AP/HIST3844 3.0 M: WW II and its Aftermath: 1944-1949
Offered by: HIST
Session
Winter 2025
Term
W
Format
LECT
Instructor
Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite
This course provides a global history of the Second World War from 1944 and its aftermath. The course begins in June 1944 with D-Day and ends in 1949 with the Communist Party's military victory in China. It examines how liberation resulted in violence, war crimes trials, and reconstruction of those communities the war had affected.
Course Start Up
Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.
For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.
For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit UIT Student Services or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.
dneill@yorku.ca
This course provides a global history of the final year of the Second World War and the immediate postwar period. In the first part of the course we look at the military and social history of the war from June 1944 to August 1945, examining how the final year affected nations and individuals. We will also address the impact of the Allied bombing of Germany, the discovery of the scale and extent of the Holocaust, the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, and the question of collaborators and vigilante justice. We then turn to exploring the broader repercussions of the war: the geopolitical situation after the war, the question of “displaced persons” (DPs), the return and reintegration of soldiers, the war crimes trials, reconstruction of devastated communities, the partition of Germany, the founding of modern India, and the re-occupation of colonial territories. In the final weeks we will discuss the Chinese Civil War, the establishment of NATO and the beginning of the Cold War. We seek a global perspective; we will therefore examine many regions of the world including East Asia, India, Europe, the U.S.S.R., the Arab world, Africa and North America.
*TENTATIVE*
Victor Sebestyen. 1946: The Making of the Modern World. New York: Vintage Books 2013.
We will also have some material either excerpted on e-class or provided as links.
*TENTATIVE Grade Breakdown*
Written question submissions (3 @ 5% each)........................................15%
Memoir study..........................................................................................20%
Movie review...........................................................................................15%
Final project (choose between podcast, mini-doc or paper)................ 25%
Final Exam (scheduled by registrar)......................................................25%
We meet twice weekly and attendance is required as this is an in-person class. Students are asked to come prepared with weekly readings completed so that they can participate in discussions. Each class is divided into lecture and discussion.
- Learn factual information, including dates, names, key events, geography
- Enhance our writing skills in short and longer assignments
- Learn how to work with memoirs and personal accounts of the war
- develop historiographical skills including comparing/contrasting historical views
- improve oral communication skills through in-class debates and discussions
- Academic Honesty
- Student Rights and Responsibilities
- Religious Observance
- Grading Scheme and Feedback
- 20% Rule
No examinations or tests collectively worth more than 20% of the final grade in a course will be given during the final 14 calendar days of classes in a term. The exceptions to the rule are classes which regularly meet Friday evenings or on Saturday and/or Sunday at any time, and courses offered in the compressed summer terms. - Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
