Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0719. Adviser: Keith Hitchins. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 343-377) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p>This dissertation tracks the development of German political philosophy over the course of the first half of the seventeenth century, with an emphasis on the disciplinary, methodological, and pedagogical concerns of Politica writers. These figures produced large-scale technical textbooks on politics, which attempted to make sense of the chaotic civil sphere through the application of disciplinary structures. The main influences on their thought came from the sixteenth century: Aristotelianism, reason of state, natural law, and neostoicism were the competing traditions that they attempted to fit into comprehensive treatments of their subject. Generally, these thinkers have been organized by historians into schools divided by their political and confessional commitments. I argue that, while these factors were important, their disciplinary and methodological choices also decisively shaped their vision of politics, and indeed their positions on the critical questions of their day. I do this by focusing on four specific writers, one from each of the four faculties of the early modern university: Bartholomaus Keckermann from the arts faculty, Henning Arnisaeus from Medicine, Christoph Besold from Law, and Adam Contzen from Theology. I show how each Politica author?s disciplinary background inflected their construction of politics as an academic discipline, and how this in turn shaped their opinions on the confessional and constitutional debates which were then fracturing the Holy Roman Empire. While the dissertation does focus on the differences among these figures, it also tracks a trajectory which they all participated in. I argue that their attempts to discipline politics as a subject resulted in the centering of the state as a disciplinary and administrative institution. Their motivation was to prevent political upheaval through the application of technical expertise, which meant that they were able to find ever more aspects of human life which required treatment under the rubric of political philosophy, because almost anything could be conceived of as either a threat or a source of strength for the political order. This in turn suggested a vastly expanded conception of the regulatory and disciplinary powers of the state. I thus contend that, although the Politica writers are mostly forgotten today, they represent a critical phase in the intellectual development of the idea of the state.

The Greek Cypriot struggle for enosis, or union with Greece, dominated Cypriot politics until the military coup and Turkish invasion of 1974. But the roots of the enosis movement maintained their Pan-Hellenic character, later resurfacing with the declaration of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983 and surviving in the traditional institutions of the Greek Cypriot state. The Orthodox Church, the National Guard, and 'Hellenic-centred' education all identified with the Greek Cypriot struggle for union with Greece. The concept of neo-enosis, or new union, is presented as the political objective of the Cypriot Republic from the late 1980s. Its dual objectives were to bring Cyprus politically closer to Greece through the island's application to the European Union and to pressure Turkey into accepting a Cyprus settlement. The Republic of Cyprus's application to the European Union, as argued by the theory of neo-enosis, was therefore a political manifestation of the resurgent Greek nationalism on Cyprus post-1974. The process of European Union accession strengthened the Hellenic bonds between Cyprus and Greece. Cypriot accession was only assured by a Greek threat to prevent any European enlargement unless Cyprus was accepted in the first wave of expansion to Eastern Europe. This joint effort required the common exertion of both states politically, economically, and militarily. Greek and Cypriot membership in the EU consolidates and strengthens these links. The European Union was therefore used as a vehicle for a Pan-Hellenic nationalist agenda. The accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union also linked potential Turkish EU membership to a Cyprus settlement. The Greek Cypriots could threaten a veto of Turkish EU entry as long as the island remained divided. This second function of the theory of neo-enosis produced the 'Annan Plan', rejected by the Greek Cypriots because of its perceived unfavourable conditions. Joint European Union membership provides the Republic of Cyprus and Greece with a forum in which to formalize national policies and devise a final settlement that maintains the territorial integrity of the entire island.

This thesis examines the legal and political environment that allowed piracy to expand during the period that many historians now refer to as the "Golden Age of Piracy" (1695-1725). Towards the end of the sixteenth century, metropolitan officials in London began to take a concerted interest in regulating trade and bringing the traditional system of reprisals under control. What they found, however, was a great deal of resistance to these new policies in the North American colonies. The level of uniformity of this resistance varied from port to port. London's legislative initiatives were rooted in what had essentially become a lawless situation both on the American main, as well as the Caribbean. While the trend in the sub-field of pirate history has been to focus on the periods before and after the First War of Spanish Succession, this thesis examines the correspondences of colonial and metropolitan administrators precisely during this period. These reveal a dissonance in how piracy and privateering were discussed during the conflict that is critical to understanding the violent outbreaks of the Golden Age. As is shown, metropolitan efforts to rationalize trade within a mercantilist economic framework were often seen as hindrances to colonial affairs. Furthermore, the lack of adequate defenses for the colonies often encouraged Governors to seek out their colonies' security through private means. Pirates and privateers were intimately tied to this rift between London's ideological expectations and the colonies' practical necessities. While romanticized to posterity, the widespread outbreak of piratical violence during the Golden Age was, in fact, endemic to a British Atlantic world that was in a state of often bloody and violent flux.

When Canada's entry into the First World War was announced on 4 August 1914, thousands of men rushed to volunteer. From October 1914 to late 1919 tens of thousands of Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) soldiers travelled overseas to Britain to await deployment to the Western Front. Dozens of camps were established, predominantly in southern England, where men spent time training for battle. During this time, leave was much sought after by soldiers who were eager to escape the tedium of camp life. Extended leave passes as well as weekend passes allowed men to frequent the local village and also travel to more remote locations. Men at the front were also eager to return to England, often wishing to earn a 'Blighty' in order to escape the fighting on the Western Front. Unable to journey back to Canada, for all of these men Britain became their 'home away from home.' Despite this isolation, neither the Canadian federal government nor the military authorities involved themselves in the men's off-duty time. It was left up to Canadian volunteers to help support the men. It was in this spirit that the King George and Queen Mary Maple Leaf Club was established. Founded by Lady Julia Drummond, a Montreal philanthropist, the Canadian-only Maple Leaf Club catered to the men's many social and recreational needs. Founded upon middle-class moral standards, and promoting the virtues of Canadian nationalism and British imperialism, this, and other privately funded clubs, embodied the notion of public patriotism of the time. As such, these social clubs also symbolize elements of early twentieth-century Canadian social and political culture. Soldiers' leave time also allowed some men an opportunity to reconnect with distant relatives. As a large percentage of CEF soldiers were of British ancestry, quite a number of men were able to visit family still residing in Britain. For others, leave was an occasion to travel the country as tourists. These soldier-tourists journeyed throughout the British Isles, visiting as many tourist sites and popular landmarks as possible, often returning to camp exhausted from their adventures. This off-duty time helped shape Canadian soldiers' experiences of the First World War, yet these experiences are overlooked in the Canadian historiography. Seeking to fill this void, this thesis aims to contribute to a more thorough understanding of the CEF men's time overseas.

<p> This thesis explores the role of educational exchanges in the process of European unification from the French perspective. It focuses specifically on the integration of the European higher education system and the creation of a study abroad network through the European Community program ERASMUS (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) during the 1990s. France&rsquo;s tenuous position in ERASMUS was one of both power and vulnerability, especially concerning the limited Community funding allocated to French students and the growth of English as the dominant global language. Through an examination of official European Community documents and the French press, this thesis analyzes French motivations for participating in the ERASMUS program and identifies how the practice of study abroad represented a convergence of national and supranational identities. Scholarship on ERASMUS is extremely limited and has not yet been contextualized within a longer historical narrative of transnational student networks. This thesis, therefore, seeks to provide that context and to enhance the agency of young people as active participants in the process of globalization.</p><p>

This dissertation reconstructs how the West German intellectual and political establishment envisioned the conditions for democratic renewal in the early decades of the Federal Republic of Germany. I examine how theoreticians as well as actors with practical engagements in economics, law, and politics experienced the problem of democratic reconstruction and what solutions they proposed. I argue that many of the defining—and now often lauded—features of the Federal Republic’s political and socio-economic model were forged within the establishment’s concern for stability and social peace. This intellectual and political sensitivity underlies a distinctive understanding of democratic governance primarily concerned with countering the alienating effects of mass democracy and the market economy so that individuals might come to feel at home in their polity. I reconstruct how this concern informed proposals for administrative and territorial reform intended to foster civic belonging through local self-government, conceptions of industrial democracy and corporate governance, or justifications for the place of religion in a modern democracy. / History

<p> This work examines Henry VIII&rsquo;s contribution to the legal defining and treatment of piracy during his reign and his influence over subsequent Tudor monarchs&rsquo; own relationship with piracy and privateering. Through examination of the shift in legal language, piracy as a crime to a paid profession, and the ambiguous definition of who a pirate was it becomes clear that Henry&rsquo;s reign witnessed a significant transformation in piracy which directly influenced diplomatic relations throughout Europe.</p><p>

This study will investigate each of the four major categories of conclusions arrived at by the Nuremberg Tribunal about the nature and activities of the Waffen-SS military organization and its war-time members, and analyse their accuracy based on the findings of subsequent historical research. It will also attempt to explain the political pressures in 1945-46 which caused the primarily military Waffen-SS to be tried and convicted as a criminal organization, and clarify what the rulings of the Nuremberg Tribunal actually said about members of organizations declared criminal by the latter. For the purposes of this study the Waffen-SS is being defined as consisting of all "armed" SS units except those belonging to the German police or performing largely police functions, and those assigned to the maintenance and guarding of concentration camps. The time-frame covered by this study will extend from September 1, 1939 to May 1945. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Abstract Not Available.