This study examines the interaction of the Second World War with the selfhood of Kenneth Preston, a Keighley schoolmaster, using primarily the exceptionally rich content of Preston’s Diary, maintained 1941-1945. In tracing Preston’s home front experience, attention is given to the ways in which the war interacted with the individual’s own self and social conceptions, as well as ways in which subjective experiences and perceptions translated into objective realities, such as in Preston’s participation in the war effort. Illuminating the personal dimensions of the war experience enabled a broad range of meanings and “webs of significance” to emerge, allowing for examination of the interplay between the conflict and understandings of class, community, gender, citizenship, social mores, and aspects of social change during the conflict. Preston’s understandings of himself and of society are intriguing contributions to the discussion surrounding active wartime citizenship, and further historical awareness of the meanings and understandings held within the British population during the era of the Second World War. In particular, the prestige the war offered to modernistic notions of science and technical intelligence is shown to have held a central place in the war experience of this particular individual and in his perception of the rise of the welfare state. With its focus on selfhood, the study is distinguished from arguments grounded in analysis of cultural products from the era; it also contributes to understandings of the causes and implications of social change, as well as the war’s personal impact on the male civilian.

“The Conservative Party and Perceptions of the British Middle Classes, 1951 – 1974,” explores conceptions of middle-class voters at various levels of the party organization after the Second World War. Since Benjamin Disraeli, Conservatives have endeavoured to represent national rather than sectional interests and appeal widely to a growing electorate. Yet, the middle classes and their interests have also enjoyed a special position in the Conservative political imagination often because the group insists they receive special consideration. It proved especially difficult to juggle these priorities after 1951 when Conservatives encountered two colliding challenges: the middle classes growing at a rapid rate, failing to form a unified outlook or identity, and the limited appeal of consumer rhetoric and interests owing to the uneven experience of affluence and prosperity. Conservative ideas and policies failed to acknowledge and resonate with the changing nature of their core supporters and antiquated local party organization reinforced feelings of alienation from and mistrust of new members of the middle classes as well as affluent workers. This research shows that there was no clear-cut path between postwar Conservatism to Margaret Thatcher’s brand of Conservatism in which the individual, self-sufficient and acquisitive middle-class consumer became the champion. Moreover, the Conservative Party revealed, in these discussions, that it was much less ideologically certain than narratives have allowed previously. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Historical work on British war brides has been limited to the creation and collection of nostalgic interview anthologies; often by the women themselves or their children. These anthologies focus on the meeting of Canadian servicemen and British women and the women’s journey to and reunion with their husbands in Canada. Discussions of life in Canada and negative experiences are only briefly mentioned. This dissertation argues that this nostalgic view of war brides in the historical literature hides the immigration, settlement, and citizenship challenges faced by these women in Canada during and after the Second World War. Reception of war brides by the Canadian government and public was not as positive as the current scholarship has suggested. While some war brides flourished in Canada, others experienced adaptational problems, including differences in language and religion, navigating Canada’s housing crisis, and hostile in-laws. A few women also experienced problems related to abandonment, abuse, or husbands with undiagnosed post traumatic stress disorder. Since divorce was difficult to get at the time, these women tended to suffer in silence. Some war brides and their children even experienced problems with their citizenship, due to sexist provisions in the Canadian Citizenship Act in 1946, and changes to the Act in 1976, which made proof of citizenship necessary for all Canadians; something that many war brides were unaware of. This dissertation examines the creation and evolution of Canadian citizenship from a perspective that highlights its initial racism and sexism, as well as the consistent bureaucratic bungling regarding the application of its provisions since 1947. While these cases were fixed by amendments to the Citizenship Act in 2008 and 2014 by the Harper government, the citizenship conundrums that this community faced raise interesting questions about what citizenship means and who gets to be a Canadian citizen. / Thesis / Candidate in Philosophy / Most historical work about British war brides has been overly nostalgic and focussed on the collection and creation of interview anthologies; often created by these women and their children. Discussions of life in Canada and negative experiences are only briefly mentioned. This dissertation argues that this nostalgic view of war brides in the historical literature hides the immigration, settlement, and citizenship challenges faced by these women in Canada during and after the Second World War. The different experiences of these women reveal biases towards their background and gender, relationships damaged by the trauma of war, bureaucratic incompetence in the immigration and citizenship process, and raises important questions about national belonging and the nature of Canadian citizenship, from the post-war period to the present.

Suite à la sévère et foudroyante défaite aux mains de l’Allemagne pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, des mouvements de résistance, refusant l’armistice, se sont organisés en France pour s’opposer à l’occupation nazie puis au régime de Vichy. Exilé à Londres, Charles de Gaulle réussit, entre 1940 et 1944, à s’imposer comme le chef de ces organisations résistantes. Le présent mémoire propose d’analyser le processus de ralliement au gaullisme à travers de nouveaux questionnements, en explorant le rapport que la Résistance intérieure française entretient avec le monde ainsi que la manière dont les facteurs internationaux influencent l’adhésion des résistants français au général de Gaulle. Notre étude, basée sur l’analyse du contenu de la propagande clandestine et de la France libre, expose l’importance qu’elles accordent aux sujets internationaux et à leur association favorable au général de Gaulle. Elle révèle en outre la présence de liens étroits entre le rapport de la Résistance intérieure au monde et ce qu’incarne pour elle le général de Gaulle. Notre analyse montre ainsi l’influence significative des facteurs internationaux dans le processus de ralliement de la base résistante au gaullisme. Apportant nuances et précisions à la conception politique traditionnelle des liens entre la Résistance intérieure et le général de Gaulle, notre mémoire permet une compréhension plus complète du phénomène résistant en France. / After the abrupt defeat to Germany during the Second World War, resistance movements, refusing the proposed armistice, organized in France to fight the German occupation and the Vichy regime. Exiled to London, Charles de Gaulle, between 1940 and 1944, pushed to obtain the leadership of the resistant organisations and succeeded. Our MA thesis analyses the Resistance’s adhesion to Gaullism from a new perspective, both by exploring the dynamics between the French Resistance and the global scene as well as how international factors impacted this adhesion process. Based on the analysis of resistant press and radio propaganda, our research exposes the importance both mediums afford to international matters as well as General de Gaulle’s favourable association to these topics. Moreover, it reveals the strong links between the French Inland Resistance’s relation to the global scene and what General de Gaulle represents to the resistant activists. Our research shows significant evidence for how international factors influenced the Resistance’s adhesion to Gaullism. Providing nuance and precision to the traditional political conception of the relationship between the French inland resistance and General de Gaulle, this detailed analysis thus offers a more in-depth and subtle comprehension of the phenomenon of resistance in France.

This thesis is the first academic treatment of the poetry of Anton Schnack (1892-1973): his work is not well known, even in Germany. Methodologically the thesis takes a combined literary, historical and biographical approach, exploring the complex and sometimes deceptive relations between his poetry and the turbulence of his time. The primary aim of the thesis is to show that Tier rang gewaltig mit Tier (1920) is a uniquely innovative volume of war poetry which, to be fully appreciated, needs to be assessed against the background of previous German war poetry and the development of the sonnet cycle. It is placed in the context of Schnack’s other lyrical work, particularly of the three volumes of Expressionist poetry which immediately preceded it and which themselves are analysed as examples of a very powerful kind of Expressionism. Schnack did not publish his next volume of verse until 1936, and three further collections emerged in quick succession between 1947 and 1953. These four collections are examined in detail in the context of Schnack’s decision to stay in southern Germany and to maintain a consistently low profile. The thesis begins with a general introduction to Schnack’s life and work and makes specific reference to his contemporary and current standing among literary historians and critics. Chapter Two focuses on the three volumes of Expressionist verse and documents the cultural circles which he frequented in Munich and the numerous Expressionist magazines and periodicals to which he contributed. The next three chapters are dedicated to Tier rang gewaltig mit Tier and examine it with reference to its poetic form as a cycle of sonnets and of its merits and status as war poetry. The final chapter pays particular attention to Schnack’s life in the Third Reich, situating the single collection he published during that era among the literary works of Inner Emigration, before analysing his three post-war collections.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal. / Pour respecter les droits d'auteur, la version électronique de cette thèse ou ce mémoire a été dépouillée, le cas échéant, de ses documents visuels et audio-visuels. La version intégrale de la thèse ou du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Cette thèse étudie les militants des organisations Freies Deutschland (FD) fondées en Belgique, en France et en Suisse pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En reproduisant le modèle du Nationalkomitee « FreiesDeuschland », créé à Moscou en juillet 1943 par des exilés communistes et des prisonniers de guerre allemands, ils tentent de rassembler des opposants au régime nazi présents en Europe de l’Ouest. A l’aide d’une base de donnée biographique, la thèse analyse les modalités de l’engagement militant de ces acteurs.Celui-ci subit des variations notamment lors de la légalisation des organisations qui sont restées clandestines jusqu’à la Libération en Belgique et en France et jusqu’au printemps 1945 en Suisse. L’identité revendiquée de ces acteurs change également, alors qu’ils adoptent une rhétorique tournée vers leur nation et sa reconstruction. Enfin, après la guerre et après le retour des militants dans les deux Allemagnes, le SED leur demande de livrer leur expérience d’exil pour soutenir le discours officiel sur l’antifascisme. Ils trouvent alors une occasion de valoriser un capital politique négligé par le parti dans l’après-guerre et produisent un répertoire commémoratif sur l’antifascisme de l’Ouest. / This PHD dissertation studies the activists of the organisations Freies Deutschland (FD) in Belgium, France and Switzerland during the Second World War. Reproducing the model of the Nationalkomitee « Freies Deutschland », founded in Moscow in July 1943 by German communists and prisoners of war, they tried to gather Nazi regime opponents in Western Europe. The dissertation analyses the political engagement of these activists with the help of a biographical methodological approach. The commitment of these actors changed during the Liberation in Belgium and France and until spring 1945 in Switzerland. The identity theytried to give themselves also changed when they adopted a discourse more concentrated on their nation and its reconstruction. Finally, after the war and their return in East and West Germany, the SED asked them to write their story in exile to support the official discourse on antifascism. This gave them an occasion to promote their political experience, which was neglected by the party after the war. They produced a memorial narrative on western antifascism.

The diploma thesis deals with everyday life of the people at Mirovicko during years 1938 - 1945 with aim to a cover end of the Second World War. It is divided in three main parts. The beginning section describes work methodology and choice of sources. The following section covers period of the protectorate at Mirovicko. In these chapters there are described chronologically the chosen changes and new things in different spheres of the human lives that affected residents of Mirovicko in an each war years. The thesis regards the culture, political, resistance, federal and school life. The last part is dedicated to end of Second World War at Mirovicko. Also there are described all war events during the May revolutionary days in Mirovice. The end of this chapter mentions some of the war years consequences and outlines development of the situation after 13. May 1945 in Mirovice. Keywords: Mirovice- Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia- Occupation politics - Second World War- May 1945

De 1938 à 1940, l’existence d’un programme de revendications territoriales de l’Italie fasciste sur la France et le renforcement de l’Axe Rome-Berlin rendent impossible une entente réelle franco-italienne et conduisent au contraire à l’entrée en guerre de l’Italie contre la France le 10 juin 1940. Malgré une bataille des Alpes peu couronnée de succès mais grâce à la signature d’une convention d’armistice, l’Italie de Mussolini peut occuper de facto une partie du territoire métropolitain français. Quoique limitée dans sa superficie du 25 juin 1940 au 11 novembre 1942, l’occupation italienne se développe avec ses propres caractéristiques et s’inscrit dans une configuration géopolitique nouvelle. L’occupation incarne ainsi la revendication fasciste d’une place privilégiée au sein du nouvel ordre européen mais aussi la réalisation possible des ambitions territoriales énoncées depuis 1938, les deux au détriment de la France. L’extension de l’ « occupation », du 11 novembre 1942 au 8 septembre 1943, semble accentuer dans un premier temps cette emprise italienne sur la France et son territoire, mais la politique souveraine de l’occupant italien est éphémère puisque deux mois à peine après la chute du gouvernement fasciste, le 25 juillet 1943, l’Italie signe l’armistice avec les Alliés mettant fin à la domination italienne sur la France / From 1938 to 1940, the existence of a territorial claims program by Fascist Italy on France and the reinforcement of the Rome-Berlin Axis make a real agreement between Italy and France impossible and lead on the contrary to the Italian declaration of war against France on June 10th 1940. In spite of a battle in the Alps quite unsuccessful but thanks to the conclusion of an armistice convention, Mussolini’s Italy can occupy de facto a part of French metropolitan territory. Although a limited area is occupied from June 25th 1940 to 11th November 1942, the Italian occupation is developing with its own characteristics in a new geopolitical configuration. Thus the occupation illustrates the Fascist claim of a privileged position into the New European Order but also the possible realization of territorial ambitions stated for 1938, both to the detriment to France. The extension of the “occupation” from November 11th 1942 to September 8th 1943, seems to increase firstly the Italian “control” on France and its southeastern territory, but the sovereign policy of the occupying power don’t last since hardly two months after the fall of Fascist government, on July 25th 1943, Italy signs an armistice with the Allies which puts an end to the Italian domination on France