Essay Topic

[Dachs]

I would like to see what you can do with the Battles of the Frontiers during the first part of the Western Front fighting in the First World War.

In general, useful sources are Zuber (2003, 2010, 2011, the last one of which is currently pending publication), Strachan (2001), Bucholz (1991), Michalka (ed.) (1991), Herwig (1997, 2009), Foley (2007), Philpott (1996), Barnett (1986), and, of course, the immortal Tyng (1935). In no particular order, of course. I may also be able to email you a doctoral dissertation on Groener specifically but which also discusses the extensive "Schlieffen Plan" historiography, if you are so interested.

 

[Masada]

Dachs has basically given you all the quality sources you could want, and a few months of reading as well

 

[Dachs]

By the way, if you do read those books, you may realize that a lot of them spend a great deal of time arguing against each other. This is part of the point. History teachers and professors love it when you write a paper on the historiography of a particular event, i.e. the way historians have talked about it in the past and their various interpretations of it.

 

[sophie]

Sorry. I'd prefer a war of some sort, or maybe a battle. I remember I did the battle of Agincourt for my 8th grade term paper, but I didn't do particularily well on it.

But once again, I don't really have that many bugs about it, I just need 15-20 sources on it, that's all. It has to be anywhere from 5-10,000 words.

If you want to do military history, please, for the love of god don't do the standard WWII/Napoleon/Alexander/Rome/hundred years war/etc.

Do something cool like Marlborough or Pavia! That would be cool beans.

Or, if war is more your speed, do 30 Years', 9 Years', 7 Years', Austrian Succession, or Quadruple Alliance.

If you did something on one of those, I'd read it.

 

[Joecoolyo]

How about the French and Indian War? You get all of the 7 Years War fun, but without it being just another standard, "European affair".

Bonus points if you can connect it to the American Revolution

 

[sophie]

How about the French and Indian War? You get all of the 7 Years War fun, but without it being just another standard, "European affair".

Bonus points if you can connect it to the American Revolution

What are you playing at?

French and Indian War=7 Years' War

And besides, War of Jenkins' Ear is far superior if NA is more your style. I mean, just by the name you already know you can't go wrong.

 

[Joecoolyo]

What are you playing at?

French and Indian War=7 Years' War

And besides, War of Jenkins' Ear is far superior if NA is more your style. I mean, just by the name you already know you can't go wrong.

Yes, it is the 7 years war, but since it takes place in America, it boosts to to numbah 1 above the European theater.

Also, I haven't heard of the rather oddly named war, Jenkin's Ear.

 

[say1988]

It was related one of the "French and Indian Wars". I believe the third of four. The War of Austrian Succession IIRC.
The name comes from an indicdent related to the start of the war where a British merchant captain had his ear cut off by a Spanish navy officer.

 

[Dachs]

Yeah, the War of Jenkins' Ear was basically an excuse for the British to start fighting with the Spanish, nominally over the issue of overzealous Spanish piracy-suppression (leading to the incident in which Jenkins supposedly got his ear cut off) but in reality it seems to have had more to do with the limitation of British commerce into the Spanish New World colonies (lol Annual Ship) and an extension of souring Anglo-Spanish relations after the Italian debacles of the 1730s.

Before it was subsumed into the War of the Austrian Succession/King George's War proper, the War of Jenkins' Ear chiefly featured a disastrous British amphibious assault on Cartagena in what is now Colombia, in which so many British troops died of disease that Parliament actually roused itself to investigate what the cock was going on.

 

[sophie]

Yeah, the War of Jenkins' Ear was basically an excuse for the British to start fighting with the Spanish, nominally over the issue of overzealous Spanish piracy-suppression (leading to the incident in which Jenkins supposedly got his ear cut off) but in reality it seems to have had more to do with the limitation of British commerce into the Spanish New World colonies (lol Annual Ship) and an extension of souring Anglo-Spanish relations after the Italian debacles of the 1730s.

Before it was subsumed into the War of the Austrian Succession/King George's War proper, the War of Jenkins' Ear chiefly featured a disastrous British amphibious assault on Cartagena in what is now Colombia, in which so many British troops died of disease that Parliament actually roused itself to investigate what the cock was going on.

Indeed.

what the cock was going on.

Also, I must endeavor to use this phrase more often.

 

[sp1023]

Battle of Lepanto or Philip's Spanish Armada vs the English Fleet?

I actually also kinda like the idea of the 7 Years War. Would it be too broad an area to look at though?

 

[Dachs]

Aren't there already like ninety bazillion Lepanto or Armada essays on there? The Battle of Lepanto is so "underrated" that it became overrated in terms of import and attention, like most NBA players of the 1960s.

If you want to look at the Seven Years' War, do something that people don't spend a whole lot of time talking about, but which is still intrinsically interesting, like the Rhenish/Westphalian campaigns between the French and the various armies of Ferdinand von Braunschweig.

 

[sophie]

Battle of Lepanto or Philip's Spanish Armada vs the English Fleet?

I actually also kinda like the idea of the 7 Years War. Would it be too broad an area to look at though?

Spanish Armada janx is so boring and overdone though! What would be far more interesting than the Armada would be talking about the other 15 years of highly disastrous war that followed.

What Dachs said, or the 9, 80, 30 (though Dachs has this quite covered himself), etc. would be far more interesting. If Early Modern's not your speed, there's always Boer War or something on Bonnie Prince Charlie could be interesting. Maybe something on Charles XII of Sweden, Peter I is a cool/interesting dude.

 

[Dachs]

Remember, he's not writing a history article for CFC. He's writing an essay for a lolacademic site and, apparently, semi-journal. That I've already covered a very very small part of the TYW in a CFC history article doesn't really matter to him.

 

[sp1023]

I feel like an imbecile... I didn't know CFC had historic articles.....