This module will allow students to study a historical theme or area in great depth, under the guidance of an individual member of staff drawing on both secondary sources (i.e. books and articles) and primary sources (documents, newspapers etc), both published and unpublished. The module will allow students to study an aspect of history in detail and gain a fuller understanding of how different types of source material inform the historical process.
The module will introduce the controversy over British efforts to avert war and review the historiography. It will then consider the background factors impelling the pursuit of appeasement by British governments during the 1930s in answer to the fascist threat including why rearmament was slow to take off, thereby weakening diplomacy; and perceptions of totalitarian powers, incorporating the influence of intelligence assessments and their flawed reasoning. The second half will start to consider the reaction to the rise of Hitler to power and the early crises in which Britain became embroiled over Manchuria, Abyssinia and the Rhineland. The term concludes with an examination of the deterioration of the international situation as epitomised by the Spanish imbroglio, continued security issues with Italy, and the shock of the German Anschluss with Austria.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
analyse and critically appraise key events and historical processes relevant to the subject under scrutiny
analyse and critically evaluate a wide range of relevant primary source material
critically evaluate the historiographical context and trends of the subject under exploration.
Summarise, synthesise and evaluate the subject material in a sophisticated written form
