HS3T82: Axis at War: Life and Death in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, 1936-45

Module code: HS3T82

Module provider: History; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Patrick Major, email: p.major@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Axis at War provides a ‘history from below’ of Italian and German society during a war which razed German cities to the ground, sparked civil war in Italy, and sent millions to their deaths in the Holocaust. It asks methodological questions about how historians can reconstruct an ‘everyday history’ of the extraordinary and highlights biographical and social-historical sources such as diaries, letters, secret police reports, and Allied intelligence assessments. It attempts a differentiated view of life under fascism, ranging from careerist fellow-travelling, to passivity, to resistance and martyrdom for Marxist and Christian ideals. While making excursions to Spain’s Civil War and the conquest of Ethiopia, the module centres around the turning-point of 1943, when Italy deposed its Duce, Hamburg succumbed to a firestorm, and history’s largest tank battle raged at Kursk, all within a fortnight. Why did one fascist regime attempt to capitulate, while another fought to the bitter end?

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Differentiate discrete Italian and German social groups’ experiences of the Second World War
2. Test the propaganda claims of these regimes against social reality
3. Develop a critical empathy and judgment of the role of individuals caught up in totalitarianism
4. Explore the relations between outside Anglo-American liberators and indigenous resisters

Module content

The seminars will follow the following themes:

1. History from below: sources and approaches
2. Wars before the War: Intervention in Spain and Invasion of Ethiopia
3. Propaganda: Cinecittà and ‘ProMi’ between Hollywood and the BBC
4. Home Fronts: Volksgenossen and Brava Gente?
5. Fighting Fronts: From El Alamein to Stalingrad
6. Bombing: Morale under the Bombs
7. Holocaust Bystanders and Perpetrators
8. Holocaust Victims
9. Armed Resistance and Moral Opposition
10. Liberation and Retribution
11. Memory and Memorialisation

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

• Weekly lecture on each theme and to introduce primary sources + weekly follow-up quizzes
• Primary source pool will be posted by MC on Blackboard for portfolio assignment
• Digital mapping (examples of autobiographical sources will be plotted here)
• Reading preparation (one weekly core chapter-length text and one individually allocated text); findings to be posted on wiki on Blackboard
• Weekly 2-hour seminar in 4 breakout groups to cover historiography for essay assignment

Study hours

At least 33 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

1,000 words or 2 pages of A4 maximum to include, at the module convenor's discretion, an essay plan, bibliography, book review or other preparatory work towards the summative essay.

Reassessment

Additional costs