War is one place where the complexity of victory and defeat should be explored more deeply. Unfortunately, war--whether experienced directly as a soldier in Afghanistan or a Syrian in an Aleppo suburb, or indirectly through a news item on the Internet or American television--is a near inescapable aspect of most people's daily life. Yet unless…

The simplest and most widely held definition of Social Darwinism is the application of concepts of biological evolution to social and moral development. More specifically, it is social evolution through "survival of the fittest" in a "struggle for existence" in which the strong prevail and the weak are defeated and disappear.…

Examines studies of Fritz Fischer's works (1961 and 1969) concerning Germany's responsibility for World War I and the influence of this work upon later interpretations. Presents an integrated interpretation of the causes of the war based upon recent research findings. (RKM)

Analyzes previous interpretations concerning the French Revolution. Discusses several weaknesses of the Marxist views in light of recent philosophical and sociological thinking about social change. (RKM)

Compares Robert Palmer's interpretation of the French Revolution with the Marxist and revisionist views. Stresses Palmer's theory that the French Revolution belongs to the same spiritual family as the American. Reports that Palmer saw the French Revolution as the climactic event in a series of similar upheavals that integrated liberal democracy…

Examines the influence of Karl Marx's writings on Adolf Hitler, and asks whether there was a causal nexus between Russian and Nazi atrocities. Uses primary sources as a method for historical comparison. Compares Hitler's writings on antisemitism with those of Marx. (NL)

Maintains the contemporary political Soviet scene poses a major intellectual challenge to Western Sovietology. Analyzes reforms of the Gorbachev era and traces the development of change and the concepts of glasnost and perestroika. Discusses recent policies, problems, and strategies. Views revolution as a prolonged process. (NL)

Discusses influences on the development of Russian nationalism. Describes the development of an intelligentsia and its relationship with both peasants and rulers. Addresses the influence of French and German political and religious thinkers. Emphasizes that the Napoleonic wars provided both a Russian patriotic bond and exposure of Russia's elite…

Discusses the treatment of Gypsies and the handicapped by Nazi Germany. Emphasizes that Gypsy populations were decimated in the same percentages as the Jews. Presents information and dates to show parallel developments of racial regulations against Jews, Gypsies, and the handicapped. Urges further research and historiography on the fate of Gypsies…

Reviews works of cultural historians of the French Revolution. Analyzes interpretations of what constituted "the people" in three late eighteenth-century sources: Diderot's "Encyclopedie," contemporary political pamphlets, and Louis-Sebastien Mercier's vignettes of Parisian street life. Contends representation of "the…

This article considers the "myths" and negative images of the French Revolution which were fashioned in the United States by examining interpretations found in nineteenth and twentieth-century American school texts. The texts are part of the Floyd Family Collection at Indiana State University, representing books used in Indiana schools,…