Gerst class: International Criminal Court and Syria

For those of you interested in the issue we discussed in class today regarding the International Criminal Court. This is about Sudan, but it is of interest nonetheless.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/world/africa/sudan-bashir-international-criminal-court.html

"In cases where a suspected serious international criminal is a citizen of a country that is not a signatory of the Rome Statute, the court must obtain a referral from the U.N. Security Council. But if it were to seek to indict Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, for instance, it would be dependent on the politics of the permanent, veto-wielding powers, such as Mr. Assad’s Russian and Chinese allies."  
http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2015/12/09/mission-impossible

For those of you interested in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission idea we discussed in class as applied in South Africa at the end of apartheid (legally imposed, political, economic and cultural segregation of whites and blacks in South Africa), the below looks back on the experience of the T&RC:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adst/south-africas-truth-and-r_b_8581506.html

And most relevant to what we are studying, given the unit we just concluded (Absolutism and Constitutionalism) and the unit we've just begun (Scientific Revolution and Englightenmwnt), the below article discusses how countries succeed or fail at the transition from dictatorship to democracy:

http://www.economist.com/news/international/21679178-how-make-most-difficult-political-transition-alland-how-not-slip-back

EMAIL MS. GERST TO CONFIRM YOUR TICKET BY END OF THE DAY FRIDAY.  LEARN WHAT EXPERTS THINK ABOUT SYRIA AND THE GLOBAL REFUGEE CRISIS. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has invited us to attend a panel discussion that will bring together Lina Sergie Attar, CEO of the Karram Foundation, Cameron Hudson, Director of the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide (United States Holocaust Memorial Foundation), Gregory Maniatis, Advisor to the United Nations Special Representative for Migration, and Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago on Tuesday, December 8th from 6:00-7:15 p.m. at the Standard Club in downtown Chicago.   As usual, a bus will pick us up in front of Blaine Hall at 5:00 p.m. and return us to school after the program.  You may also travel to and from the program on your own.  See Ms. Shapiro (UH 105), Ms. Gerst, (UH 106) or Ms. Martonffy (S222) immediately for further information and to receive a permission form.

EUROPE THE UNREADY

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/27/opinion/europe-the-unready.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Paper Formatting Requirements Plus Turnitin Signup for Gerst

Ms. Gerst's students, please enroll for this class on turnitin.com in order to submit your annotated bibliography (not to mention your final paper) online. The enrollment code is 10744668 and the password is ProudTower.

Mr. Janus and Ms. Gerst students, below are some final guidance from your teachers on requirements for your research papers:

• Your final paper should be about 5-7 pages.  We will not take deductions for lengthy papers unless the paper reads more like a description or summary, rather than the required analysis and argumentation.
• Your paper must use a mix of primary and secondary sources. Ms. Gerst has never seen an research paper showing analysis, synthesis, and originality with less than seven sources.  Mix them up, meaning try NOT to rely on any sole source in each of your body paragraphs. 
• Use Times New Roman, 12 point for Gerst (14/16 point for Janus), and 1 inch margins.  
• History papers use Turabian footnote citation and bibliography, not MLA parenthetical citation and work cited pages. Use http://www.citationmachine.net/turabian/cite-a-book to assist you in creating the proper citation. 
• A proper citation includes the specific page number to which you are referring. 
• Ms. Gerst's students should submit their papers to turnitin.com.   

Here are some examples of what it should look like, along with an entire sample from Rampolla (note it uses endnotes - you should format as footnotes).   Need additional help on typical expectations for introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions?  Review this small section of Rampolla. 

Footnotes:

Bibliography: 

MOTHERS OF ISIS RECRUITS

http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/mothers-of-isis/

Gerst test

Ms. Gerst is postponing this week's test until Friday's class. She will lecture on Russia on Thursday.

Europe Refugee Crisis Winter

http://www.newsweek.com/2015/11/13/europe-refugee-crisis-winter-389458.html?source=email-story?source=email

Catena Paper - Hints on Research Process

Most of you start the research paper process with a very general topic. During your research, you will review the literature relevant to your topic and find a creative, or original, angle on your topic.  A catena is not as difficult as you think: it is your hypothesis as to how events, peoples, compositions, ideologies, etc. (the stuff of history) served to influence each other. 

Instead of heading directly to the journal databases or the books - or more likely Google (not as helpful as you think!), consider starting with primary sources FIRST and have those form the GUTS of your paper. What are good primary sources? Newspaper articles, letters, pamphlets, poems, journals,  speeches, diplomatic correspondence from embassy to mother country, paintings, musical compositions, etc. Having the primary sources take center stage makes it much more likely that you will hit on a creative, original thesis.  You will also look at secondary sources (review of the scholarly literature) in order to enhance your understanding of the era, your topic, the existing scholarship on your topic (do others agree or challenge Tuchman's narrative), and bolster your argument within your paper. Ultimately, you need both primary and secondary sources to write a sophisticated, original paper.  Below, I have linked you to databases and collections of primary and secondary sources particularly useful to Modern European History.

BOOKS

The library houses important resources for your paper, including books, database articles, websites, e-books and primary sources.  Books provide general background information, detailed information on specific historical events, and context for an event or topic. Books are a very important piece of the research puzzle!  Remember to use the tables of contents and indexes to target specific details when using a more general text.  Enter Rowley catalog here.  

PRIMARY SOURCES:

Fordham University Modern History Sourcebook, broken down on left-hand side by era, country, or ideology, http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.asp

Other primary sources may be found under the "Documents" link on the left-hand side of the screen in ABC-CLIO as you search. Say, for instance, you researched anarchism. You will find Peter Kropotkin's Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal on the Left (1896).  Now, you have a stellar primary source to use.

You might also look for newspaper articles from the era.  If you can read French or German, see me.  Otherwise, archives of newspaper articles in English include:

Free available through Regenstein, http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/content.php?pid=497098&sid=4102969

160 years of the NY Times online, available through Rowley
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.uchicago.edu/hnpnewyorktimes/index?accountid=14657

With some in English and some in other languages, the following group, the International Coalition on Newspapers, links to digitized newspapers by country around the world:

http://icon.crl.edu/digitization.php, available for free through Regenstein with your CNET, http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/content.php?pid=497098&sid=4102969

Likewise, Germany has digitized at least two old Prussian newspaper from the time period, available in ENGLISH at http://zefys.staatsbibliothek-berlin.de/en/amtspresse/

British government archives contain interesting records as well:

http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-subject/default.htm

For those of you working on the debate over American imperialism expansion, see the Library of Congress, for instance.

Finally, here is the research guide for HISTORY for Regenstein Library.
http://guides.lib.uchicago.edu/content_mobile.php?pid=497098&sid=4086704

OTHER SECONDARY SOURCES:

ABC-CLIO Modern World History, http://worldhistory.abc-clio.com/Authentication/LogOn?returnUrl=%2F

History Today, http://www.historytoday.com/user/login

JStor, http://www.jstor.org/

Project Muse, http://muse.jhu.edu/

German Leader's Open-Door Policy For Refugees Threatens Her Political Future

http://www.npr.org/2015/11/03/454342244/german-leaders-open-door-policy-for-refugees-threatens-her-political-future?sc=17&f=1004&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app

A New Trudeau Era Begins in Canada

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/opinion/a-new-trudeau-era-in-canada.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

WITH JEREMY CORBYN ELECTED LEADER, BRITAIN'S LABOUR PARTY TAKES A HARD LEFT TURN

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/world/europe/labour-party-election-jeremy-corbyn.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Charlie Hebdo's Recovery Opens New Wounds

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/business/media/charlie-hebdos-recovery-from-attacks-opens-new-wounds-for-staff.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Gerst Schedule Update

Dear Ms. Gerst students of 7th period, you must be through Palmer Sections 11-13 when you walk in the door on Thursday!

CHANGES TO JANUS CLASS SCHEDULE

Janus' sections will discuss section 11 during their first meeting on Monday. Tuesday's class will be devoted to reviewing the long Reformation essay and looking at possible catenas in section 11 of Palmer. On Thursday, only the fifth period will meet until 11: 45 because of the English Field Trip. The class will use that time to begin reading their assigned chapter of The Proud Tower. On Friday, both class will have a test on the Reformation and section 11 in Palmer.

CHANGE TO GERST CLASS SCHEDULE

Due to no class on Wednesday (PSAT) OR Thursday (English field trip), we will discuss Section 10 of Palmer on the Counter / Catholic Reformation on Monday and Gerst 7th period will take their essay test on Friday, October 16. We will not discuss Sections 11 and Section 12 of Palmer until Tuesday, October 20. This change is necessary to ensure your progress report test grade is based on more than a single test.  For homework for Monday, students should focus on Section 10 on the Catholic Reformation and the primary source Reformation packet #4 (Ignatius Loyola, Council of Trent, St. Teresa) for Monday!

THE EUROPEAN REFUGEE CRISIS AND SYRIA EXPLAINED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvOnXh3NN9w

GERST CLASS TESTING DISRUPTION

Due to the technical disruptions (loss of connectivity, etc) that caused you to lose 10-15 minutes of work time, students will be permitted to use the beginning of the class period tomorrow to finish their tests.  Please go ahead and read the Manchester assignment so that we may begin our unit on the Reformation afterwards.

Renaissance presentation

Please, read Joshua Taylor’s Learning to Look (the pdf of the article is posted on the blog) before you do your first assignment on the prompt that you can find on the last few slides of the Renaissance Power Point. 

Here is Taylor's reading.
Here is the Renaissance Power Point.

Let me know if you have any questions.

THE IMMIGRANT CRISIS IN EUROPE

Getting a handle on the Immigrant Crisis in Europe.

1. What are the origins of the refugee crisis that is engulfing Europe?
2. Where are the immigrants coming from?
3. Can you detail specific examples of immigrants trying to enter Europe? Tell their stories.
4. What are the asylum policies in Europe?
5. What has been the response among European countries to the crisis?
6. How is the European Union handling the crisis?
7. What does the refugee crisis mean for the future of Europe?

Eastern Bloc's Resistance to Refugees Highlight's Europe's Cultural and Political Divisions.

Migrants Rush to Sweden as Denmark Eases Rules

U.S. Will Take In 10,000 More Syrians

Obscure German Tweet Helped Spur Migrant March From Hungary

Migrants Offer Hope For Greying German Workforce

European Official Calls for Continent to take in 160,000 Migrants

For Those Who Remain In Syria , Daily Life Is A Nightmare.

Europe should see refugees as a boon, not a burden

THE REFUGEES HOUSED AT DACHAU...

AS U.S. ANNOUNCES PLAN TO ACCEPT MORE REFUGEES, MICHIGAN GETS READY

REFUGEE FLIGHT WIDENS RIFT IN EUROPE

A Modest Step for Refugees

Welcome back to the 2015-2016 School Year!

Welcome back!  Check out the syllabus, the assigned work for the week of September 8, and the online video features of our revamped class blog at Blogger.  Our course, like its collegiate counterpart, picks up with the Renaissance.  For a glance back at the Middle Ages, check out this 3 1/2 minute animation!

THE EUROPEAN UNION IN TATTERS

EU, euro, and debt crisis explained by this American Life

http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/455/continental-breakup

Maldecker says it's crucial that French and German children learn each other's language. Not only to foster close relations between their two nations, but to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for all of Europe. http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/05/28/410017058/does-less-latin-mean-dumbing-down-france-debates-school-reform?sc=17&f=&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app

LOST OPPORTUNITY ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT

Counter: We live in the most peaceful time in history

http://reason.com/archives/2012/01/11/the-decline-of-violence

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/15/were_living_through_the_most_peaceful_era_in_human_history_%E2%80%94%C2%A0with_one_big_exception_partner/

JANUS ESSAY QUESTION FOR THE JUNE 4 TEST

Do we need to change our nature in order to survive? Reference the different conceptions of human nature you've learned about in the course, your readings on Nazi Germany, and the film, "Obedience." 

Extra Credit

Mr. Janus and I have agreed to provide extra credit points for attending the other classes' play productions.  One is today (5/25), one is Friday (5/29) and the last one is Saturday (5/30).

Britain Resigns As a World Power?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/britain-resigns-as-a-world-power/2015/05/21/d89606f8-fff1-11e4-805c-c3f407e5a9e9_story.html

Gerst class: People's Century (Total War)

A look at the war from the "civilian" perspective from 1936-1945:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wVRoHKG5UI

US Invasion of Iraq War Resolution (2002), Congressional Vote, and Opposing Viewpoints

In The Big One, Adam Gopnik argued as follows: "The last century, through its great cataclysms, offers two clear, ringing, and unfortunately, contradictory lessons.  The First World War teaches that territorial compromise is better than full-scale war, that an "honor bound" allegiance of the great powers to small nations is a recipe for mass killing, and that it is crazy to let the blind mechanism of armies and alliances trump common sense.  The Second teaches that searching for an accommodation with tyranny by selling out small nations only encourages the tyrant, that refusing to fight now leads to a worse fight later on, and that only the steadfast rejection of compromise can prevent the natural tendency to rush to a bad peace with worse men.  The First teaches us never to rush into a fight, the Second never to back down from a bully." 

What lesson should we take from these lessons?  How does it impact your thinking about the foreign policy challenges of today with Russia, the Middle East, etc? 

Joint Resolution Authorization For Use of Military Force Against Iraq 

House Vote 

96% of Republican, and nearly 40% of Democrat, members of the House voted for the war resolution. 

Senate Vote 

98% of Republican, and 58% of Democrat, members of the Senate voted for the war 

resolution. 

And did President Bush lie?  Arguments from the two sides:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/laurence-h-silberman-the-dangerous-lie-that-bush-lied-1423437950 

http://www.salon.com/2015/02/10/yes_bush_lied_about_iraq_why_are_we_still_arguing_about_this/

Art History Modernism lecture slides

Please click here for the Modernism slides. The prompt appears at the end of the slides. You can pick one of the four comparisons in the prompt to answer.

REVIEW SEESION

There will be a review session for the Inter-War test during Monday lunch in 106.

POSSIBLE CATENAS FOR JANUS' SECTIONS

Catenas for Interwar test

There will be ten catenas of which you must answer five. Some of them for Janus' class may be the following:

The Bolsheviks/ Provisional Governemnt

Lenin's NEP/Stalin's Collective Farms

Lenin/ Marx

The Catholic Church and Fascism

Democracy/Fascism

Marxism/Fascism

The State/Fascism

Fascism/Pacifism

The Locarno Pact/The Versailles Treaty 

The Stock Market Crash/Margin

The Gold Standard/Great Depression

Machiavelli/Hitler

Hitler/Nationalism

Hitler/Vienna

Hitler/Social Darwinism

Hitler/The Scientific Community 

Fascism/Capitalism

Hitler and Late Modernity

Benito Mussolini: Hero or Villian?

The Great Recession and Its Personal Stories (2008-?)

Periodization: use of the term "Great Recession" between Jan 2008 and March 2009: 

"Some 73 percent [of Americans] either lost a job themselves, or had a member of their household, a close relative, or a friend lose a job at some point in the past four years."  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/07/171420747/study-finds-vast-majority-of-americans-felt-great-recession-personally

The Great Recession :

Federal Court "Judge Cote’s ruling described a dangerous and toxic period in the American economy. As house prices were soaring, Wall Street banks were purchasing high-risk mortgages and then bundling them into bonds that were sold around the world. As this huge mortgage machine churned on, the quality of the loans plunged."
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/business/dealbook/nomura-found-liable-in-us-mortgage-suit-tied-to-financial-crisis.html?referrer= (Thanks to Ilana for the article). 

The story of "toxic assets," the mortgage-backed securities we discussed as underpinning the financial crisis of 2008.  It is a very interesting podcast made as a colloboration between This American Life and Planet Money, available at http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/418/toxie

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130641385

http://www.epi.org/press/class_of_2010_faces_worst_job_market_in_a_generation_says_epi_report/ (Class of 2010 faced worst job market in a generation) and it has not gotten better for some.  Article from a couple of weeks ago regarding unemployed or underemployed law school graduates of Class of 2010).
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/business/dealbook/burdened-with-debt-law-school-graduates-struggle-in-job-market.html

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/05/368746013/2014-the-year-when-the-job-market-finally-turned-the-corner  (7 years later, the job market finally hit pre-recession levels)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/06/06/319404238/will-the-u-s-finally-gets-past-pre-recession-jobs-total

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904199404576536930606933332 (University of Chicago professor Gary Becker on causes of the Great Recession)

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/2013/05/young-people-face-worst-job-market-in-50-years/ (Young People Face Worst Job Market in 50 Years)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/05/31/187548260/all-the-wealth-we-lost-and-regained-since-recession-started

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/04/151936447/23-million-americans-are-unemployed-or-cant-find-full-time-work

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125906997

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303591204575169693166352882

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703837004575013592466508822


And its personal stories:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/chi-051909-recession-lead-story.html#page=1

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/we-are-99-percent-stories-victims-great-recession_n_992340.html

http://www.latimes.com/la-recessionstories-htmlstory.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/we-are-99-percent-stories-victims-great-recession_n_992340.html

Freud, America & Nazi Germany

http://time.com/3840374/freud-birthday-anniversary-history/

GIVING MEANING TO THE SLAUGHTER

Survivors called it a perfect hell on earth, the devil’s slaughter pen. The ground that had grown swaying fields of corn and wheat was soaked with blood. Thousands of men’s bodies lay putrefying in puddles of blood and mud. Some of the dead men embedded in this hell clutched their bibles. The three-day Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, the bloodiest battle ever in the Western Hemisphere, left nearly as many dead or debilitated as all the American soldiers felled in the decade-long Vietnam War. Although the Union forces had lost almost half of the casualties, “it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw,” a victorious Union soldier exulted.1 The battered Confederate remnants hobbled back home across the Potomac. From then on the rebels waged a defensive war whose days were numbered. But the stench and pollution from the crashingly quiet battlefield, overrun by buzzards and black flies, alarmed the traumatized farming town of Gettysburg in southeastern Pennsylvania. “In many instances arms and legs and sometimes heads protrude,” Gettysburg banker David Wills reported to the governor, “and my attention has been directed to several places where the hogs were actually rooting out the bodies and devouring them.”2 Wills cranked gears in motion to create a massive burial ground that became the Soldiers’ National Cemetery. Like all cemeteries of the time, it had to be formally dedicated. When poets Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier refused Wills’s invitation, he turned to the greatest orator of the age, Edward Everett, diplomat, ex-senator, and Harvard president. Belatedly Wills invited the president of the United States to make “a few appropriate remarks.” As in early July, thousands of Americans invaded the farm town just before Thanksgiving, but these people were older and well clothed, women and men, all on the same side. Everett spoke of the battle for two hours, enthralling the crowd. Abraham Lincoln followed him, for three minutes. He was disappointed by the tepid response. Yet his melodic 272-word speech transmuted the grisly deaths on the battlefield—burying of the decayed bodies still not complete, Cemetery Ridge still pockmarked with rusted rifles, strips of blue and gray, skeletons of horses—into the vital value of the war. Out of these parched fields of death Americans would create new life, Lincoln proclaimed, a “new birth of freedom,” national rebirth. His words rewrote the nation’s founding document of 1776 as a commitment to equality more than to life or even liberty, and set the stage for postwar reform of the Constitution to follow suit. He accomplished a feat in a few phrases that history had belied and that the war had so far cruelly mocked: conjuring the meaning of America as a single people dedicated to a single proposition, their union defined by equality. Lincoln’s incantation, which drew no distinction between North and South, forged the ideal of a new America that would complete the American Revolution, a second founding to fulfill what was promised in the first.3 But at what cost? Although the Union commander-in-chief may have confessed later that he became a Christian only after seeing the “graves of our dead heroes” at Gettysburg—“I then and there consecrated myself to Christ”—he was glorifying, even sacralizing, hideous, painful death, the mass destruction of the young men under his ultimate command who on this battlefield died senselessly.4 Neither side had a compelling reason to fight at Gettysburg, no strategic necessity. And the suicidal “Pickett’s charge” up Cemetery Hill was one of the craziest blunders in military history, for which Robert E. Lee asked his Confederate president to fire him. Transubstantiating the flesh and blood of fifty thousand young Americans killed or wounded into an abstract promise of equality and union, himself as high priest of this Eucharist, Lincoln justified the mad horror of the war, no matter what the outcome. In four years over six hundred thousand Americans would die over Lincoln’s lofty principles, seeding the national myth that it was a war of sacred justice. The war freed the slaves, and it launched a powerful industrial nation with railroads steaming from sea to shining sea. But equality of any sort would remain a mirage. Lincoln was speaking over the heads of his audience, beyond hearing of the buried heroes, to an America that did not exist. The heroes had died for Lincoln’s dream.

Imperialism and WWI Test: Last Minute Study Tips

Since a few of you have been emailing today, I figured I'd "reply to all" in terms of studying for tomorrow's test.

The first question asks (1) How did imperialism create the conditions where a world war might occur? Cite examples.  This question really seems aimed at some of the causes for the war, so possible source material includes Palmer section 75 Imperialism: Its Nature and Causes, section 77 The Partition of Africa, section 78 Imperialism in Asia (focus on India), and Palmer, Section 81. Your specific, argumentative (not generic, not vague) thesis and roadmap should appear in the introduction. You should have paragraphs organized logically (and you should have paragraphs, not unbroken text continuing on for 1-3 pages).  

The second question asks (2) Why might it be argued that World War I was a Late Modernity War?  Cite specific events and people that might lead you to this conclusion.  This question really seems aimed at how the war unfolded, so possible source material includes the Marshall handout, the Craig handout, and the Gopnik handout.  Don't forget to specify the defining qualities of "Late Modernity" and isolate events and people from 1914-1918 that are illustrative.   Your specific, argumentative (not generic, not vague) thesis and roadmap should appear in the introduction. You should have paragraphs organized logically (and you should have paragraphs, not unbroken text continuing on for 1-3 pages).  

David Brooks, NYTimes columnist @ Chicago Council

Please join Ms. Gerst at ANOTHER GREAT CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM: Don’t miss New York Times columnist,author,and political and cultural commentator David Brooks on the topic of the importance of building character. He will speak at the Fairmont Hotel at 200 N. Columbus Drive on Wednesday, May 6th from 6:00-7:15 p.m.  As usual, a bus will pick us up in front of Blaine Hall at 5:00 p.m. for the trip downtown and will return us to Lab after the program. You may also travel to and from the program on your own and meet us downtown. If you wish to attend, please sign up no later than Monday (5/4) with Ms. Shapiro (in class), Ms.Martonffy in Judd 105, or in the History Department Office.

European Map-Making and the Creation of the Modern Middle East

The maps below show Europe before and after World War I as well as the Middle East before and after World War I:

Long Live Europe

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/opinion/roger-cohen-long-live-europe.html?_r=0 

ART INSTITUTE GETS $500 MILLION GIFT OF ART

Crash Course Imperialism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alJaltUmrGo

All The World's A Stage

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

ALL THE WORLD IS A STAGE

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world’s a stage]

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Jaques to Duke Senior

                   
                          All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

ALL THE WORLD's A STAGE.

As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII [All the world’s a stage]

William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616

Jaques to Duke Senior

                   
                          All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts

Charlie Hebdo and "punching down."

Thursday's Test

Catenas come from the sections on Europe on Top of Its Game, which was dealt with in Palmer, 11th edition, Chapters 14 and 15 (stop at the "the New Physics" in section 73).

Essay responses should draw heavily on Neitzsche, Zweig, and the Perry Late Modernity handout.

You may have a notecard as typical.

Art Institute Field Trip Information

On Monday, April 20, we will depart the Lab School from the front lobby of the high school at 9:05 and walk to the Metra to take the 9:47 am train. Accordingly, Ms. Campos, I, and your 2nd period teacher (8:20-9:05) are expecting you to attend that class.  We will be inside the Art Institute (Columbus student tour entrance) from shortly before 11 am until we leave to take the 2:20 pm Metra train back to school. 

You should bring money to eat lunch at the Cafe so that we do not have to go back to the student tour  room (where we left our coats last time) for any reason.  You should bring money to pay for your Metra ride. While you may buy your ticket on the actual train on the way to the Art Institute, on the way back to school, you must buy your ticket at the station before climbing aboard the train.  Once inside, you may not leave the Art Institute for any reason.  They have art, lunch, coffee, pastries!  What else do you need?

We will give you the choice of creating the specific group of ten students with whom you will walk around the Art Institute.  We will then assign a chaperone to your group: this chaperone will accompany you around the Art Institute, to lunch, and keep track of you during any other breaks (bathroom, rest, coffee).  They will be able to identify you, and you will be able to identify them, by your matching color of name tags (blue group, purple group, red group, etc).  Each class (6th, 7th, 8th) will be given a specific meeting time to attend a 1 hour guided tour with Sally Cochrane.  During the remainder of the day, you will have a sheet of specific masterpieces to view and critique while at the museum with your group and you will also have time for lunch.  This sheet (COMPLETED) should be turned in to either Mr. Janus or Ms. Gerst at the end of the day.   

Because Ms. Gerst's AT Euro History class occurs during 8th period, and you will have already had class that day at the museum, you have two options.  One is to come to class anyway and work on tasks related to the year-long play project, which will be noted in PB & J's participation records.  The other is to have advance permission (by email or in print signed below) from a parent allowing you to dismiss from the museum, at a different train stop, or from the school upon our return.  It must specify the actual place from which she is allowed to dismiss you.  Mr. Janus's 6th and 7th period classes are expected to return to the school and attend their 8th period class.  Your 8th period teacher knows we expect to return no later than via the 2:20 Metra. 

We trust you understand that these guidelines are necessary to meet the expectations of the Art Institute for the conduct of large groups of student field trips, to care for you during the hours you have been entrusted to our care, and to protect you, our chaperones, and ourselves in a culture marked by 20/20 hindsight and legalities. Please understand that the Art Institute trip is a privilege that Lab students have enjoyed for years, but one that could be terminated at any time by the Art Institute.  We also appreciate a gracious and appreciative attitude towards Ms. Cochrane and our chaperones for sharing their time with us.  

Ms. Gerst and Mr. Janus     

On Freud . . .

Watch "Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry" on Charlie Rose (10 minutes), available at http://bloom.bg/1apnwjl  

The "New Woman" revolts against the "Victorian Woman"

1892 (Edward Lamson Henry) The audacity!!  

For Declining Birth Rates, Sex Education in Europe Turns to Urging More Births

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/business/international/sex-education-in-europe-turns-to-urging-more-births.html?_r=0

Gerst Friday "Long" Period: Three Mini-Harkness Topics

Like last week, you will sign-up as you walk in:

1. Why did Nietzsche find fault with Enlightenment thinkers?  Why weren't they examples of "people who are strong and creative and have taken control of every aspect of their lives?"

2. Why did Nietzsche find fault with the Christian tradition?  What is the distinction between good/evil and good/bad?  Why does Nietzsche find democracy the extension of the Christian tradition?  Why does he condemn democracy as "Christian" rather than applaud it as "Greek?"

3. What makes people distinctively human?  What path (of a thousand of paths that have never yet been trodden) would take a human to that of the "superman (ubermensch)?"  As Fred wrote for his question, how would you recognize a "superman" in our time? 

You will take all this (and our discussion of God and language today) and include Nietzsche in your essay answer to the question: Peter Thiel  (the co-founder of Paypal) argues in Zero to One that Only by seeing our world anew, as fresh and strange as it was to the ancients who saw it first, can we both re-create it and preserve it for the future. How can you apply this insight to the era of Late Modernity? 

Participation Opp: Chicago Council on Global Affairs

Ms. Gerst's class should know that she will be chaperoning the spring events at the CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS.  All of the programs are held at clubs and hotels in downtown Chicago and are scheduled from 6:00-7:15 p.m. A bus will pick us up in front on Blaine Hall at 5:00 p.m. for the ride downtown and will return us to school by 7:45 p.m. You may also travel on your own and meet us downtown. If you are interested in attending any of these programs please see or email Ms. Martonffy in Judd 105 or at amarton@ucls.uchicago.edu.   There are also sign-up sheets in the History Department office and in Judd 105. Space is limited; don’t miss this great opportunity to hear and participate in discussions of thought-provoking issues. Tuesday, April 14:  Tom Burgis of the Financial Times will speak on “Africa’s Looting Machines”. Thursday, April 23:  Journalist Mona Eltahawy will address “Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution. Wednesday, May 6:  New York Times commentator and columnist David Brooks will address the development of character. Tuesday, May 19:  Professor Joseph Nye of the Kennedy School at Harvard will discuss “Is the American Century Over?”

POPE FRANCIS AND THE NEW ROME

PRICES OF NAPOLEONIC MEMORABILIA SOARING

Gerst 8th: More on Kaiser Wilhelm II . . .

Regarding questions on the power of Kaiser Wilhelm, which came up in class today, please see http://faculty.virginia.edu/setear/courses/howweget/william.htm

Welcome Back! And onto Stefan Zweig.

This is a heads-up that you will need your Stefan Zweig text this week (Tuesday homework). You actually may know Zweig, by way of Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel, which was his homage to Stefan Zweig.  Yet another example of writers today being inspired by the greats of European history.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2014/03/stefan-zweig-wes-anderson-and-longing-for-the-past.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/10684250/I-stole-from-Stefan-Zweig-Wes-Anderson-on-the-author-who-inspired-his-latest-movie.html

U.S. Supreme Court to review "free speech" vs. "offensive speech"

View "Ban on Confederate plates at core of free speech case" article at http://eeditionmobile.chicagotribune.com/Olive/Tablet/ChicagoTribune/SharedArticle.aspx?href=CTC%2F2015%2F03%2F24&id=Ar01001 

"Old" Modern Chicago

Chicago saw its first streetcars, elevated trains, and other public transportation in the same period
we are now studying (1871-1914). Fascinating stuff!

http://forgottenchicago.com/features/remnants-of-the-l/

"Dirty Old London: A History of the Victorians' Infamous Filth"

'Dirty Old London': A History Of The Victorians' Infamous Filth

NPR - March 12, 2015

In the 19th century, London was the capital of the largest empire the world had ever known — and it was infamously filthy. It had choking, sooty fogs; the Thames River was thick with human sewage; and the streets were covered with mud....

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/12/392332431/dirty-old-london-a-history-of-the-victorians-infamous-filth?sc=17?f=1008&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app

"Friendship" between, and Assassination of, Abraham Lincoln and Czar Alexander II

Czar Alexander's Assassination

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REEEzdYyuPo

A royal (and radical suffragette) Hari Kumar?

http://m.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/sophia-how-an-indian-princess-became-a-radical-suffragette-20150227-13pqk7.html

European History & Moviemaking

Christopher Nolan repeatedly has referred to the inspiration he drew in writing the Batman trilogy from events in European History, such as repurposing the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, the economic inequality of Gotham, and the nilihistic, terroristic and anarchistic characters of R'as Al Ghul, Joker, and Bane.   These are themes we have explored in sections 45, 56, 57, 61, 66 in Palmer. 

In a similar vein, Graham Moore has said that he first learned of the figure of Alan Turing when he was a student at Lab. He will next take up an important story of Chicago on the eve of the Columbian Exposition, adapting Devil in the White City. 

Perhaps, you too might find narratives that inspire or repulse you in this class that you may harness in your own story-telling.   

Interesting articles
http://www.cliomuse.com/dark-knight-rises.html
http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/chicagoan-nominated-for-oscar-for-imitation-game/523808/

Finally, think about how views and philosophies have changed throughout the narrative we've woven in this class.  How would you describe the trajectory of this narrative as we reach the end of the 19th century?  More to come when we return from break to "Europe at the Top of Its Game."

Impressionism and the Academies lecture slides and prompt

Please click here to find the presentation on Impressionism and the Academies from Monday, March 2. The prompt appears at the end of the slides.

If you have any questions about the terminology or anything else from the lecture when writing your prompt, please contact me at cochrane.sally(at)gmail.com.

Assyrian People and Artifacts Destroyed by ISIS

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/world/middleeast/more-assyrian-christians-captured-as-isis-attacks-villages-in-syria.html?emc=edit_th_20150227&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=32256848&_r=0

NORTH/ SOUTH ECONOMIC ISSUES THREATEN EUROPE

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/18/upshot/is-this-the-day-of-reckoning-for-greece-and-europe.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Remembering the Right History

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/opinion/paul-krugman-weimar-on-the-aegean.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Netanyahu Urges Mass Immigration

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/world/middleeast/netanyahu-urges-mass-immigration-of-jews-from-europe.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3a1b3ab0-b371-11e4-9449-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3RotW0QD7

1. Home
2. World
3. Companies
4. Markets
5. Global Economy
6. Lex
7. Comment
   1. Columnists
   2. The Big Read
   3. Opinion
   4. FT View
   5. The Exchange
   6. Blogs
   7. Letters
   8. Corrections
   9. Obituaries
   10. Tools
8. Management
9. Life & Arts

February 13, 2015 5:14 pm

The meaning of the Minsk agreement

Niall Ferguson

The devilish detail of this document is highly advantageous to the Russians, writes Niall Ferguson

©Reuters

Had Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rejected the Minsk terms, his troops in Debaltseve might have faced annihilation

T

he world loves a peace agreement. The beauty of any deal like the Ukraine ceasefire agreed in the early hours of Thursday morning is that it can be presented in two equally interesting ways. Either it is “Camp David”, a transcendent moment of reconciliation between sworn enemies. Or it is “Munich”, a lapse back into the appeasement of dictators.

I have disappointing news. The Minsk agreement was neither. Russia and Ukraineare not about to make perpetual peace. Nor is Ukraine about to be carved up by Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Czechoslovakia was once carved up by Hitler with the connivance of Britain and France. 

More

ON THIS STORY

• Ukraine fighting flares ahead of truce
• Siege mentality spawns new Donetsk identity
• Putin’s posture casts cloud over ceasefire
• European leaders cautious over ‘Minsk II’
• Rebels tout accord as path to recognition

ON THIS TOPIC

• Shaky ceasefire holds in east Ukraine
• Full text of the Minsk agreement
• Philip Stephens A half answer for Ukraine
• IMF unveils $17.5bn Ukraine rescue plan

IN OPINION

• Tories have too many friends in high places
• Gus O’Donnell Election tests Whitehall
• EU’s refugee crisis is a lost opportunity
• Bland politics can expect little applause

Sign up now

FirstFT is our new essential daily email briefing of the best stories from across the web

Enough fairy tales. The Minsk deal was not even a formal agreement, according to some involved; more a to-do list that might (but might not) produce a truce in eastern Ukraine. Although the German chancellor and the French, Russian and Ukrainian presidents were present, they signed nothing. The document was agreed by representatives of the “contact group”, comprising the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Ukraine and pro-Russia secessionist rebels fighting in the east.

In depth

Crisis in Ukraine 

Pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine have escalated the political turmoil that threatens to tear the country apart

Further reading

The things to be done include the creation of a demilitarised zone in eastern Ukraine; an exchange of all prisoners of war; pardons for all individuals who might have committed war crimes; the resumption of economic relations between Kiev and the contested region of Donbass, comprising Donetsk and Lugansk; and a complex process of constitutional decentralisation to increase the political autonomy of Donbass.

To the armchair strategist, this all sounds fair enough. But read the small print. The original Minsk accords of September 2014 stated that Ukraine would regain full control of its national boundaries immediately — aside, of course, from the one around Crimea, annexed by Russia last year. But the new document delays the transfer of border control in Donbass until late 2015. Moreover, the separatists will gain control of 500 sq km of Ukrainian soil not included in the earlier agreement. Finally, all constitutional changes mandated by this week’s document must be approved by the separatists. 

In short, the devilish detail of this document is highly advantageous to the Russians and their sidekicks. And that should not surprise us. For Ukraine’s position is a classic one in the history of international relations stretching back into antiquity: it is weak.

“You know as well as we do that right . . . is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” So said the coolly menacing Athenians to the doomed Melians in Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War. That is essentially how the Russian government feels about the Ukrainians.

More video

President Petro Poroshenko is doing what he must. Had he rejected the terms on offer in Minsk, Ukrainian troops in the strategically important Donetsk town of Debaltseve might have faced annihilation. The Europeans would have blamed him for being intransigent. And one suspects Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director who on Thursday announced a $17.5bn “extended fund facility” for Ukraine, would have been less forthcoming. On Wednesday Mr Poroshenko was made an offer he could not refuse: no Minsk deal, no IMF dough.

Yet he knows that, aside from the cheque, all he has secured is a few diplomatic brownie points, not a genuine ceasefire. For there is no clear reason why the Russians should be more in­clined to observe this one than the last. To see why, you need to appreciate what Mr Putin is trying to achieve. This is not further annexation of Ukrainian territory but the creation of a “frozen conflict” zone of semi-autonomous regions where the writ of Kiev does not run. 

The big threat he faced a week ago was from the US Congress, where support for arming Ukraine has surged. It is not only Republican hawks such as Senator John McCain, who now want to arm Kiev. Even Harry Reid, the impeccably liberal Senate minority leader, has argued for doing so. So has Ashton Carter, US President Barack Obama’s incoming defence secretary.

The other threat Mr Putin faced was German indignation at his flouting of the last Minsk agreement. His response was to use diplomacy to drive a wedge between Europe and the US. Cross though she may be with him, Chancellor Angela Merkelsays she “cannot imagine any situation in which improved equipment for the Ukrainian army leads to President Putin being so impressed that he believes he will lose militarily”.

By inviting the chancellor and French President François Hollande to Moscow and then meeting them again in Minsk, Mr Putin has exploited this division to the full. He has significantly reduced the risk of US arms being sent to Ukraine. He has also lent credibility to Mr Obama’s new doctrine of “strategic patience”, unveiled last week. 

The reality is that this strategy (also known as “dithering”) has allowed both Syria and Iraq to descend into chaos. Eastern Ukraine is well on its way in the same direction. Sadly, enough people in the west will swallow the fairy story of the Peace of Minsk to enable the harsh realities on the ground, like the small print of the document, to be overlooked. 

The writer is Laurence A Tisch professor of History at Harvard. Jason Rockett contributed to this article