History 594

Wars of Empire:

Europe’s “Small Wars” of the 19th and early 20th Centuries

Tuesday-Thursday, 11:30-1:18

Arps Hall Room 383

The Ohio State University

Winter Quarter 2005

Professor Jennifer Siegel

220 Dulles Hall

2-0314

siegel.83@osu.edu

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

Office Hours: Tuesdays, 2:00-3:30 p.m., or by appointment

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Europe’s empires expanded madly. In 1800, Europe and its possessions covered approximately 55% of the globe; in 1878, 67%; and in 1914, Europe and its possessions covered 84.4% of the globe. This grand burst of imperial expansion was only achieved through great military effort. The wars of empire through which the modern European empires “pacified” the regions they conquered were considered to be “Small Wars,” because they were felt to be conflicts that were imbalanced, with well-trained, well-equipped regular troops on one side, and what one military theorist called “savages and semi-civilised races” on the other. In these military clashes of civilization vs. semi-civilization, “civilized” Europe was expected to easily triumph.

History tells a different tale, however. Time and time again, Europe’s great empires found themselves challenged and thwarted on the battlefields of Asia and Africa. This course will examine the means, methods, challenges and results of Europe’s military encounters with the indigenous forces who sought to push back the tide of imperial conquest. We will look at a number of examples from the histories of the British, French, Italian and Russian Empires, discussing both the military and imperial contexts of these struggles.

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 two 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 Thursday of each week.

Two papers: 3-5 page discussions of the historical accuracy and major themes of two out of the following: “Khartoum,” “Zulu,” or “Kavkazkii Plennik,” due in the week after the showing of each movie.

One in-class midterm exam. (10 February)

One take-home final examination, discussed below, due Tuesday, 15 March, at 4 pm.. The examination question will be distributed one week before the exam is due.

Midterm: 30%; Final: 40%; Papers: 20%; Discussions: 10%

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 me 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 me 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 off cell-phones at the beginning of class.

*All students with disabilities who need accommodations should see me 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

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, (1906)

Knight, Ian and Ian Castle. Zulu War.

Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman: From the Flashman Papers, 1839-1842.

Course Sessions and Readings:

Week I:

4 January—Introduction to Course: Why Empire?

6 January— The Conditions of “Small Wars”

Readings for Week I:

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 21-56.

Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman. (start)

Week II:

11 January— Themes of British Imperialism

13 January— Case Study I: The First Anglo-Afghan War

Readings for Week II:

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 57-114.

Fraser, George MacDonald. Flashman. (finish)

Week III:

18 January— Case Study III: Egypt and the Sudan

20 January— “Khartoum”

Readings for Week III:

Strachey, Lytton. “The End of General Gordon,” in Eminent Victorians (London: Penguin Books, 1986), pp. 189-267. [on-line reserve]

Alfred Egmont Hake: The Death of General Gordon at Khartoum, 1885: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/1885khartoum1.html

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

Week IV:

25 January— Case Study II: The Second Anglo-Afghan War (First Paper Due Date)

27 January— Case Study IV: The Zulu Wars

Readings for Week IV:

Knight, Ian and Ian Castle. Zulu War, pp. 1-129.

Week V:

1 February—“Zulu”

3 February—Case Study V: South Africa and the Boer War

Readings for Week V:

Knight, Ian and Ian Castle. Zulu War, pp. 130-213.

Packenham, Thomas. “The Boer War.” In A. Hamish Ion and E.J. Errington, eds. Great Powers and Little Wars: The Limits of Power. [on-line reserve]

“Queen Victoria Paints South Africa With Blood”: http://www.boondocksnet.com/cartoons/mcc236.html

Week VI:

8 February—Themes of French Imperialism (Second Paper Due Date)

10 February—Midterm (Covering everything up to and including 3 February)

Readings for Week VI:

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 115-194.

Jules Ferry (1832-1893), On French Colonial Expansion: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1884ferry.html

“Imperialism: A French Viewpoint”: http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/Ob38.html

Week VII:

15 February—Case Study V: The Occupation of Madagascar

17 February—Case Study VI: Morocco and the Siege at Zaatcha

Readings for Week VII:

Clayton, Anthony. “Hazou, Fazou, Tazou: Forest, Fire, and Fever—The French Occupation of Madagascar.” In A. Hamish Ion and E.J. Errington, eds. Great Powers and Little Wars: The Limits of Power. [on-line course reserves]

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 195-255.

Proclamation by the French Consulate-General, Tangier, [1862] http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php?op=viewarticle&artid=26

Week VIII:

22 February— Themes of Russian Imperialism

24 February—Case Study VII: The Tekke Turcoman and the Siege of Geok Tepe

Readings for Week VIII:

Lieven, Dominic. Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals. Chapters 6-7 (201-261). [on-line course reserves]

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 256-285.

Report of Edmond O'Donovan January 1881, Special correspondent of the "Daily News" January 1881: http://www.dogryyol.com/eng/print.php?article=552

“The Gorchakov Circular on Russia’s Mission in Central Asia, 1864” in James Cracraft, ed., Major Problems in the History of Imperial Russia, pp.409-411. [on-line course reserves]

Week IX:

1 March—Case Study VIII: Soviet Wars of Empire and the Russian Civil War

3 March—“Kavkazkii Plennik” (“Prisoner of the Mountains”)

Readings for Week IX:

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 286-347.

Tolstoy, Lev. “A Prisoner in the Caucasus.” In Tolstoy: Tales of Courage and Conflict. Charles Neider, ed. New York: Cooper Square Press, 1999, pp. 260-280. [on-line course reserves]

Week X:

8 March—Themes of Italian Imperialism (Third Paper Due Date)

10 March—Case Study IX: The Battle of Adowa

Readings for Week X:

Callwell, C.E. Small Wars. Their Principles and Practice, pp. 348-373, 442-480.

Final Exam:

There will be a take-home final exam that will combine a close reading of Callwell’s Small Wars with the themes and facts contained in the course lectures, readings, and discussions. The submitted exam should be composed following the guidelines set out in the general paper instructions. It will be due Tuesday, 15 March, by 4 pm, and should be submitted at 220 Dulles Hall.

History 594

Wars of Empire:

Europe’s “Small Wars” of the 19th and early 20th Centuries

GENERAL PAPER INSTRUCTIONS

Winter 2005

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 always be graded on your writing style and grammar as well as the content of your work. Be sure to proofread and edit thoroughly before turning in your assignments. 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 for papers there must be a separate title page. Your paper must have a bibliography and footnotes, when appropriate, (not parenthetical citations—if you do not know what this means, ask) 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 parenthetical 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

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