This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
First World War gave birth to the concept of ‘total war’; the Second World War became the paradigmatic instance of this new kind of warfare. Both military conflicts reveal a novel trend towards a total mobilisation of society and global, unrestricted warfare against enemy armies and populations. This module examines the experience of war in the light on the concept’s implications, in particular the erosion of the boundaries between military and civilian spheres and targets. The structure of the module follows the chronology of the events. It looks at WWI and WWII, as well as ‘total’ ideologies such as Fascism and Communism, the impact of the era of total war on international relations, the emergence and rule of authoritarian (military) dictatorships, possible parallels with colonial rule and the topics of genocide and the Shoah (Holocaust). The second part of this module also tackles contemporary legacies: the diverse (political, social, technical etc.) impact of total war, transitional justice, historical interpretations, current day presence and collective memories.
Weekly two-hour seminars, generally consisting of a half hour introduction by the class convenor followed by group discussion centering on weekly core readings. Students will receive handouts per topic.
The module is assessed by 100% coursework:
1) two 2000-word essays (4,000 words in total) worth 80%, and
2) one seminar presentation worth 20%
Jeremy Black, Warfare in the Western World, Jeremy Black. The Age of Total War, 1860-1945 Greenwood Publishing, 2006.
Roger Chickering, Stig Förster and Bernd Greiner (eds.), Great War, Total War : Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Roger Chickering, Stig Förster and Bernd Greiner (eds.), A World at Total War : Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937-1945, Cambridge University Press, 2005.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successful completion of the module, students will be able
• to understand historical and theoretical issues at the forefront of the discipline of international relations/international history, together with familiarity with appropriate bibliographical sources (MA in International Relations, Programme Outcome A1; MA in International Conflict and Security, PO A1; MA in International Migration, PO A1)
• to grasp the changing role of the state and the implications for international peace and security (MA in International Relations, PO A5)
• to master the conceptual tools of historical scholarship in general and the military, political and socio-cultural history of this pivotal era in international history in particular (Kent History Handbook: Learning Outcomes, A1-3, C1-3)
• to understand and use a wide range of primary and secondary sources; and to understand inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to the history of total war (KHH, LO A)
• to formulate historical arguments both orally and in written work (KHH, LO C2-3)
• to use greater analytical skills and apply them to study of primary sources and historiography (KHH, LO C1-2)
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