HITLER AND THE NAZI ERA
History 4341
Winter Semester 2006
MWF 9-12, P-165 and remote sites
California State University, Stanislaus

Instructor: Dr. R. Weikart
Office: C 118 E
Office Telephone: 667-3522
Office Hours: 12:05-1:30 MWF & by appointment
e-mail: rweikart@csustan.edu
webpage: www.csustan.edu/history/faculty/weikart


Course Description

This course explores in depth Hitler, fascist ideology, the Nazi rise to power, totalitarian rule and its consequences, including the Holocaust and World War II in Europe.

Objectives

At the completion of this course, students should be able to:

• define fascism and Nazism;
• compare and contrast the various interpretations of the Nazi era, such as the functionalist and intentionalist views, and defend their own perspective;
• discuss the major figures and events of the Nazi period.

Texts

Ian Kershaw, Hitler (1991)
Eberhard Jäckel, Hitler's World View: A Blueprint for Power (1981)
Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men (1992)
"German History Sources" (GHS) - www.csustan.edu/History/Faculty/Weikart/gerhist.htm

Recommended (but not required) reading:

Richard Weikart, From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany (2004), especially Introduction and ch. 11. (on reserve in the library)

Assignments and Grading

There will be two essay exams and one major paper required for this course. In addition, students are expected to participate in class discussion, which will focus on the assigned reading. Grades will be calculated as follows:

Exams - 30% each
Paper - 30%
Discussion and Attendance - 10%

Grades will be assigned numerically according to the following scale:

A = 92.50-100 A- = 90.00-92.49 B+ = 87.50-89.99 B = 82.50-87.49 B- = 80.00-82.49 C+ = 77.50-79.99

C = 72.50-77.49 C- = 70.00-72.49 D+ = 67.50-69.99 D = 62.50-67.49 D- = 60.00-62.49 F = 0-59.99

Cr/NC grading option is possible only if you sign up for it before university cutoff date.

Schedule

Please read the assigned passages before the assigned date, for we will discuss them in class on those days. NOTE: A few days have rather heavy reading, so plan for that.

Jan. 4 - Intro.; Hitler's Childhood & Youth (up to 1918)

Jan. 6- World War I and Aftermath to Beer Hall Putsch

GHS, "Armistice Demands," "Versailles Treaty (excerpts)," Ludendorff, "On Overcoming"

Jan. 9 - Hitler's World View

Kershaw, Intro. & ch. 1; Jäckel, all; GHS, "Nazi 25- Point Program"; Hitler, "First Anti-Semitic Writing"; "Mein Kampf (excerpt on race)"

Jan. 11 - How the Nazis Came to Power, 1923-33

Kershaw, ch. 2; GHS, Hitler, "Mein Kampf (excerpt on propaganda)"; "Horst Wessel Song"; Goebbels, "Why Do We Want to Join the Reichstag?"

Jan. 13 - Consolidating Power, 1933-34; Politics

Kershaw, ch. 3; GHS, "Enabling Act"

Jan. 18 - Popularity, Propaganda, and Economics

Kershaw, chs. 4-5; GHS, Goebbels, "German Women"; Goebbels, "Our Hitler"

Jan. 20 - Exam; Religion

GHS, "Barmen Declaration"; Pope Pius XI, "Mit Brennender Sorge"

Jan. 23 - Eugenics, Racism, and Antisemitism before World War II

GHS, "Civil Service Law"; "Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health"; Gross, "National Socialist Racial Policy"; "Nuremberg Laws" (both); "Crystal Night at the Dinkslagen Orphanage"

Jan. 25 - Police State and Resistance

Jan. 27 - Foreign Policy and Outbreak of WW I

Kershaw, ch. 6; GHS, "Anti-Comintern Pact"; "Hossbach Memorandum"; "Munich Pact" (and annex); "Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact" (with Secret Protocol); Hitler, "War Directive," "Speech to Reichstag (Sept. 1, 1939)"; "Franco-German Armistice"

Jan. 30 - Operation Barbarossa & End of World War II

Kershaw, ch. 7 & Conclusion; GHS, "Commissar Order"; Reichenau, "German Field Marshall Instructs"; Hitler, "Private and Political Testaments"

Feb. 1 - Holocaust

Browning, all; GHS, "Order Authorizing 'Euthanasia'"; "Wannsee Protocol"; Himmler, "Speech before SS Group Leaders"; Hoess, "Autobiography"; Video: Genocide; PAPER DUE

Feb. 3 @ 9AM - FINAL EXAM

Graduate students will be expected to complete additional assignments as explained on a handout.

Directions for Paper Assignment

Many individuals and groups actively supported Hitler, while some resisted. I want you to examine the role of a single individual in Nazi Germany (or occupied territory). The following is a list of suggested individuals that you might choose:

Nazi leaders: Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Hermann Goering, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Adolf Eichmann, Martin Bormann, Rudolf Hess, Ernst Röhm, Josef Goebbels, Wilhelm Frick, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Gertrud Scholz-Klink, Baldur Schirach, Robert Ley, Heinrich Müller, Theodor Eicke, Rudolf Höss, Dietrich Eckart, Anton Drexler, Albert Speer, Hans Frank, Roland Freisler, Konstantin von Neurath, Hjalmar Schacht, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Gregor Strasser

Military leaders: Ludwig Beck, Werner von Blomberg, Wilhelm Canaris, Erwin Rommel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, Erich Raeder

Other politicians and leaders: Erich von Ludendorff, Franz von Papen, Paul von Hindenburg, Alfred Hugenberg, Pius XI, Pius XII

Collaborators: Philippe Pétain, Vidkun Quisling

Resisters: Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Bishop Clemens August von Galen, Martin Niemöller, Carl Goerdeler, Klaus von Stauffenberg, Victor Klemperer, Helmuth James von Moltke, Hans Scholl

Intellectuals and scientists: Werner von Braun, Martin Heidegger, Max Planck, Werner von Heisenberg, Alfred Ploetz, Eugen Fischer, Fritz Lenz

Since I only want one person working on each topic, you must get your topic cleared by me. You may choose an individual not on the list, but you must get my permission.

Answer the following questions: 1) To what extent did this individual support Hitler and the Nazi regime? 2) If they supported Nazism, how ideologically committed were they to Nazism? 3) If they rejected Nazism, what was the ideological basis for this opposition? 3) Why did they support (or reject) Nazism? 4) How effective was their support or opposition?
Your paper should be 8-10 pages in length. Please state a clear thesis in the introduction. You must use the books we read in class as well as my lectures as sources, but I also want you to use some outside sources (at least 3 books). Some important works that might be helpful are listed below; I have put them on reserve, so everyone can have access to them. For students at Stockton and other remote sites, if you can find some of these sources at libraries in your area, that is wonderful; but if not, I do not require that these sources be used. Simply use the best sources you have available to you. There are many other relevant works in the library. Please cite all information (not just direct quotations, though these must also be cited, of course) derived from books or other sources, though you do not need to cite material from class lectures.
The paper must be typed and double-spaced. Some other requirements: 1) Please paginate. 2) Do not use contractions in formal writing. 3) Write this as though your audience is a fellow group of students who are intelligent, but do not know a great deal about your subject.
I am willing to look at and critique theses and outlines of your papers if you can give them to me far enough in advance of the due date.
Failure to follow these guidelines will result in lower grades. Although content and use of sources will weigh more heavily in the grading, the use of incorrect grammar, mechanics, and spelling will result in a lower grade, so please proofread and use a computer spellcheck if possible. Late papers will also be penalized one letter grade and will not be accepted after the final exam, unless due to sickness or an emergency (I may require written verification).

last updated by R. Weikart on 1-3-06