History Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2778
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Item THE LESSONS OF TREACHERY IN POLYBIUS’ HISTORIES(2022) Slavik, Jordan Francis; Eckstein, Arthur; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation offers a new analysis of Polybius of Megalopolis’ Histories by looking at the Achaean historian’s many depictions of treachery and deception during the third and second centuries BCE. Chapter 1 introduces the topic and explores how Polybius’ moral evaluations of treachery consistently center on the personal gain of the betrayer and the context of the situation. Chapter 2 surveys instances of treachery and deception taken against friends and allies in the Histories, which are remarkably even-handed. Polybius makes allowances for certain betrayals in the face of extreme necessity and wicked allies, and he is especially critical of treachery committed despite past kindnesses. Chapter 3 discusses Polybius’ accounts of treachery and deception carried out against one’s own state. In addition to showcasing continued Polybian contextual nuances, the chapter emphasizes the frequency and severity at which these internal betrayals occur in monarchies, when compared with republics, providing insight into Polybius’ attitude toward monarchies, republics, and the morally corrupting weight of power on different forms of government. Significantly, the Romans remain unique in the Histories in their utter lack of any such internal treachery. Chapter 4 explores instances of diplomatic deception employed during times of war, maintaining that Polybius allowed for a significant amount of diplomatic deception and maneuvering when a formal treaty or truce had not been sworn. In the Histories, when oaths are sworn, the Romans are typically the victims of such treachery, often characterized by Polybius as παρανομία. The exception to this is Polybius’ condemnation of Marcius Philippus’ deceptions against Perseus in 172/171, which seems inconsistent given Polybius’ heavy praise of Scipio in 203 and Flamininus in 198/197 for strikingly similar deceptions. This deviation matches Polybius’ efforts throughout the Histories to fabricate a contrast of earlier Roman virtue with contemporary Roman depravity. Chapter 5 adopts a “Greek vs barbarian” lens to argue that Polybius connected the acquisition of power with the moral decline and political collapse of the state – both of which are forecasted by Polybian descriptions of παρανομία. Notably, throughout the Histories the Romans never exemplify such παρανομία. The interconnection between moral corruption and pragmatic consequence is emphasized in Polybius’ descriptions of the many unjustified instances of treachery throughout his work, all of which are carefully shown to have dire consequences for the culprits. The dissertation concludes by arguing that Polybius realized that in the new unipolar reality of Roman domination, the only check on tyrannical Roman behavior would have to come from the Romans themselves. Thus, Polybius uses his fabricated model of past Roman virtue and present Roman depravity to challenge the Romans to surpass the benevolence of their ancestors, while warning the Romans about what would happen should they resort to “barbaric” tyranny. These didactic efforts suggest that Polybius wrote the Histories with a Roman readership in mind.Item Send in the Reserves! The Development and Significance of the Reserve Dilemma in Military History(2021) Chadwick, Andrew Lewis; Sumida, Jon T; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines the origins and evolution of the trained reserve—a 19th-century military institution that most states continue to depend upon for national defense. In doing so, it argues that the rising complexity, speed, and lethality of warfare over the last century challenged the viability of industrial era reservist personnel and training policies, which many states retain today. Such policies have largely proven incapable of providing reservists with the time and resources to keep up with changing technical and tactical character of warfare, as evidenced by the poor performance of many reservists in the conflicts of the past century. However, armies preparing for large-scale combat operations generally could not reduce their reliance on reservists because of a combination of political, military, and socio-economic constraints and compulsions. Namely, they lacked the financial means, military resources, and, in some cases, the political capital to rely solely on full-time soldiers who often are better resourced to keep up with the rising complexity of modern warfare compared to part-time reservists.Thus, as this dissertation reveals using archival sources, recently declassified intelligence reports, and a host of other printed primary sources, armies confronted a dilemma regarding reserve policy over the past century. They could, as the U.S. Army has done since the 1970s, increase reserve training standards, but risk incurring higher overhead costs or sparking a political backlash from reservists who often resisted efforts to increase their service obligations. Alternatively, they could reduce their dependency on reservists, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have done since the late 1980s. But doing this threatened to overstretch active duty units who, as this dissertation shows, generally cannot fight protracted or large-scale wars without reservists. In short, this dissertation shows how the dynamics of reserve policymaking and the combat performance of reservists can—and often had—significant political, strategic, operational, and tactical effects throughout recent history.Item THE FORGOTTEN ALLY: U.S./SOUTH KOREAN RELATIONS DURING THE VIETNAM WAR(2021) Matheny, Michael; Chung, Patrick; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)South Korea participated in the Vietnam War as America’s ally on a tremendous scale involving over 300,000 soldiers from 1964-1973. Despite this massive commitment, South Korea’s involvement has attracted little scholarly interest or public attention. The prevailing explanation in relevant historiography often dismisses South Korea’s role as a mercenary exchange taken under U.S. pressure or in pursuit of economic incentives. Alternatively, I argue that the South Korean government had a legitimate national interest in participating in the Vietnam War in pursuit of political, national defense, and economic advancements that were uniquely motivated by concurrent hostilities with North Korea. South Korea’s national interests aligned with the U.S. such that they willingly and effectively contributed to the Vietnam War. By the war’s end, U.S. and South Korean national interests diverged sharply as relations declined, which left South Korea’s wartime role as an embattled and largely forgotten memory in the U.S.Item America's Commercial Cold War: Global Trade, National Security, and the Control of Markets(2019) Haddad, Ryan Issa; Sicilia, David; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Previous works considering the history of American trade policy during the Cold War have tended to focus on either the United States’ export control policy in the unilateral and multilateral context or the Cold War’s influence on the formation and evolution on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. While useful, these studies are limited by their narrowness. To date, no single work has emerged accounting for trade’s place in American Cold War strategy or the reciprocal impact that economic globalization and the Cold War had on each other. I argue that American Cold War trade policy was an “economic containment” exercise. The United States’ “Commercial Cold War” was conceptualized by strategists as a struggle between two rival, yet interdependent networks—one liberal and capitalist, and led by the United States; the other communist and led at the outset by the Soviet Union. The United States used trade both positively and negatively to achieve a variety of ends. Its overarching goal was to use trade to develop its network at the expense of the Soviet Union’s. This strategy assumed centralized, flexible control over trade policy in order to capitalize on diplomatic openings. Successive American presidents aspired to such trade policy control. But the diffusion of power throughout the U.S. government and across the Western alliance rendered that impossible. It proved far easier to deny East-West trade than to expand it, and more assertive American initiatives were often stymied. But despite the limits on unilateral action, the multilateral trade architectures that were established during the Cold War proved adequate to their purposes and remain in renovated form in the 21st Century.Item War and Resistance: The Philippines 1942-1944(2018) Morningstar, James; Sumida, Jon T; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: WAR AND RESISTANCE: THE PHILIPPINES, 1942-1944 James Kelly Morningstar, Doctor of History, 2018 Dissertation directed by: Professor Jon T. Sumida, History Department What happened in the Philippine Islands between the surrender of Allied forces in May 1942 and MacArthur’s return in October 1944? Existing historiography is fragmentary and incomplete. Memoirs suffer from limited points of view and personal biases. No academic study has examined the Filipino resistance with a critical and interdisciplinary approach. No comprehensive narrative has yet captured the fighting by 260,000 guerrillas in 277 units across the archipelago. This dissertation begins with the political, economic, social and cultural history of Philippine guerrilla warfare. The diverse Islands connected only through kinship networks. The Americans reluctantly held the Islands against rising Japanese imperial interests and Filipino desires for independence and social justice. World War II revealed the inadequacy of MacArthur’s plans to defend the Islands. The General tepidly prepared for guerrilla operations while Filipinos spontaneously rose in armed resistance. After his departure, the chaotic mix of guerrilla groups were left on their own to battle the Japanese and each other. While guerrilla leaders vied for local power, several obtained radios to contact MacArthur and his headquarters sent submarine-delivered agents with supplies and radios that tie these groups into a united framework. MacArthur’s promise to return kept the resistance alive and dependent on the United States. The repercussions for social revolution would be fatal but the Filipinos’ shared sacrifice revitalized national consciousness and created a sense of deserved nationhood. The guerrillas played a key role in enabling MacArthur’s return. Their legacy shaped Philippine national identity and the political contest between exiled officials, collaborationists, and the members of resistance. The research presented in this dissertation crosses military, cultural, social, political, economic and diplomatic fields. It gives voice to the Filipino, Japanese, and American actors and shows how their actions and stories are not only interrelated but interdependent. In this way it hopes to reach several audiences at once. For the military student, this case study reveals the multiple and particular roots of guerrilla warfare. For others, it reveals the fundamental role of military action in important social and cultural developments. Finally, and most essentially, it tells a fascinating story that has been long ignored.Item A Dialogue on Human Rights: America's Policy Makers and the Soviet Dissident Movements, 1956-1976(2012) Finch, Robert James; Lampe, John R.; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Through the 1950s and 1960s, American news correspondents working in Moscow had come to befriend many of the Soviet dissidents. This friendship was realized in the American press, where there was an explosion of news coverage on the dissidents. Through this news coverage, American interest groups and politicians became interested in the plight of the Soviet dissidents and began to demand that their government make human rights an essential part of its foreign policy. American politicians challenged the Nixon administration's policy of détente by seeking to link trade with the Soviet Union to its human rights practices. By 1976, the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe were established to monitor the Soviet government's compliance with the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Final Act. This represented the first time Soviet dissidents and American politicians directly communicated on issues related to human rights.Item Thucydides' Dangerous World: Dual Forms of Danger in Classical Greek Interstate Relations(2012) Grissom, Daryl Edward; Eckstein, Arthur M.; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In his analysis of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides uses a single Greek word, kindunos, an extraordinary two hundred times, often with contorted grammatical and syntactical constructions which focus his reader's attention on its use. With the assumption that Thucydides is writing for a retrospective reader who understands the outcome of the war as well as many of the smaller episodes which led to that outcome, the problem is to determine exactly why Thucydides relies so heavily on this word, particularly in instances when any number of simpler words or constructions would have provided a more straightforward explanation. To solve this problem, this dissertation examines Thucydides' use of the term kindunos, not on a case-by-case basis as in a commentary, but on a thematic basis by constructing broad categories that help explain one aspect of Thucydides' purpose. This dissertation shows that Thucydides uses the term kindunos in different ways in order to express to his reader the idea that there are two forms of danger threatening his contemporary world: external dangers and internally generated ones. The external dangers are the more easily defined. Thucydides' era was filled with strife and his analysis is of a twenty-seven year long war between Greek poleis. The internal dangers, however, are harder for modern readers to define as they are a result of Thucydides' contemporaries' tendency to give into internal urges: the urge to act, to preserve honor, to exact revenge, and to intervene on others' behalf. This dissertation uses Greek tragic poetry, contemporary to Thucydides' writing, to help define these emotional urges. It also relies heavily on interstate relations theories, namely the Realist paradigm, to define the mechanics of inter-polis behavior Thucydides witnessed. But, in the end, this dissertation argues that Thucydides' didactic message to his reader was that in an already dangerous world there is only one way for leaders to hope to mitigate the danger: they must eschew emotional urges and respond to external situations with rationality and reason instead.