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Higginbotham, Don. Daniel Morgan, RevolutionaryRifleman. Chapel Hill: University of North CarolinaPress, 1961.Ketchum, Richard M. The Winter Soldiers: The Battles forTrenton and Princeton. Gardon City, NY: Doubleday, 1973.Ketchum, Richard M. Decisive Day: The Battle forBunker Hill. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974.Ketchum, Richard M. Saratoga: Turning Point ofAmerica’s Revolution. New York: H. Holt, 1997.Ketchum, Richard M. Victory at Yorktown: TheCampaign That Won the Revolution. New York: H. Holt,2004.Kwasny, Mark. Washington’s Partisan War, 1775-1783.Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1996.Lengel, Edward. General George Washington: A MilitaryLife. New York: Random House, 2005.Macksey, Piers. The War for America, 1775-1783.London: Longmans, 1964.Martin, James Kirby. Benedict Arnold, RevolutionaryHero: An American Warrior Reconsidered. New York:New York University Press, 1997.Martin, James Kirby, Mark E. Lender, et. al. A RespectableArmy: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763-1789.Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson, 1982.Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The AmericanRevolution, 1763-1789. New York: Oxford UniversityPress, 1982.Shy, John. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflectionson the Military Struggle for American Independence.New York: Oxford University Press, 1976Shy, John. Toward Lexington: The Role of the BritishArmy and the Coming of the American Revolution.Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965.Wood, Gordon S. The Creation of the AmericanRepublic, 1776-1787. Chapel Hill: University of NorthCarolina Press, 1969.Wood, Gordon S. The Radicalism of the AmericanRevolution. New York: Random House, 1992.Weigley, Russell. The Partisan War: The South CarolinaCampaign of 1780-1782. Columbia: University of SouthCarolina Press, 1970.Capstone ProspectusA capstone prospectus is a document that helpsstudents outline the historiography of their topic andframe the question they propose to explore in theircapstone paper. Below is an example of a very highquality prospectus.ProspectusBy: Kalli J. RitterCapstoneProfessor John GrenierNovember 25, 2008For a multitude of reasons, World War II remainsone of the most studied conflicts among amateursand professionals alike. Historians can now studythe conflict with a fair amount of objectivity as theintervening years have largely erased any biasesresulting from the intensity and the all-or-nothingnature of the conflict. At the same time, the fact thatWorld War II occurred in the modern era meanshistorians have access to a wealth of resources largelyunavailable to those absorbed in the study of earlierwars. Despite the enormous amount of attentiondevoted to the subject, many facets of the war stillremain unexplored. Among these unexplored areas,few topics present a question as intriguing as therelationship between the Nazi Party’s anti-Slavicpolicies and their effect on the German home front.Specifically, how did the German perception of Russiain general and the Soviet Army in particular influencewomen within Germany and the wartime decisionsmade to protect them?Somewhat surprisingly, the answer to such a complexquestion proves remarkably simple: the rhetoricthat served as a foundation for the Nazi Party’searly successes fatally limited the Party’s optionsas the war progressed. Swept into office amidst a38
smokescreen of traditional values and a dedication toreturning women to the role of mother, Hitler and hiscompatriots established two dangerous precedents.First, by upholding motherhood as the proper andideal occupation for women, the Nazi Party preventedeffectual mobilization of half of Germany’s population.Second, the rhetoric established an equally strongexpectation for men to protect and provide forwomen. While neither of these concepts representparticularly revolutionary ideas, the ardor with whichthe Nazi regime advocated them prevented Germanyfrom abandoning them when confronted by wartimenecessity as its antagonists did.The other major tenet of Nazi ideology—Aryan racialsuperiority—played a significant role as well. The earlypropaganda used to vilify the Russians and therebyjustify the German violation of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact combined with the already prevalentbelief of Slavic inferiority to produce widespread fearof the Soviet Army out of all proportion to its actualcapabilities. The German women’s fear bolstered theresolve of German men to defeat the Russian hordes.The speed and thoroughness of the initial Germanvictories dispirited many Soviets and convincedlarge numbers to lay down their weapons, but thebrutal treatment of these captives at the hands of theGermans turned the conflict on the Eastern front intoa grudge match of momentous proportions. 15 As theconflict dragged on, the brutality escalated, increasingthe fear of German men for their wives and daughtersback home. This in turn encouraged them to newlevels of brutality, perpetuating the cycle. By the timethe Russians began their final offensive drive into thecrumbling German state, the tenacity of the Germandefense inspired reprisals of the sort long described inNazi propaganda efforts, resulting in a sort of selffulfillingprophecy.This cyclical relationship between the events onthe Eastern Front and the reactions of the largelyfemale population back on the German home frontdemands further attention because it suggests apreviously overlooked link between racial and genderissues within the policies of Nazi Germany. Thisargument also considers Nazi propaganda from awhole new perspective—the impact it had on its owngovernmental policies. Even a dictatorship such asNazi Germany could not afford to break faith with itsvery publicly established agenda without running therisk of alienating the army and its citizens alike. Quitepossibly the segment of people most affected by Nazipropaganda consisted of the German policy makers.In order to establish the existence of a relationshipbetween race and gender in the policies of NaziGermany, I intend to analyze the philosophy of theNazi Party, Nazi propaganda, women’s combat roles inWorld War II, and rape during wartime. Undeniablya disparate collection at first glance, these subjectsactually point to a complex interrelated social tapestrythat dictated Germany’s actions during World War IIjust as much as any battlefield outcome. In brief, I willprove that the philosophy of the Nazi Party dictatedtheir social policies towards women. That philosophyand the policies derived from it formed the basisof a majority of the Nazi propaganda. In turn, thatpropaganda influenced the actions of German men andultimately contributed to the Russian excesses at theclose of the conflict.Since very few historians have yet to take up the challengeof uncovering the correlation between race and genderissues in Nazi Germany, little real historiography existsfor the topic. Gisela Bock’s “Racism and Sexism in NaziGermany: Motherhood, Compulsory Sterilization, and theState,” proves the exception to the rule. Bock took the firstreal steps towards establishing a connection between theracial and gender policies of Nazi Germany, but her effortfocused on the rather narrow subject of reproductionissues under the Nazi regime. She failed to expand hertopic to include an analysis of how the government’spolicies (and the people’s reaction to them) impacted thewar effort. Despite this shortfall, Bock’s work deservesrecognition because it stands alone in its attempt to linkrace and gender issues during the time period in question.Although not dealing directly with the link betweengender and race issues within Nazi Germany, RichardJ. Evans’, “German Social Democracy and Women’sSuffrage 1891-1918,” provides important socialbackground information. The fact that the women’ssuffrage movement developed in tandem with the15George Fischer, “Vlasov & Hitler,” The Journal of Modern History 23, no. 1 (1951), 58.39
Page 3 and 4: AcknowledgmentsThis document was wr
Page 5 and 6: Many of you may find the AHA “fiv
Page 7 and 8: Program ObjectivesIn addition to th
Page 9 and 10: Beyond the MA: Thinking about a PhD
Page 11 and 12: Your advisor will clear you to sit
Page 13 and 14: What is History?History is a field
Page 15 and 16: overzealous defenders of the instit
Page 17 and 18: is closest to the truth or history
Page 19 and 20: is as valid as any other. Fortunate
Page 21 and 22: MH 520: Global Military History to
Page 23 and 24: MH 551: Race and Gender in Military
Page 25 and 26: Master of Arts in History-American
Page 27 and 28: • A higher level understanding of
Page 29 and 30: time to read and absorb every singl
Page 31 and 32: Having such a binder is invaluable
Page 33 and 34: Part Two: ArgumentsChapter 1 is ent
Page 35 and 36: Style, Spelling, GrammarAll papers
Page 37 and 38: Anglophile American scholars of the
Page 39: (1997) will. If we can move beyond
Page 43 and 44: Julius Yourman’s article, “Prop
Page 45: With such a wide range of component

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