HIST 144The World at War: 1939-1945

3 credits · History · Penn State

History 144 provides an in-depth study of World War II, which brought many new aspects to modern warfare: civilians were the majority of casualties, deliberate air attacks were made on cities, research brought the advent of new technologies, and several of the global belligerents represented the participation of militaristic totalitarian states where dictators had risen to power with considerable popular support. Thus, topics of the course include: the origins of the war; political and economic struggles leading to the conflict; actions of both Axis and Allied military forces; broad violence in the forms of rape and genocide; and the aftermath of the struggle.