Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Michael A. Ramsay / At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain had acquired a vast empire that included territories in Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe that numbered more than a quarter of the earth's population. Britain also possessed the largest army that the state had ever fielded, employing nearly 250,000 troops on station throughout this empire and on fighting fronts in Spain, southern France, the Low Countries, and North America. However, the peace of 1815 and the end of nearly twenty-five years of war with France brought with it significant problems for Britain. Years of war had saddled the state with a massive debt of nearly £745,000; a threefold increase from its total debt in 1793, the year war with the French began. Furthermore, the rapid economic changes brought on by a the state that had transitioned from a wartime economy to one of peacetime caused widespread unemployment and financial dislocation among the British population including the thousands of officers and soldiers who had fought in the Napoleonic Wars and were now demobilized and back into the civilian sector. Lastly, the significant imperial growth had stretched the colonial administrative and bureaucratic infrastructure to the breaking point prompting the Colonial Office and the ruling elites to adopt short-term measures in running its empire. The solution adopted by the Colonial Office in the twenty-five years that followed the Napoleonic Wars was the employment of proconsular despotism. Proconsular despotism is the practice of governing distant territories and provinces by politically safe individuals, most often military men, who identified with and were sympathetic to the aims of the parent state and the ruling elites. The employment of this form of colonial governance helped to alleviate a number of problems that plagued the Crown and Parliament. First, the practice found suitable employment for deserving military officers during a period of army demobilization and sizeable reduction of armed forces. The appointment of military officers to high colonial administrative positions was viewed by Parliament as a reward for distinguished service to the state. Second, the practice enabled Colonial Office to employ officials who had both previous administrative and military experience and who were accustomed to make critical decisions that they believed coincided with British strategic and national interests. Third, the employment of knowledgeable and experienced army officers in colonial posts fulfilled the Parliamentary mandates of curtailing military spending while maintaining security for the colonies. Military officers of all ranks clamored for the opportunities of serving in the colonies. General and field grade officers viewed service in the colonies as a means of maintaining their status and financially supporting their lifestyles. Company grade officers, who primarily came from the emerging middle class, saw colonial service as a means of swift promotion in a peacetime army and of rising socially. Competition for overseas administrative positions was intense and officers frequently employed an intricate and complex pattern of patronage networking. The proconsular system of governing Britain's vast network of colonies flourished in the quarter century following the Battle of Waterloo. In the immediate aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars the British officer corps contributed men who became the principal source for trained colonial administrators enabling Britain to effectively manage its immense empire.

<p> The National Fallout Shelter Survey and Marking Program (NFSS) was a 1961 Kennedy Administration program that, with the help of local architect and engineering companies, located public community fallout shelters in the existing built environment. The shelter spaces were marked, stocked, and mapped. Community Shelter Plans showing the location of available shelters in the area were made with the help of local and state planning personnel. These civil defense shelters were thought to be not only essential to the survival of Americans but an important part of the United States National Defense policy. The public shelters represent a unique part of America's Cold War history and the civilian Cold War experience. Though many public shelters were located in buildings constructed during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this thesis argues that these buildings are a type of Cold War-era resource, one that is distinguished by its use and not its appearance. The thesis includes an examination of the NFSS program nationwide as well as a focused historic context of Denver, Colorado's civil defense program; an analysis of NFSS types; and a case for the preservation of public community fallout shelters.</p>

<p>In my dissertation, <i>De la pen&iacute;nsula Ib&eacute;rica a Italia: concepci&oacute;n y pr&aacute;ctica teatral de las primeras comedias castellanas </i>, I analyze the formation of early modern Spanish comedia, in the context of Italo-Iberian cultural exchanges. My aim is to incorporate the most popular Spanish plays of the first half of the sixteenth century into the larger scenario in which they belong: one that we could name the "formation of the genre of comedy". Works such as Juan del Encina's<i> Eclogues </i>, <i>La Celestina</i> (<i>The Spanish Bawd</i>), and Torres Naharro's <i>Tinellaria</i> and <i>Soldadesca</i> are seen in this light as milestones in a complex thread of contributions leading to the development in the seventeenth century of a Spanish Golden Age "national theater", and specifically in Lope de Vega comedia nueva, as well as to the Italian <i>commedia erudita</i>. Such a reconstruction has long been neglected due to the constitution of the Hispanic and the Italian literary studies, and the asymmetry between the Spanish and the Italian literary traditions, especially regarding the primacy of Italian "comedies" and "authors" in the constitution of a history of "western comedy". </p><p> The formation of the genre of comedy it is seen in a new light within a textual and bibliographical history, grounded in the relationships among authors, printers, and readers. Cultural and merchant networks established between the Iberian and Italian Peninsulas helped to widespread not only books as commodities, but ideas and forms (genres) contained within them that would appeal to new audiences and readers. In my second chapter, I have reconstructed the possible ways in which these plays could have been represented, in contexts such as Alba de Tormes and Rome, by means of the analysis of internal text evidence (prompts, or configuration of the different scenes) and the extant records, both about its actual performances, and other contemporary spectacles. In order to make sense of the scarce available data, I have delved into architectural treatises (Vitruvio, Alberti, Peruzzi, Serlio), woodcuts, and extant Roman documents on contemporary theatrical performances. As a result of this reconstruction, Encina's latest plays, as well as Naharro's <i>Soldadesca</i> and <i> Tinellaria</i>, appear as deeply rooted in the avant-garde conception of the urban Roman scene, they share both techniques, and scene conceptions with avant-garde Italian authors. In my third chapter, I studied the function that comedies, such as Naharro's <i>Tinellaria</i> and <i> Soldadesca</i>, had at the time, insisting on the religious and political denunciations contained in them, as well as in their relationship with some discourses originating in the Lateran council. As a result of that, I have been able to delimit the circles, critical with the papacy of Julius II, in which these ideas originated, together with the political interests of those that voiced them. </p>

This dissertation has sought to illuminate the characters of Richard the Lion Heart and Salah Ad-Din Al-Ayyubi (Saladin), and the meaning of chivalry as a concept in Western history, through a comparative "parallel biography" of the two men. It is hoped that this parallel biography of the two most notable figures of the crusading era further illuminates the crusading movement and the encounter of the Western and Islamic worlds in Syria from the end of the eleventh through the end of the thirteenth centuries. / Chapter one examines the childhood, the adulthood, society and the career of Richard I prior to his departure on the third crusade. / Chapter two focuses on the childhood, the adulthood, and society of Salah Ad-Din Al-Ayyubi. Attention is given to his career in the years before he directed his principal energies against the Franks in Syria. / Chapter three examines the Battle of Hittin, which sealed the fate of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem and ultimately of the crusading cause as a whole. Emphasis is placed upon the developments that led up the battle, and the subsequent course of the war that led to the fall of Jerusalem and other inland Christian strongholds. / Chapter four focuses on the political and military encounter of Richard I and Saladin in the third crusade, which resulted in the achievement of Saladin's key objectives, and the departure of Richard from Syria without regaining Jerusalem nor restoring the Frankish position in Syria to a viable condition. / Chapter five discusses the evolution of the images of Richard and Saladin between the twelfth century and the present day. The development of the writing on these two legends shows that with the familiarity of Richard in the West, Saladin has remained in the popular western imagination as one of the most familiar of all Muslim historical figures and a model of moderation, mercy and values of chivalry. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-08, Section: A, page: 3162. / Major Professor: Paul Strait. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This dissertation describes the American effort to rearm West Germany and integrate it into NATO during the Cold War. The large Soviet advantage in European ground forces convinced the Truman administration to seek a German military contribution to NATO, especially after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 provoked widespread Western fears of a world-wide Communist onslaught. Accordingly, Truman directed Secretary of State Dean Acheson to propose the creation of German military forces at the September 1950 New York Conference of the NATO Council. Most of the NATO Allies reluctantly accepted the American proposal, but France remained vehemently opposed. French opposition to German rearmament and the American attempt to overcome it spawned a series of diplomatic conferences which culminated in the European Defense Community treaty of May 1952. This EDC treaty was designed to integrate German units into a unified European Army. During 1953 and early 1954, though, the French turned away from the idea because they did not want to sacrifice their national military traditions and independence. The French National Assembly defeated the European Defence Community in August 1954. President Eisenhower's Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, then met with the NATO ministers at the September 1954 London Conference and developed a plan for West Germany's full membership in NATO and the Western European Union. The NATO Allies, including France, accepted the proposal and Germany entered NATO in May 1955. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-04, Section: A, page: 1065. / Major Professor: Neil Jumonville. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This paper is the memoir of a Polish-Jewish survivor of the Holocaust, annotated with historical references and an introduction written by the narrator's daughter. It is based on the narrator's taped recollections, as told to and edited by her daughter. The narrator was born and raised in Siedlce, Poland, a city located fifty miles east of Warsaw. She describes life in Siedlce before World War II and then recounts the events that took place in Siedlce following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939. The narrator and her husband were among the few Jews to survive the liquidation of the community. Fearing denunciation, they assumed false identities and went to Germany to work. She recounts their experiences working in a factory in Kassel and on a farm near Wtirzburg. The memoir depicts their liberation and their life as displaced persons in the American zone of Germany, concluding with their emigration to the United States in 1949 / acase@tulane.edu

In response to certain social, political, and historical circumstances at the beginning of the twentieth century, there arose in France what many historians today identify as the 'French Nationalist Revival.' Central to the revived nationalist mood was the desire to exact revenge from Germany for the defeat of France in 1870 and the subsequent cession of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Several authors such as Maurice Barres, Paul Acker, and Georges Ducrocq--only to name a few--adopted the cause of the Alsatians and Lorrainers then living under the German occupation and actively fostered this spirit of revanchisme in their widely circulated literary writings of the period To provide the necessary introduction to the ten novels of occupation under consideration, this dissertation first establishes the historical background of France from 1870 to 1914 and the literary influence of French nationalist and anti-militarist writings from 1870 to 1904. Following this, the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century concept of the French race as related to the novels of occupation is elucidated since the perceived racial difference between the French and German peoples was essential to the nationalists' protest against the annexation. It is then shown how the nationalist authors attempted to convince their reading public of both the injustice of the occupation and its constant duty to the ceded French population by portraying the German occupiers as tyrannical oppressors determined to subjugate the provinces and by embellishing the resistance of the inhabitants, who remain loyal to France through their closeness to the soil of Alsace and Lorraine and their fidelity to the memory of their deceased French ancestors In this dissertation, it is demonstrated that these novels, which are undeniably ideological, played a pertinent role in shaping the nationalist mood in France in the years immediately preceding the First World War. Through the analysis of particular recurrent patterns of rhetoric, discourse, plot, character, terminology, and images, this dissertation reveals how the authors influenced and even manipulated the renewed militaristic and patriotic mood in France at the turn of the century and contributed to the enthusiasm with which the French nation went to war in 1914 / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

The role of British officials from the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in the Military Administration of British-occupied Palestine during and after World War I is examined. Particular focus is given to the administrative structures, personnel, and concerns faced by this Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Emphasis is placed upon the officers themselves, their backgrounds and their political and administrative functions in Palestine, out of which precedents were established for subsequent British, Jewish, and non-Jewish relationships in the region. Consideration is also given to Britain's overall political interest in the region, and the changes in Britain's political emphasis regarding the Middle East which occurred in the immediate postwar period. / While the focus of the study is on Palestine, it begins with a brief look at British involvement in Egypt and the Sudan before World War I. The role of British officials in Cairo and Khartoum as architects of Britain's postwar policy for a "Middle Eastern Empire" is then examined. After the capture of Jerusalem, many of them were posted to Palestine. Their subsequent role in creating the basic structures and policies for the Military Administration is considered at length. Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese influence is reflected in the areas of personnel, expectations, initiatives and prejudices. The increasingly close relationship of Palestine to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, in spite of attempts by London to prevent it, is also traced. By late 1919, with officials in Palestine still working for realization of wartime policies by then abandoned by London, confrontation was inevitable; the resulting collapse of the Military Administration is followed. Lastly, the ways in which Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese influence continued into the Mandate and later periods are identified. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0927. / Major Professor: Peter P. Garretson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The role of the Spanish Foreign Legion from its inception in 1920 to the start of the Rif Rebellion through to the pacification of the Protectorate in 1927 is examined. Particular focus will be given to why the Legion was created, the organization of the Legion within the Army, and the impact it had in reconquering the territory lost after the Annual disaster. Emphasis is placed on the vital need at the time in the Protectorate for "shock troops" capable of fighting the "natives" on their own terms as well as reducing the growing number of Spanish reservists and conscripts that were perishing in the pacification of the Protectorate. Particular consideration is given to the personalities who forged together this unlikely group of volunteers into an elite fighting force and led them in the most important battles of the Riffian War. In the first three chapters, the Legion's creation and first campaigns will be examined, as well as the Annual disaster and its aftermath. Chapters four through eight will cover the middle years of the Rif Rebellion while focusing on the actions and changes which occurred within the Legion: the retreat from Xauen, the Alhucemas Bay landings, and the end of the Moroccan War will be given special attention. Also examined is the debate within Spain at the time between the abandonistas and the africanistas both in the Army and the civilian population over the continuation of the Protectorate. Furthermore, the disastrous campaign waged by ineffective generals, who employed outdated tactics and allowed corruption to destroy the Army in the Protectorate from within, will be touched upon. Lastly, the Regulares who joined the Legion as the "spearhead" of the reconquest of the lost territory, will be examined as the cradle of the coterie of generals who saved the second Republic from a Soviet-style revolution in 1934 (Asturias), but rose up against it in 1936 touching off the bloody Spanish Civil War. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3268. / Major Professor: Peter P. Garretson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.