HIST 105-05, Topics in History: Why Hitler?, Spring 2009

Abstract

I. For each student to develop and write an original essay of historical interpretation that deals with the main issues of the question "Why Hitler?" (1) How and why was Hitler appointed to the office of Chancellor on 30 January 1933? (2) What were the subsequent moves made by Hitler to convert his position into a dictatorship, why did he do this, and why was this dictatorship accepted, even embraced, by the German nation? (3) Why did Hitler use his dictatorial power for the purposes of expansion, domination, and extermination, and what were the consequences for his followers, for his victims, and for the world at large? In all of this, students will be looking at ways that historians assess responsibility for the Second World War and the Holocaust. II. For each student to develop further the skills necessary to accomplish the main objective: A. in the critical assessment of a wide variety of secondary sources B. in interpreting selected primary sources C. in writing effectively, in employing proper forms of documentation, and in writing persuasively, crafting sound arguments for his/her interpretations