World War-II in Europe

This 5-session course will look at World War 2 in  Europe.  We'll cover the initial factors that led to the war in the European Theater, the outbreak in Europe, the major events (military and political), and the immediate aftermath and strategic implications.  This course will be very visual--lots of pictures and maps.  We'll discuss key personalities and the roles they played.  Each person in the class will be assigned the identify of a real individual who was in the European theatre during the war.  As we progress through the war, they'll find out what happens to their personality and if that person lives or dies.

Session 1:  Prelude to War.  The impact of the Versailles Treaty, the rise of Nazism, and the impact of the Great Depression.  The Spanish Civil War.  Hitler's rise to power and annexation of the Sudetenland.

Session 2:  Blitzkreig.  Germany on the offensive.  The invasion of Poland, the phony war, the fall of France, Dunkirk and Operation Sea Lion, Italy's actions, and the invasion of Greece. 

Session 3:  The Battle of Britain, the fight for the Atlantic, US enters the war, Operation Barbarossa and Stalingrad, and North Africa.

Session 4:  Italy, Normandy, Kursk, Market-Garden, the Air War in the West, Battle of the Bulge, and the Home Front for the Allies.

Session 5:  End Game.  The Holocaust revealed.  Yalta and Potsdam.  Reparations and war crime trials.  Setting the stage for the Cold War.

My classes are all very interactive.   I ask a lot of opinions and direct questions to individual students ("Jeff--if you were  Chamberlain, what would you have done differently?  Tamika--do you think the US should have entered the war sooner?  Why or why not?")  I try and personalize the content so it isn't just a bunch of dates and numbers.  I also assume that the learner is mentally thinking "so what?" every time I provide a piece of information so I try to explain the strategic importance or the long-term implication of a specific battle or agreement.

There is no required prior knowledge though a basic understanding of European geography is useful.