Discussion Questions
January 20, 2009
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.
- In Marwick's description of the
German home front experience, what does it have in common with the home front
experience of Allied countries such as Canada or Britain? What elements
of the German home front experience would have been unique?
- Given the kinds of
expectations indicated in the various readings, what kind of
"pressures" do you think the homefront civilian would feel?
What kind of atmosphere or general feeling would have existed on the
homefront?
- 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?
What does Beckett mean when he refers to "the limits" of the voluntary spirit?
- *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 were the three major components
which comprised the "lost generation" argument?
- What does Winter tell us about the
motivation for participation in Britain? Does it vary according to
class, occupation, etc., and if so, how?
- How did casualties vary according to
class and occupation? What were the differences, and why?
- What was the most significant or
startling statistic you found in Winter's article?
- How have this week's readings added to, or modified, your
understanding of the concept known as 'total 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.)