History 514.03

British History in “The Long Twentieth Century”:

The Heyday of Empire to the Rise of New Labour

Monday-Wednesday, 10:30-12:18, Stillman Hall, Room 145

The Ohio State University

Fall Quarter 2004

Professor Jennifer Siegel

220 Dulles Hall

2-0314

siegel.83@osu.edu

http://people.cohums.ohio-state.edu/siegel83/

Office Hours: Thursdays, 12:30-2:00 p.m., or by appointment

This course will deal with Britain’s domestic and imperial policies and culture from the heyday of Victoria’s empire in the 1870s to the rise of New Labour in the 1990s. The chief purpose of this course will be to understand how and why British society worked, what its people believed, and how it related to the world at large. We will ask how such a relatively small island-state rose to a position of global pre-eminence, what policies it pursued during the age of empire, and how these policies reflected its special interests. We will discuss the evolution of British political, economic, and social systems during the height of Britain’s imperial period.

We will then explore how a country that had been the leading nation in world affairs in the nineteenth century found itself by the 1960s economically, militarily and territorially reduced to second tier status. We will examine Britain’s roles in the two world wars, and discuss the consequences of these conflicts on the British social, economic and political structures. We will attempt to understand the effect of decolonization and the retreat from world power on British society. We will discuss Britain’s struggle to find its place in post war Europe and the world and the relationship between domestic and foreign policy throughout the century. Finally, we will look at Britain as it prepared for the twenty-first century.

Course Requirements:

Late work will not be accepted without prior agreement of instructor.

Attendance. You are required to attend the weekly lectures and be responsible for the material covered in them. Please come to class on time so that you do not cause unnecessary disruption for your fellow classmates. Please also do not leave class before the class is dismissed. Attendance will be taken. If you miss more than three sessions over the course of the quarter, your final grade will be dropped 1/3 of a letter grade for each additional day missed. More than five total absences will result in automatic failure of the course. The only exceptions to this policy will be made for medical or legal emergencies. In accordance with departmental policy, the student will be expected to present proof of the emergency, such as an official statement from the University Medical Center. 

Active participation in in-class discussions covering the readings and lectures. Readings are expected to be completed by the Monday of the week following the assignment.

One map quiz, 4 October.

Two short papers, 2-3 pages in length, due 11 October and 8 November. Complete instructions are attached at the end of syllabus. Questions for the paper will be distributed in class one week before the papers are due.

One in-class midterm exam, covering up to the outbreak of World War II. (27 October)

One final examination. (Thursday, 9 December, 7:30-9:18 AM).

[The midterm and the final will follow the same format. There will be a section of identifications, a short answer question drawing upon your understanding of the reading, and one longer, comprehensive essay question.]

Midterm: 35%; Final: 40%; Papers: 20%; Map Quiz and Discussions: 5%

Policies:

(1) Examinations and Quizzes: You must take the exams and quizzes at the scheduled time. Students will be allowed to take a make-up exam only for urgent reasons, such as a medical or legal emergency. In accordance with departmental policy, the student will be expected to present proof of the emergency, such as an official statement from the University Medical Center. If you need to take a make-up exam, you must submit your proof of emergency to the professor within 9 days of the scheduled exam.

(2) Grade complaints must be made in writing and only after 24 hours have passed after grades are distributed.

(3) Academic dishonesty: Papers and exams must represent the work of the student alone. Plagiarism or cheating will result in a failing grade on the assignment and other penalties determined by university regulations. Plagiarism cases will be referred to the appropriate University committee on academic misconduct without exception. Information on plagiarism can be found at http://cstw.osu.edu/, particularly at http://cstw.osu.edu/writing_center/handouts/index.htm. See also the paper assignment at end of syllabus. Students are encouraged to consult with the professor if they are uncertain about the proper use of sources.

(4) In accordance with departmental policy, all students must be officially enrolled in the course by the end of the second full week of the quarter. No requests to add the course will be approved by the department chair after that time. Enrolling officially and on time is solely the responsibility of each student.

(5) Please turn of cell-phones at the beginning of class.

*All students with disabilities who need accommodations should see the professor privately during my office hours to make arrangements. Please do so by the third week of class.*

Readings available for Purchase:

All readings for purchase available at SBX and on reserve in the Main Library

Arnstein, Walter. Britain Yesterday and Today.

Kureishi, Hanif. The Buddha of Suburbia,

Orwell, George. The Road to Wigan Pier,

Robbins, Keith. Churchill, Profile in Power.

Ward, Candace, ed. World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others.

Course Sessions and Readings:

Week I:

22 September—Introduction and Victoria’s World: Britain at Home and Abroad

Readings for Week I:

Walter Arnstein, pp. 137-172.

Week II:

27 September—Painting the World Pink

29 September— The Edwardians and the Dawn of New Era

Readings for Week II:

Arnstein, pp. 173-243

Modern History Sourcebook: Capt. F. D. Lugard: The Rise of Our East African Empire, 1893 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1893lugard.html

Modern History Sourcebook: The Earl of Cromer: Why Britain Acquired Egypt in 1882, (1908) http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1908cromer.html

Indian History Sourcebook: Field Marshal Lord Roberts: When Queen Victoria Became Empress of India, 1877 http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/1877empressvictoria.html

Week III:

4 October— Map Quiz; Britain and the Origins of World War I

6 October— Britain at War

Readings for Week III:

Candace Ward, ed. World War One British Poets: Brooke, Owen, Sassoon, Rosenberg and Others.

Arnstein, pp. 244-277.

Week IV:

11 October— Paper Due on World War One British Poets; The Consequences of Peace for Britain:

13 October— The Rise of Labour

Readings for Week IV:

George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier, part I.

Arnstein, pp. 278-300.

Week V:

18 October— The Turbulent 20s and 30s

20 October—Britain and the Origins of World War II

Readings for Week V:

Orwell, part II.

Arnstein, pp. 301-337.

Week VI:

25 October—Britain Once Again at War

27 October—Midterm, Covering up to Outbreak of WWII

Readings for Week VI:

Keith Robbins, Churchill, Profile in Power, pp. 1-114.

Arnstein, pp. 338-359.

Week VII:

1 November—“Mrs. Miniver”

3 November—The Consequences of the War and the Imperial Retreat

Readings for Week VII:

Robbins, pp. 115-172.

Arnstein, pp. 360-387.

Week VIII:

8 November—Paper Due on Churchill; Decolonization at Home and Abroad

10 November—The Shifting 60s

Readings for Week VIII:

Arnstein, pp. 391-417.

Paul Kennedy, “Why Did the British Empire Last So Long?” in Strategy and Diplomacy, 1870-1945, pp. 197-218. [on-line course reserves]

Wm. Roger Lewis, “The Dissolution of the British Empire,” in Judith M. Brown and Wm. Roger Lewis, eds., The Twentieth Century, vol. iv of The Oxford History of the British Empire. [on-line course reserves]

Week IX:

15 November—The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (110 minutes)

17 November—The Stormy 70s

Readings for Week IX:

Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia, “In the Suburbs,” pp. 3-121.

Arnstein, pp. 418-439.

Week X:

22 November—The Conservative Resurgence and the Thatcher Revolution

24 November—Lecture Topic TBA

Readings for Week X:

Hanif Kureishi, The Buddha of Suburbia, “In the City,” pp. 125-284.

Arnstein, pp. 443-467.

Week XI:

29 November—The Pursuit of Post-Thatcherism

1 December—New Labour and Britain on the Eve of the 21st Century

Readings for Week XI:

Arnstein, pp. 468-482.

Thursday, 9 December, 7:30-9:18 AM: Final Exam

History 514.03

British History in “The Long Twentieth Century”:

The Heyday of Empire to the Rise of New Labour

GENERAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

Fall 2004

All papers and assignments must be turned in at THE BEGINNING OF CLASS on the day they are due, unless you are otherwise instructed. Papers and assignments that are submitted after the professor has begun teaching will be considered late, with no exceptions. Late work will be penalized one-third of a letter-grade per day. Electronic submissions will not be allowed without the prior agreement of the professor.

You will be graded on your writing style and grammar as well as the content of your paper. Be sure to proofread and edit thoroughly before turning in your paper. Margins should not be smaller than one-inch. Fonts should be serif and 12 point. Lines must be double-spaced. Your pages must be numbered (no number on the first page of text) and there must be a title page. Your paper must have a bibliography and footnotes, (not parenthetical citations) and your citations must follow either the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA Handbook, or Kate Turabian’s A Guide for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations. Guidelines for the use of the Chicago style, including online sources, can be seen at the addresses below. The first is for footnotes, the second is for bibliographic entries.

http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/Port7c.intextChHu.html

http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/PORT/Port7c.bibliographicChSS.html

(If you do not know what serif fonts are, or parenthtetical citations, please ask the professor! There is no penalty for asking questions. There is a penalty for ignoring the instructions.)

I urge you to always be extremely vigilant in crediting your sources. As The Ohio State University Code of Student Conduct outlines: “Plagiarism is the representation of another’s work or ideas as one’s own; it includes the unacknowledged word-for-word use and/or paraphrasing of another person’s work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person’s ideas.” Plagiarism is considered to be academic misconduct, which will result in disciplinary action. Anything that is not an original idea, the product of original research, or common knowledge (such as “World War I began in 1914”) needs documentation, including information that you have gleaned from your class notes.

The University Committee on Academic Misconduct has provided the following page, which contains numerous websites dealing with plagiarism and how to avoid it:

http://oaa.osu.edu/coam/prevention.html

---