
http://www.petervronsky.com/thirdreich.htm OR
www.russianbooks.org/thirdreich.htm
Mon & Wed, 9:00 A.M. – 12:50 P.M. EPH441
The Chang School Office Hours:
Phone: (416) 979-5035
Mon-Thurs 8:00am – 7:00pm
Friday
8:00am – 4:30pm
COURSE DESCRIPTION / OBJECTIVE
More than sixty years after its destruction by the Allied armies, Hitler's Germany still manages to arouse
both controversy and curiosity. Was the Nazi state rooted in the German past, or rather the product of
modern crises that could overwhelm any nation? This course combines a chronological, biographical
and thematic approach to explaining the history of the Third Reich. The course covers Germany's
historical roots leading to the emergence of the National Socialist Party, the rise of Hitler and his
henchmen to power, the rise and fall of the Third Reich's totalitarian-racial police state and Nazi
criminality in warfare, occupation policy and genocide. (Upper-level liberal studies elective)
WARNING: Lectures may feature graphic images that some may find disturbing.
TEXTS (available at the Ryerson book store)
Klaus P. Fischer, Nazi Germany: A New History, (New York: Continuum, 1995.)
Christopher R. Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in
Poland, (New York: HarperPerennial, 1998.) [second edition]
METHOD OF STUDENT EVALUATION
Essay Proposal (250 words):
Mid-Term Test:
Essay (2500 words):
Final Exam:
Seminars:
10%
15%
30%
30%
15%
METHOD OF INSTRUCTION:
July 9
July 14
July 28
Aug 6
July 9; July 16; July 23
Lecture & Seminar
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TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE (see website for more lecture content)
(This schedule is compressed Summer 2008 to ten lectures plus exam.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Introduction to History of the Third Reich
Roots of the Third Reich
Struggle for Power
Seizure of Power
Consolidation of Power
Mid-Term Test (1 hr)/
Lectures
6. The Nazi Revolutionary State
7. From Appeasement to Blitzkrieg
8. Germany at Total War
9. The Making of the Racial State
10. The Final Solution
11. Fall of the Third Reich
12. Aftermath
13. Final Exam
1871 – 1919
1920 – 1932
1933 – 1934
1934 – 1939
(continued)
1933 – 1936
1936 – 1941
1941 – 1943
1933 – 1940
1941 – 1944
1944 – 1945 (last lecture)
1945 – 2005 (last lecture)
SEMINARS:
Three one-hour seminars will be held in the semester based on lecture material and assigned readings.
These will be held in the last hour of a regularly scheduled lecture period. Attendance is mandatory.
Seminar mark is 15% of the final grade and based on attendance and quality of participation.
Assignments:
Essay: A topic of your choice pertaining to the Third Reich. Suggested topics are posted on the
website. Contact me if you need further help or advise in choosing your topic. The essay should be
based on at least six sources, not including the course text book (but seminar readings are acceptable.)
There are two aspects of this essay:

Prior to writing your essay, you will submit a one page outline that clearly defines your approach
and a proposed annotated bibliography that describes your sources and their relevance to your
essay. You will be marked on the basis of originality and specificity of your subject matter and the
depth and currency of your sources. This is worth 10% of your grade.

Write an essay of 2,500 words (circa 10 pages 12 pt font) based on a topic of your choice
pertaining to the history of the Third Reich. It is worth 30% of your final grade.
Submission of Essays:
Essays must be typed. If this is a problem, please speak to me. Students should hand essays in directly to
the instructor. Late essays may be mailed in and a hard copy dropped off with the Chang School.
Students are responsible for ensuring that their essays have been received. Please keep copies of your
work.
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Deadlines and Penalties
Late work will be penalized by the deduction of 2% per day, including weekends. Extensions may be
granted on medical or compassionate grounds. Students requesting an extension should submit a written
request to me before the deadline. If this is not possible, students should be prepared to provide
appropriate documentation relating to the extension request (i.e. doctor’s note). No late work will be
accepted after the last day of lecture in the term.
References:
Essays MUST contain proper references, in the form of MLA/Chicago style footnotes or endnotes,
which include in the first citation the author, place, and date of publication of the work cited, as well as
the correct and exact page number, and for every subsequent citation, author and page number. As
a general rule, references should be given for direct quotations, summaries or paraphrases of other
people's work or points of view, and for material that is factual, controversial or obscure. WHEN IN
DOUBT, IT IS BETTER TO PROVIDE A REFERENCE. There are several acceptable citation
formats, but please make sure you follow one! Improper citations will result in lost marks.
See: www.aresearchguide.com/8firstfo.html for a guide to this style of citations.
This is an example of the required style for citations:
Jane Doe, The ABC's of History (Toronto: Ontario Publishers, 1997), pp. 20-21.
Jane Doe, p. 23
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Bibliographies:
Essays MUST provide bibliographies of all works consulted, whether or not they have been quoted
directly. An inadequate bibliography (for assignments as long as those above) is one which contains less
than four books or articles related to the topic, or books which are entirely general work or texts.
Dictionaries, atlases and/or encyclopedias DO NOT count towards this minimum number of sources,
and their inclusion should NOT be considered as constituting research. An example of a bibliographic
citation is as follows:
Smith, John. History Rules (Toronto: Ontario Publishers, 1997).
Deduction of Marks
The evaluation of your research, content, and argumentation is of primary concern in marking. Equally
important is the syntax or structure of your work. Marks will be deducted from work containing
excessive grammar/spelling mistakes, which is excessively long or inadequately short, or which fails to
provide proper footnoting/bibliography. Be sure to edit and check your work carefully. Do not simply
rely on your computer’s spelling or grammar check
.
Grounds for Failure
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Essays which do not supply proper and adequate references and bibliographies will be failed. Any
written work that quotes directly from other material without attribution, or which paraphrases extensive
tracts from the works of others, is plagiarized. It will receive no marks and there will be no chance to
resubmit. Please consult the Ryerson academic calendar for further information on plagiarism. If
you have any questions or doubts about how to cite material, please feel free to contact me.
Academic Integrity
For additional help, Ryerson now offers the Academic Integrity Website at
www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity. This offers students a variety of resources to assist in their research,
writing, and presentation of all kinds of assignments. It also details all dimensions of Academic
Misconduct and how to avoid it. It was put together by a team representing the Vice President
Academic, faculty, the library, Digital Media Projects, and Student Services.
NOTE: Every effort will be made to manage the course as stated. However, adjustments may be
necessary at the discretion of the instructor. If so, students will be advised and alterations discussed in
the class prior to implementation.
MISSED TERM WORK OR EXAMINATIONS:
Exemption or deferral of a term test or final examination is not permitted except for a medical or
personal emergency. The instructor must be notified by e-mail prior to the test and appropriate
documentation submitted. For absence on medical grounds an official student medical certificate must
be provided. This may be downloaded from the Ryerson website at www.ryerson.ca/rr or picked up
from The Chang School Office, Room JOR100.
Absence from mid-term examination or tests:
 Instructor must be notified by e-mail before the test
 Documentation must be presented at the next class
 Depending on course policy, the instructor may arrange a makeup or re-weigh the course
requirements
Absence from final exam:
 Instructor must be notified by e-mail before the examination.
 Documentation must be presented at The Chang School Office, Room JOR100, within three
working days.
 If the majority of the course work has been completed with a passing performance, and the
documentation is acceptable, an INC grade will be entered by the instructor. An INC grade will not
be granted if term work was missed or failed.
 The final examination must be written within four months after the submission of the incomplete
grade. Failure to do this will result in an F grade.
 It is the student’s responsibility to contact The Chang School Office at least two weeks prior to the
end of the following academic term to arrange to write the final exam.
COURSE REPEATS:
Academic Council GPA policy prevents students from taking a course more than three times. For
complete GPA policy see Policy #46 at http://www.ryerson.ca/acadcouncil/policies.html.
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