HY226
The Great War 1914-1918
This information is for the 2020/21 session.
Teacher responsible
Professor David Stevenson, Sardinia House 3.11
Availability
This course is available on the BA in History, BSc in Government and History, BSc in International Relations, BSc in International Relations and History and BSc in Politics and History. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.
May be taken by 3rd years where regulations permit.
Course content
The international and comparative history of the First World War. The military, diplomatic, political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of the conflict will all receive attention. The origins and outbreak of the war; the military campaigning on the Western, Eastern, Italian, and extra-European Fronts; the war at sea and in the air; the intervention of neutral powers, war aims and attempts to negotiate peace; domestic politics in the belligerents; the war's economic and social effects; the experience of combat; the Russian Revolution and the road to the Armistice; the impact of the war on the international system and on individual and collective consciousness.
Teaching
Students will engage with lecture content through recorded lectures and external content, as well as through live Q&A sessions. There will be a reading week in the Michaelmas and the Lent terms.
Formative coursework
Students will be required to write one essay of 2500 words in the MT.
Indicative reading
C. Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2013); N. Ferguson, The Pity of War (1998); A. Watson, Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I (2014) ); A. Millett & W. Murray (Eds), Military Effectiveness, Volume I. The First World War (1988); H. Strachan (ed), The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War (1998); H. Strachan, The First World War: Vol. I. To Arms (2005); D. Stevenson, 1914-1918: The History of the First World War (2004); A. Kramer, Dynamic of Destruction, Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War (2007); R. Chickering, Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-18 (1998); J. Winter (ed), The Cambridge History of the First World War (3 vols, 2014).
Assessment
Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the LT.
Essay (50%, 3000 words) in the ST.
Important information in response to COVID-19
Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.
Key facts
Department: International History
Total students 2019/20: 15
Average class size 2019/20: 14
Capped 2019/20: Yes (30)
Value: One Unit
Personal development skills
- Leadership
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Application of information skills
- Communication
- Specialist skills
