This course aims to describe and analyze the history of American military activities, institutions, and policy from colonial times to the present. Themes to be covered include civil-military relations, the place of military options in the spectrum of political action, the impact of the armed forces upon the society they defend and vice versa, the conduct of war, and the political-military policymaking process.
Questions:
Relevant questions and comments are not only welcome but encouraged. The lecturer is always ready to take a moment to clear up misconceptions or follow up on students' lines of thought. Remember, the only dumb question is the one that isn't asked.
Required Readings:
Allan R. Millett and Peter Maslowski, _For the Common Defense: A
Military History of the United States of America_
Kenneth J. Hagan, ed., _In Peace and War: Interpretations of
American Naval History, 1776-1984_
Kenneth J. Hagan and William R. Roberts, eds., _Against All
Enemies: Interpretations of American Military History from
Colonial Times to the Present_
Don Higginbotham, _George Washington and the American Military
Tradition_
George C. Herring, _The Longest War_
Each student will also read two additional books and write a
review essay for each.
Meetings:
This class will meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Meetings will normally center on a lecture. Your attendance is required.
Reading Assignments:
Readings are assigned in three groups that correspond to the three test periods of the term. To be most helpful, relevant material should be read before the topic is covered in class. The assignments are listed in the "Course Schedule" segment below.
Office Hours:
Dr. Parillo's office hours are from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays (except during finals week) or by appoint- ment. His office is in 315 Eisenhower Hall (phone: 532-0374). His e-mail address is parillo@ksu.ksu.edu.
Enrollment:
All students must be officially enrolled in the course by the end of the second week of the term. Enrolling officially and on time is solely the responsibility of the student. Attendance will be taken on Friday, August 25. Students not in attendance on that date may be dropped from the roster at the discretion of the instructor.
Examinations:
There will be two midterm examinations and a final exam. Essay questions will comprise significant portions of all three exams. Part of the final exam will be comprehensive.
Under certain conditions, students who have missed examina- tions may be permitted to take make-up examinations. The instruc- tor will use his discretion, based on the circumstances and the validation offered by the student, to determine whether or not a make-up examination will be allowed. Early notification of schedule conflicts or other problems will increase the student's chances of being granted permission to take a make-up exam.
Book Analysis:
One of the skills an educated person must develop is the cap- acity to read a book critically. The out-of-class written assign- ments are designed to assist the student in cultivating that skill. Each student will read and review two books selected from the course bibliography, in addition to those already assigned. The course bibliography is available for your perusal or copying at the Reserves Counter in Farrell Library. Requirements and sug- gestions for the book analyses are contained in a document on reserve at the Reserve Counter in Farrell Library.
Plagiarism and cheating are serious offenses and may be pun- ished by failure on the exam, paper, or project; failure in the course; or and/or expulsion from the university. For more infor- mation refer to the "Academic Dishonesty" policy in Inside KSU.
HIST546:
All students must subscribe to the class electronic discussion list and bulletin board, HIST546. To subscribe, send the follow- ing message to LISTSERV@KSUVM.KSU.EDU:
SUB HIST546 your name
Do not put any entry onto the subject line in the header of this message. You should receive confirmation of your acceptance in a welcome message within 24 hours of sending the message. The wel- come message will also contain valuable information on how to use the list to post messages, retrieve documents, etc.
We will use the list for dscussion of material, making announcements, and anything else we find useful in the pursuit of knowledge. It can be an invaluable tool when used properly.
Remember to observe common rules of courtesy when posting messages to the list. It will be an open, unmoderated list, mean- ing (1) others from outside the class may join, and (2) when you hit the "send" key for a message to HIST546, it will show up automatically in the electronic mailboxes of everyone subscribed to the list. The moral is: "Think before you post." Don't be afraid to ask questions, raise issues, and challenge interpreta- tions, but always do so in a relevant and polite manner.
Course Grading:
Course work will have the following value in determining your grade average:
First Midterm Exam....................25%
First Book Analysis...................10%
Second Midterm Exam...................25%
Second Book Analysis..................10%
Final Exam............................30%
The course instructor reserves the right to amend the syllabus
as needed, provided adequate notice of such changes is presented
in class.
Course Schedule
I. From the Colonies to the Civil War
A. Week 1: The Colonial Period
B. Week 2: The American Revolution
C. Week 3: Federalist and Jeffersonian Policies
D. Week 4: The War of 1812 and After
E. Week 5: The Mexican and Civil Wars
Reading: Millett and Maslowski, Common Defense, Ch. 1-7; Hagan,
In Peace and War, Ch. 1-7; Hagan and Roberts, Against
All Enemies, Ch. 1-8; Higginbotham, George Washington
FIRST MIDTERM: Wednesday, September 27
II. From the Civil War to World War II
A. Week 7: Postwar Decline and Resurgence
B. Week 8: An Era of Reform
FIRST BOOK ANALYSIS DUE: Friday, October 13
C. Week 9: World War I and Interwar Developments
D. Week 10: World War II
E. Week 11: World War II (cont.)
Reading: Millett and Maslowski, Common Defense, Ch. 8-14; Hagan,
In Peace and War, Ch. 8-14; Hagan and Roberts, Against
All Enemies, Ch. 9-14
SECOND MIDTERM: Friday, November 3
III. The Cold War
A. Week 12: Finding a Cold War Policy
B. Week 13: Korea, Eisenhower, and Kennedy
SECOND BOOK ANALYSIS DUE: Friday, November 17
C. Week 14: The Vietnam War
D. Week 15: The Vietnam War (cont.)
E. Week 16: The Nuclear Confrontation and War in Space
Reading: Millett and Maslowski, Common Defense, Ch. 15-17, Epi-
logue; Hagan, In Peace and War, Ch. 15-18; Hagan and
Roberts, Against All Enemies, Ch. 15-18; Herring, The
Longest War.
FINAL EXAM: 11:50 a.m., Monday, December 11
HISTORY 546
List of Lectures and Note Outlines
1: Introduction/Historiography
I. Administrative
II. Purposes and Uses of Military History
III. American Military History
IV. Definition of Terms
2: The Colonial Period
I. The Colonial Militia
II. Indian Wars
III. Imperial Wars
3: Revolutionary War I: A People's War
I. Observations
II. People's Wars
III. The Road to War
IV. Objectives and Outlook
4: Revolutionary War II: The American War Effort
I. The War on the Local level
II. Civil-Military Relations
III. Localism and Civilianism in the War Effort
5: Revolutionary War III: Operations
I. The Land Forces
II. The War at Sea
III. The War on Land
IV. Understanding the American Victory
6: U.S. Military Policy to 1800
I. Military Policy Under the Confederation
II. Federalist Military Policy
III. The Navy under Federalism
IV. The Military Legacy of the Federalists
7: Jeffersonian Military Policy
I. Jeffersonian Military Policy
II. The Barbary Pirates
III. The Road to War
8: The War of 1812
I. Outlook
II. The War at Sea
III. Land Operations
IV. Observations on the War of 1812
9: Military Policy, 1815-1846 (The Jacksonian Era)
I. Strategic Overview
II. Military Policy
III. Naval Policies
IV. The Navy as a Social Institution
V. The Navy Enters the Machine Age
10: The Mexican War
I. Causes of the War
II. Strategy and Operations
III. War Management
IV. The War and U.S. Politics
V. Civil-Military Tensions
11: Civil War I: Preparations and Mobilization
I. Causes and Issues
II. Resources
III. Strategies
IV. Manpower Mobilization
12: Civil War II: Administration, Logistics, & Naval Operations
I. Administration and Logistics
II. The Naval War
13: Civil War III: Tactical and Strategi Aspects
I. The Battlefield
II. Victory on Land: Campaign in the East 1864-65
III. Consequences of the Civil War
14: The U.S. Army, 1865-1898
I. Legacies of the Civil War
II. Life in the Late Nineteenth-Century U.S. Army
III. Emory Upton and His Ideas
IV. Opposition to Uptonism
15: The U.S. Navy, 1865-1898
I. The Doldrums
II. The "New Navy"
III. Godfathers of Reform
IV. Birth of the Military-Industrial Complex
16: The Spanish-American War
I. Politics, Strategy, and Leadership
II. The Navy's War
III. The Army's War
IV. Conclusions
17: The Philippine Insurrection
I. The Coming of the Insurrection
II. The Conventional Warfare Phase
III. Guerrilla Warfare, Phase I
IV. Guerrilla Warfare, Phase II
18: An Era of Reform
I. War Department Reform
II. New Manpower Policies
III. Naval Strategy
IV. Building the Fleet
V. The Navy's Problems
19: On the Eve of War
I. The Preparedness Impulse
II. Land Force Reform
III. Intervention in Mexico
20: First World War I: This Side of the Atlantic
I. Observations on the American Experience
II. The Great War
III. Manpower Mobilization
IV. Economic Mobilization
V. Home Front Morale
21: First World War II: Over There
I. Civil-Military Relations
II. The Naval War
III. The New Weapon
IV. The A.E.F.
22: Interwar Land Force Policy
I. Missions
II. Force Structure
III. Industrial Mobilization Planning
23: Sea Power Reassessed
I. Negotiated Security
II. Naval Rearmament
III. Fleet Structure
24: New Developments: Amphibious Warfare and Air Power
I. Origins of the Amphibious Mission
II. Creating the Amphibious Concept, Force, and Doctrine
III. The Strategic Bombing Concept
IV. The U.S. Army and Strategic Bombing
25: Second World War I: Rearmament and Strategy
I. Strategy and Diplomacy, 1939-1940
II. Rearmament, 1940-1941
III. Command Structure
IV. Strategic Decisions
26: Second World War II: War on the Home Fronts
I. Home Front Mobilization
II. Science and Technology
III. Origins of the Strategic Air War
IV. The Combined Bomber Offensive
V. The Strategic Bombing of Japan
27: Second World War III: Land and Amphibious Warfare
I. The 90-Division War
II. In the Front Lines
III. The Challenge of Amphibious Warfare
IV. The Great Normandy Invasion
28: Second World War IV: The War at Sea
I. The Navy Command System
II. The Navy's War
III. The Undersea War
IV. Victory at Sea
29: The Challenges of Post-WWII Defense
I. Inception of the Cold War
II. The Nuclear Age
III. Strategic Traditions and New Conditions
IV. Reorganizing the Defense Establishment
30: U.S. Policy and Strategy in the Cold War
I. The Policy of Containment
II. Containment in Practice
III. NATO
IV. Nuclear Strategy
31: Korean War I: Operations
I. Background to the Korean War
II. Retrograde
III. Counteroffensive
IV. The Great Bugout
V. Stabilization
32: Korean War II: Management and Impact
I. Mobilization and rearming
II. Command
III. Lessons
IV. "The War Before Vietnam"?
33: The "New Look"
I. Assumptions and Actors
II. The "New Look"
III. Problems of Organization
IV. Critics of the "New Look"
34: "Flexible Response"
I. The Kennedy Administration
II. McNamara's Pentagon
III. "Flexible Response"
IV. The Third Challenge
35: Vietnam War I: Early Stages
I. The Road to War
II. American Intervention
III. Westmoreland's War
36: Vietnam War II: Insurgency and the Air War
I. The "Other War"
II. The Air War Against North Vietnam
37: Vietnam War III: Conclusion and Impact
I. Tet
II. Nixon's War
III. The Impact of Vietnam
38: The Nuclear Confrontation I: From Monopoly to Parity
I. Nuclear Monopoly
II. Eisenhower and Massive Retaliation
III. The Missile Age
IV. Changes in the 1960s
39: The Nuclear Confrontation II: Thaw, Freeze, and End
I. Detente
II. The Breakdown of Detente
III. The New Cold War
IV. Denouement
40: Space - The New Battleground?
I. Space as a Battlefield
II. Doctrinal Approaches
III. Satellite Surveillance
IV. The Strategic Defense Initiative