HIST281-13S2 (C) Semester Two 2013

Resistance and Collaboration in Nazi Europe

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 8 July 2013
End Date: Sunday, 10 November 2013
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Friday, 19 July 2013
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Friday, 4 October 2013

Description

This course examines resistance in Nazi-occupied Europe and Nazi Germany in the period 1939 to 1945. Above all, the course investigates the impact of Nazi social, economic and racial policies on European society, and the diverse ways in which 'ordinary' Europeans responded to these politics.

In establishing their domination at home from 1933 onwards and within the occupied territories after 1939, the Nazis were guided by a range of political, economic, and racial imperatives. Within Germany the marginalisation or elimination of perceived internal enemies (Socialists, Communists, Jews and those perceived as “unfit”) through the creation of conformity, the manufacture of consent and the application of terror was intended to ensure the racial and political purification of the nation. In the occupied territories, which were to provide the Third Reich with both Lebensraum and economic resources, Nazi imperialism was sustained by political and economic collaboration in Western Europe, where both racial and cultural affinities were perceived, and by racism, genocide and economic exploitation in Eastern Europe, where Slavs, Jews and Bolsheviks were seen as threatening the racial and political integrity of the Greater German Empire. These imperatives, it is clear, helped shape the possibilities for resistance, dissent, cooperation and collaboration within both Germany and Nazi occupied Europe.
This course examines resistance and collaboration in Germany and Europe under the Nazis. It begins by considering the extent of conformity and consent within Germany and the possibilities for resistance against National Socialism by Germans between 1933 and 1945 by concentrating on four social groups: workers, young people, Christians and conservatives. The course then examines collaboration and resistance in Nazi occupied Europe, where case studies of nations in both Eastern and Western Europe will illustrate the vast range of responses to Nazi rule. In the final sections of the course emphasis will be given to Jewish resistance and the aftermath of Nazi occupation, that is, the retribution taken on collaborators and the way in which narratives about resistance, consent and collaboration have helped shape post-war politics and national identities.
The key questions to be addressed during this course include: How do we define resistance, conformity and collaboration in the context of Nazi Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe? What reasons did people in Nazi-occupied Europe have for either resistance or collaboration? How were their opportunities for resistance or collaboration shaped or curtailed by Nazi political, economic and racial policy? How did Nazi occupation effect the long-term development of Europe after World War Two?

Learning Outcomes

  • This course aims to introduce you to the study of a key period in modern European history, improve your ability to analyse relevant primary and secondary material, enhance your ability to deal with complex and controversial issues, and prepare those students who wish to continue with history at level 300.
    By the time you have completed this course, you will be expected to demonstrate:
  •           A broad knowledge of the social and political history of Nazi Europe in terms of Nazi policy towards specific groups, nations and races and the responses of these groups, nations and races to Nazi rule.

  • A broad understanding of the ways in which historians have approached the issues of resistance, conformity and collaboration in modern history.

  • The ability to place arguments and analysis in their historiographical context.

  • The ability to analyse and deploy relevant primary sources.

  • An awareness of the problematic nature of primary sources.

Prerequisites

Either 15 points in HIST with a B grade or better, or
30 points in HIST or Ancient History (CLAS111, CLAS112) with a passing grade.  Alternatively, a B average in 60 points.

Restrictions

HIST369, HIST239 before 2011, HIST381

Course Coordinator

Heather Wolffram

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
First essay - 2,000 words 25%
Second essay - 2,000 words 25%
Final exam - 2 hours 40%
Tutorial participation 10%

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $644.00

International fee $2,800.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see Humanities .

All HIST281 Occurrences

  • HIST281-13S2 (C) Semester Two 2013