070337 SE Tom(my) and Jerry: Life and Death on the Western Front 1914-1918 (2011W)

This seminar deals with the participation of Great Britain (and its empire) in the first of the two great wars of the twentieth century. England or Britain always had an interest in ensuring that no one power would gain supremacy on the Continent and intervened militarily on several occasions to contain the expansionism of absolute states like France or Spain, and later Germany. The crucial strategic starting position for Britain was that no hostile power should control the Low Countries (Holland and Belgium), more specifically their coastal regions. With a continental enemy controlling the coastline of northern France or Belgium, Britain was threatened directly: by a direct invasion or by the dangers to British shipping in the Channel and Britain’s trade routes, the basis for her wealth. Britain’s entry into the First World War had its roots in the breach of Belgian neutrality by the invading German army. The war was won and lost on the Western Front in northern France and Belgium, and the “side-shows”, operations against the enemy in the Middle East, were of secondary importance. The seminar will examine British/German military strategy, major offensives, the lives of the soldiers, new military technology, the political and social situation at home, military justice and remembrance cultures. The seminar is also a preparation for an historical excursion to the Ieper (Ypres) region of Belgium, scene of the bloodiest battles of WW1, to be conducted by Doz. McLoughlin in May 2012.