History of Nationalism in France, Greece, the Balkans, and Ottoman Empire, and How It Contributed to WWI

Crash Course Study Hall examines the history of nationalism in several European countries and how it emerged as an international phenomenon in the 1700s. This lecture is not quite 14 minutes. https://youtu.be/U8b-45P0V6k?si=Xqa9MAnikbH940aj

How To Make Memorial Day Meaningful

Memorial Day in the US was first commemorated in the years after the Civil War to honor soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom. Recent estimates enlarge the number killed on both sides to be not 650,000 as originally determined, but closer to between 750,000 to 800,000. "The equivalent death toll adjusted …

How Napoleon Bonaparte Caused the First World War

If nationalism and militarism were the two main forces that caused WWI as empires broke up, Severan42 argues that French emperor Napoleon, long dead by the time of WWI, helped create the conditions that caused this war in Europe. He sought to unify Europe under French auspices. In response, the ethnicities and small principalities of …

American Imperialist Beliefs in the Late 1800s: Pro and Con

Students should read the following documents and list on a chart the key arguments of the imperialists/expansionists, to prepare for debates. Two "Pro" Arguments (Pro-Imperialist) "The US Looking Outwards" by Alfred Thayer Mahan, 1890, The Atlantic. He was a United States naval officer and historian, whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of …

Britain and the United Kingdom Were Delusions? Maybe the Nation of England Is, Too

With Scotland and Wales grumbling about independence, and Ireland discussing unification of the north and south, all to remain in the European Union, the United Kingdom does not seem so united. Author James Hawes in Prospect Magazine examines the fraught history behind the UK and England. "Regularly falling to foreign takeovers and perennially divided, England is a …

Joe Biden Believes in American Exceptionalism

On this July 4th holiday weekend, the "American exceptionalism" promoted by President Joe Biden and almost every other president deserves examination. Biden frequently talks about America as an inspiring idea -- equality of opportunity in a nation of immigrants, with the inalienable rights of each individual recognized -- not based on geography, tribe, ethnicity or …

Theodore H. White, In Awe of American Democracy, Practiced Political Journalism As Illusion, Myth-Making

In a course on American elections, I would include political campaign classics by Theodore H. White: Making of the President 1960;  Making of the President 1964, Making of the President 1968 and Making of the President 1972. I’m glad to see new editions of these books (including as ebooks) and they are still required reading …

‘The Difference Between Us’: The Illusion of Race

"Everyone can tell a Nubian from a Norwegian, so why not divide people into different races? That's the question explored in "The Difference Between Us," the first hour of this PBS series. This episode shows that despite what we've always believed, the world's peoples simply don't come bundled into distinct biological groups. We begin by …

What Is The American Creed? Or Are We Headed Towards A New Civil War?

Trailer for "The American Creed," a PBS documentary. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Kennedy and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from remarkably different backgrounds, life experiences and points of view, joined together to host a spirited inquiry into the idea of a unifying American creed. This documentary frames the stories of a range of …

Largely Forgotten Conflict Between England and Scotland is Revived By Brexit and ‘Outlander’

With England's exit from the European Union, there's a revival of Scottish interest in independence so it can stay in the EU. If successful, Scottish independence would destroy the United Kingdom. Wales and Northern Ireland, which voted to remain in the EU, likely following Scotland's lead in exiting the UK. The Scots have, until recently, …