OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Coursework Handbook

To Prove Myself a Villain? History, Controversy and the Idea of Tyranny

*see picture credits below

Preliminary Formative ExerciseAnswer 1 document exercise in c. 500 words. Document will be discussed in class beforehand. Written responses should be handed in by week 6.

Final Summative ExercisePlease pick one of the options below as a final exercise. Completed answers should be handed in to me by the end of the course if possible and should be c.1500 words in total. If you would like to discuss any of the options with me before making your decision, please do. Here are the options:

EITHER

A. Document exercises. Answer 3 exercises, from the 5 shown below. Each answer should be about 500 words long. We will look through documents in class, time permitting.

OR

B. An Essay. Choose 1 essay, from the titles listed below. The essay should be about 1500 words long. If you pick this option, please prepare a brief one-page plan to hand in and discuss with me before the end of term.

*All images from Bridgeman education: Richard III MOU202432, Cromwell LLM654465, Robespierre LLM654993, Lenin PNP368956, Mussolini LLM462545

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Preliminary Formative Exercise

Answer the following document exercise in c. 500 words. Please hand in your response by week 6.

On the Death of Henry VI

Philippe de Commynes, Memoirs: the Reign of Louis XI 1461-1483 written c. 1498

King Henry was a very ignorant and almost simple man and unless I have been deceived, immediately after battle the Duke of Gloucester, Edward’s brother, who after became King Richard, killed this good man with his own hand or at least had him killed in his presence in some obscure place.

Thomas More, The History of King Richard III, written c.1513

Richard slew with his own hands King Henry VI, being prisoner in the Tower, as men constantly say, and that without commandment or knowledge of the king who would undoubtedly, if he had intended that thing, have appointed that butcherly office to some other than his own brother.

Look at the extracts above and consider the following points in your answer:

1. What key points do each of the sources note about Henry VI’s death?

2. How do they use language and tone to further their argument?

3. What are the key similarities and differences between the sources?

4. To what extent can either account be considered objective?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Final Summative Exercise

A. Document Exercises

Please pick 3 out of the 5 questions, and write about 500 words for each

1. Richard III

The Princes Edward and Richard in the Tower,

Sir John Everett Millais, 1878

Bridgeman education

LLM960248

Look at the image above and consider the following points in your answer:

a. What contentious event is Millais reportedly depicting above?b. How does he use imagery to make his point?c. What overall impression of the event does the painting leave us with?d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of using paintings for historians?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

2. Cromwell

Look at the extract above and consider the following points in your answer:

a. What is the context of Cromwell’s speech?b. How does he use language and tone to make his point?c. What overall impression of Cromwell’s rule does the extract leave us

with?d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of political speeches as sources

for historians?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

3. Robespierre

John Wilson Croker, Review on Robespierre, 1835

"The blood-red mist by which his last years were enveloped magnified his form but obscured his features.

Like the Genius of the Arabian tale, he emerged suddenly from a petty space into enormous power and gigantic size, and as suddenly vanished, leaving behind him no trace but terror...

Of no one of whom so much has been written is so little known"

Ruth Scurry, Fatal Purity, Robespierre & the French Revolution, 2007

‘His hands are covered in blood; he initiated the law that menaced absolutely everyone on the most flimsy grounds and without recourse to any form of defence. He also played a prominent part in extending the Revolution’s agenda to include the moral regeneration of the people. He was prepared to resort to the most drastic measures to achieve this.

It was not enough to encourage patriotism, anti-patriotic sentiment had to be exterminated. It was not enough to promote correct moral behaviour – wicked behaviour had to be stamped out. He went on with the Terror, kept moving through that river of blood, because he believed it was necessary for the Revolution.

He can be accused of insanity and inhumanity, but not of insincerity.’

Look at the extracts above and consider the following points in your answer:

a. How does each author describe Robespierre?b. What are the key similarities and differences in their depictions?c. What overall impression of Robespierre’s era do the extracts leave us

with?d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of secondary sources?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

4. Lenin

Lenin and Stalin

Photo 1920s

Bridgeman education

LLE821629

Look at the extract above and consider the following points in your answer:

a. What is the context of the source?b. What impression does the source try to give?c. What overall impression of Lenin’s legacy does the source leave us with?d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Photographs as sources?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

5. Mussolini

William Joyce, Germany Calling, Radio broadcast, July, 1943

“I can only say that when I joined the first Fascist movement in Britain on 6th December 1923... I thought of Mussolini and of what he had been able to do for Italy. I was not pro-Italian, I was merely pro-human; there were many millions of people throughout the world at about that time who had the same thoughts; and when I look back upon these 20 years I can only say that Mussolini has, in that period, become one of the greatest figures in history.

The shades of the great Romans up to the time of Augustus, and unborn generations of Italian people, can pay homage to this great leader whose stature in time can only increase”.

German historian G. Mosse commenting on a train trip through Italy in the 1930s, from Wolfson, R. And Laver, J., Years of Change. European History 1890-1990, pp.177-178

“Every train had a carabiniere on it with a machine gun. The people in my compartment were telling anti-Mussolini jokes. The carabiniere of course walked up and down the train corridor and I, coming from a German ambience, was terrified.

But what happened in the end was that the carabiniere came into the compartment, not to arrest us, but to tell other Mussolini jokes ... Such an episode could never have happened in Germany.”

Look at the sources above and consider the following points in your answer:

a. How is Mussolini depicted in the sources?b. What are the key similarities and differences in their depictions?c. What overall impression of Mussolini’s era do the extracts leave us with?d. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Memoirs for historians?

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

B. Essay Titles

Please choose ONE question and write about 1500 words:

1. Choose one of the Rulers we have examined through the course and answer the following question:

How far can their rise to power be considered legitimate?

(Here are some of the points you might want to think about in writing your essay: What factors contributed to the rise of the ruler? Which was most significant? What was the popular response to their takeover?)

2. Choose one of the Rulers we have examined through the course and answer the following question:

To what extent and why can their rule be described as ‘dictatorial?

(Here are some of the points you might want to think about in writing your essay: What were their key policies and actions? How were they received? Did they tolerate opposition?)

3. Compare and contrast each of the Rulers we have examined through the course and answer the following question:

Which, if any, deserves their notorious reputation?

(Here are some of the points you might want to think about in writing your essay: What kind of reputation does each ruler have? What factors and issues fuelled that reputation? How have historians addressed that reputation?)

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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OXFORD UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Suggested Background Reading

Bennett, M The Battle of Bosworth

Blanning, Tim

The French Revolution: class war or culture clash?

Coward, Barry

The Stuart Age

Coward, Barry

Oliver Cromwell

Dockray, Keith

Richard III

Farrell, Nicholas

Mussolini: A New Life

Hardman, John

Robespierre

Hibbert, C. Mussolini: The Rise and Fall of Il Duce

Hicks, Michael

The Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485

Hill, Christopher

Puritanism and Revolution

Hunt, Lynn Politics, Culture and Class in the French Revolution

Kendall, P.M.,

Richard the Third

Lyttleton, A. Liberal & Fascist Italy

Pipes, Richard

The Russian Revolution

Scurr, Ruth Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution

Service, Robert

Lenin: A Biography

Please remember to include with your answers the details of any books you used to help you with the exercises.

Thank you for completing the coursework exercises, I hope you enjoyed them!

Dr. Kate Watson, OUDCE, Ewert House, 2015

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