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open access

Collective Security and Coalition: British Grand Strategy, 1783-1797

Description: On 1 February 1793, the National Convention of Revolutionary France declared war on Great Britain and the Netherlands, expanding the list of France's enemies in the War of the First Coalition. Although British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger had predicted fifteen years of peace one year earlier, the French declaration of war initiated nearly a quarter century of war between Britain and France with only a brief respite during the Peace of Amiens. Britain entered the war amid both a nad… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Jarrett, Nathaniel
open access

"On the Precipice in the Dark": Maryland in the Secession Crisis, 1860-1861

Description: This dissertation is a study of the State of Maryland in the secession crisis of 1860-1861. Previous historians have emphasized economic, political, societal, and geographical considerations as the reasons Maryland remained loyal to the Union. However, not adequately considered is the manner in which Maryland understood and reacted to the secession of the Lower South. Historians have tended to portray Maryland's inaction as inevitable and reasonable. This study offers another reason for Mary… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Hamilton, Matthew K.
open access

Food and the Master-Servant Relationship in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century Britain

Description: This thesis serves to highlight the significance of food and diet in the servant problem narrative of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Britain and the role of food in master-servant relationships as a source of conflict. The study also shows how attitudes towards servant labor, wages, and perquisites resulted in food-related theft. Employers customarily provided regular meals, food, drink, or board wages and tea money to their domestic servants in addition to an annual salary, yet food and m… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Weiss, Victoria A.
open access

Third World Decolonization: The Pan Africanist Movement in the Age of Nasserism

Description: In the mid-twentieth century Egyptian President Gamal Abdel-Nasser, along with President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana rose to international prominence as leaders and visionaries who were able to achieve political independence in their respective home countries while attempting to shape a destiny for Africa that did not involve Western imperialism. For Nasser's part, he first secured independence for Egypt, then turned his attention to the Middle East, but soon became as active in the politics of Sub … more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Pendegraft, Gregory
open access

Banks and Bankers in Denton County, Texas, 1846-1940

Description: This thesis investigates the importance banks, and bankers had with the development of the Denton County Texas from the 1870s until the beginning of the Second World War. Specifically, their role in the formation of both private and public infrastructure as well as the facilitation towards a more diverse economy. Key elements of bank development are outlined in the study including private, national, and state bank operations.
Date: December 2016
Creator: Page, Shawn
open access

The Duality of the Hitler Youth: Ideological Indoctrination and Premilitary Education

Description: This thesis examines the National Socialists' ultimate designs for Germany's youth, conveniently organized within the Hitlerjugend. Prevailing scholarship portrays the Hitler Youth as a place for ideological indoctrination and activities akin to the modern Boy Scouts. Furthermore, it often implies that the Hitler Youth was paramilitary but always lacks support for this claim. These claims are not incorrect, but in regard to the paramilitary nature of the organization, they do not delve nearl… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Miller, Aaron Michael
open access

The Walling Family of Nineteenth-Century Texas: An Examination of Movement and Opportunity on the Texas Frontier

Description: The Walling Family of Nineteenth-Century Texas recounts the actions of the first four generations of the John Walling family. Through a heavily quantitative study, the study focuses on the patterns of movement, service, and seizing opportunity demonstrated by the family as they took full advantage of the benefits of frontier expansion in the Old South and particularly Texas. In doing so, it chronicles the role of a relatively unknown family in many of the most defining events of the nineteenth-… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Cure, Stephen
open access

The Prusso-Saxon Army and the Battles of Jena and Auerstädt, October 14, 1806

Description: The twin battles of Jena and Auerstadt were fought on October 14, 1806 between the Prusso-Saxon forces under King Frederick William III of Prussia and the French forces under Emperor Napoleon I of France. Since these famous battles, many military historians have been quick to claim that the Prusso-Saxon Army of 1806 used tactics that were too outdated and soldiers that were quite incapable of effectively taking on the French. But the Prusso-Saxon Army of 1806 has been greatly misrepresented by … more
Date: December 1995
Creator: Hallmark, James (James Carl)
open access

A History of Smith County, Texas

Description: This paper explores the history of Smith County in Texas. Smith County is located in the pine and post oak belts of Northeastern Texas and is the fourth county southward from the Oklahoma boundary and the third county westward from the Louisiana state line. It covers its topographical features, early Native American life, its Cherokees occupation along with their expulsion, Smith's County's establishment, it's status as a frontier, its ante-bellum period, it's place in the civil war and during … more
Date: May 1944
Creator: Ward, William R.
open access

The Effect of the Assimilation of the La Reunion Colonists on the Development of Dallas and Dallas County

Description: This study examines the impact of the citizens of the La Reunion colony on the development of Dallas and Dallas County. The French, Belgian, and Swiss families that formed the utopian colony broughta blend of European culture and education to the Texas frontier in 1853. The founding of La Reunion and a record of its short existence is covered briefly in the first two chapters. The major part of the research, however, deals with the colonists who remained in Dallas County after the colony failed… more
Date: December 1986
Creator: Sandell, Velma Irene
open access

British Socialists and the Second International, 1885-1914

Description: The purpose of the present study is to identify the participants in the British socialist movement who worked in the Second International. The Second International was a confederation of socialist groups from over twenty nations who tried to carry on the work of Marx in the years of its existence, from 1889 to the outbreak of World War One in 1914. the study explains the political work of the Independent Labour Party, the Social Democratic Federation, and the Fabian Society, all of which gained… more
Date: August 1979
Creator: Nash, Carolyn Sue Kirby
open access

Proportional Representation and the Weimar Constitution

Description: The thesis examines the reasons why the German National Assembly of 1919 chose proportional representation to elect officials to the German Reichstag. Sources include the series Quellen zur Geschichte des Parlamentarismus and die politische Parteien, the "Hajo Holborn Papers", and the Reich Ministry of Interior debates concerning the institutional draft. The thesis traces the arguments for proportional representation, its use throughout Europe before 1914, and voting reform in Germany during Wo… more
Date: December 1992
Creator: Hastings, Preston B. (Preston Bruce)
open access

Progressivism/Prohibition and War: Texas, 1914-1918

Description: This thesis focuses upon the impact of war upon the progressive movement in Texas during 1914-1918. Chapter I defines progressivism in Texas and presents an overview of the political situation in the state as relating to the period. Chapter II discusses the negative impact that the first two years of World War I had upon the reform movement. Chapter III examines the revival of the Anti-Saloon League and the 1916 Democratic state convention. Chapter IV covers the war between James E. Ferguson a… more
Date: August 1992
Creator: Antle, Michael Lee
open access

Historical Markers in Texas

Description: The following chapters attempt to show the work that has been done toward restoration, preservation, and marking of historic spots in Texas by patriotic societies, individuals, civic groups, the Centennial Commission, and other agencies. It has not been the purpose of the writer to go into details regarding every one of the sites and individual markers, especially in instances in which several of the same type were erected. In such cases a general description of the markers is given, together w… more
Date: August 1939
Creator: Turner, Robert Leon
open access

Imagining the Empire: Germany Through the Eyes of Early Modern English Travellers

Description: This thesis is a study of early modern English travel narratives and the ways they presented the German states and their people to the public through the medium of print. It is based on an analysis of forty seven published travel narratives written by men and women who toured Germany and wrote about their experiences. The study situates these writings in the context of the growing sense of national identity in early modern Europe and offers an assessment of how these travel narratives contribu… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Micheals, Isaac
open access

Married in a Frisky Mode: Clandestine and Irregular Marriages in Eighteenth-Century Britain

Description: The practice of irregular and clandestine marriage ran rampant throughout Britain for centuries, but when the upper class felt they needed to reassert their social supremacy, marriage was one arena in which they sought to do so. The restrictions placed on irregular marriages were specifically aimed at protecting the elite and maintaining a separation between themselves and the lower echelon of society. The political, social, and economic importance of marriage motivated its regulation, as the c… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Smith, Summer
open access

Peculiar Pairings: Texas Confederates and Their Body Servants

Description: Peculiar Pairings: Texas Confederates and their Body Servants is an examination of the relationship between Texas Confederates and the slaves they brought with them during and after the American Civil War. The five chapter study seeks to make sense of the complex relationships shared by some Confederate masters and their black body servants in order to better understand the place of "black Confederates" in Civil War memory. This thesis begins with an examination of what kind of Texans brought b… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Elliott, Brian
open access

Las Cantigas de Santa Maria: Thirteenth-Century Popular Culture and Acts of Subversion

Description: Across medieval Europe, the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain traced a lattice web of popular culture. From the lowest peasant to the greatest king and churchmen, the devout walked pathways that created an economy and contributed to a social and political climate of change. Central to this impulse of piety and wanderlust was the veneration of the Virgin Mary. She was, however, not the iconic Mother of the New Testament whose character, actions, and very name are nearly abse… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Coats, Jerry Brian
open access

Humping it on their Backs: A Material Culture Examination of the Vietnam Veterans’ Experience as Told Through the Objects they Carried

Description: The materials of war, defined as what soldiers carry into battle and off the battlefield, have much to offer as a means of identifying and analyzing the culture of those combatants. The Vietnam War is extremely rich in culture when considered against the changing political and social climate of the United States during the 1960s and 70s. Determining the meaning of the materials carried by Vietnam War soldiers can help identify why a soldier is fighting, what the soldier’s fears are, explain c… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Herman, Thomas S.
open access

The Old Alcalde: Oran Milo Roberts, Texas's Forgotten Fire-Eater

Description: Oran Milo Roberts was at the center of every important event in Texas between 1857 and 1883. He served on the state supreme court on three separate occasions, twice as chief justice. As president of the 1861 Secession Convention he was instrumental in leading Texas out of the Union. He then raised and commanded an infantry regiment in the Confederate Army. After the Civil War, Roberts was a delegate to the 1866 Constitutional Convention and was elected by the state legislature to the United Sta… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Yancey, William C.
open access

Hungering for Independence: The Relationship between Food and Morale in the Continental Army, 1775-1783

Description: An adequate supply of the right kinds of foods is critical to an army's success on the march and on the battlefield. Good food supplies and a dire lack of provisions have profound effects on the regulation, confidence, esprit de corps, and physical state of an army. The American War of Independence (1775-1783) provides a challenging case study of this principle. The relationship between food and troop morale has been previously discussed as just one of many factors that contributed to the succe… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Maxwell, Nancy Kouyoumjian
open access

Commercial Diplomacy: The Berlin-Baghdad Railway and Its Peaceful Effects on Pre-World War I Anglo-German Relations

Description: Slated as an economic outlet for Germany, the Baghdad Railway was designed to funnel political influence into the strategically viable regions of the Near East. The Railway was also designed to enrich Germany's coffers with natural resources with natural resources and trade with the Ottomans, their subjects, and their port cities... Over time, the Railway became the only significant route for Germany to reach its "place in the sun," and what began as an international enterprise escalated into a… more
Date: May 2016
Creator: Bukaty, Ryan Michael
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