The Food Situation in Germany with the Accompanying Agricultural Background (open access)

The Food Situation in Germany with the Accompanying Agricultural Background

This thesis describes the early modern agricultural history of Germany and its relation to Nazi agricultural policies.
Date: August 1940
Creator: Jones, Chas. R.
System: The UNT Digital Library

The First Lady of Washington City: Margaret Bayard Harrison Smith, Family, and Politics in the Early Republic

Margaret Bayard Harrison Smith was a prominent member of early Washington City society from the time she and her husband, Samuel Harrison Smith, moved to the blossoming capital in 1800 until her death in 1844. As a longtime resident of Washington, Margaret spent most of her adult life navigating the unique socio-political waters of the capital and developing friendships with many of the most prominent politicians of her time. Mrs. Smith's writings provide firsthand accounts of several important political events including Congress' role in the election of 1800, Jefferson's first inauguration, Madison's first inauguration, and the destruction left by the British after the siege of Washington. Her writings also provide a picture of early undeveloped Washington City, where grand public buildings were largely surrounded by wilderness and connected by muddy roads. While this work looks at the social and political environment that Margaret Smith experienced, it also examines many of the personal concerns that frequented Mrs. Smith's writings. Margaret's views on educating her children, interacting with servants, interacting with the enslaved population of Washington, and dealing with feelings of isolation, due to the distance from her family, are frequently addressed in her letters. Focusing on these aspects of Mrs. Smith's …
Date: May 2023
Creator: Thweatt, William Denton
System: The UNT Digital Library
Jefferson Davis and His Command Problem (open access)

Jefferson Davis and His Command Problem

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, had numerous problems to solve during his tenure of office. Many of these problems were difficult, to say the least, and could not be easily dealt with, but among the most complicated was the complex problem of command. There can be little doubt that a command problem actually existed. Indeed, the tension between Davis and his generals was quite often open and above board. Because of this trouble, the armies of the Confederate government were never as effective as they could have been.
Date: January 1955
Creator: Pohl, James William
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Davis-Johnston Controversy (open access)

The Davis-Johnston Controversy

Looming large in the manifold problems of the Davis government after the clash of arms at Sumter was the creation of an army to defend the South. Involved in this problem was the extremely important task of expanding forces. No dearth of excellent officer material existed for some of the most able West Point graduates in the Union army had resigned and were eager to serve their section. The major problem was the question of relative rank to be assigned in the new chain of command.
Date: August 1954
Creator: Gallaway, B. P.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Horace Greeley upon the Nomination, the Election, and the Presidential Policies of Abraham Lincoln (open access)

The Influence of Horace Greeley upon the Nomination, the Election, and the Presidential Policies of Abraham Lincoln

It is the purpose of this thesis to present the problem of Greeley's efforts to influence Abraham Lincoln, with specific emphasis upon the Illinoisian's nomination, his election, his attitude toward secession before his inauguration, and his Presidential policies during the four years that he served as chief executive in the White House.
Date: June 1953
Creator: Trietsch, Jimmie Herbert
System: The UNT Digital Library
Military Campaigns of the Texas Revolution (open access)

Military Campaigns of the Texas Revolution

This thesis contains information pertaining to the events that led up to the Texas Revolution as well as the military campaigns and battles that ultimately led up to the secession with Mexico.
Date: August 1951
Creator: Webb, Rufus Mac
System: The UNT Digital Library
From Colony to Dominion Within the British Empire, 1914-1931 (open access)

From Colony to Dominion Within the British Empire, 1914-1931

This study has been limited to those seventeen significant years from the outbreak of World War I to the passing of the Statute of Westminster, for during those years British colonial policy changed radically. An era of the domination and supremacy of the imperial parliament disappeared to be replaced with a policy of equality and partnership. This change in British colonial policy was the result of many significant events. The present study will show how those events and London's responses to them helped to bring about the consummation of the long-sought nationhood of the colonies. The results of the study have been presented chronologically. During World War I (treated in Chapter II),' the colonies supported London with troops, skilled workers, contributions and foods of all kinds. The loyalty and sacrifices of the dominions aroused the interest of the mother country and eventually led to a change in the relationship between London and the colonies. London demonstrated her new attitudes of sympathy, co-operation, and understanding in a number of ways.
Date: August 1975
Creator: Ilori, Joseph A.
System: The UNT Digital Library

From Stockyards to Defense Plants, the Transformation of a City: Fort Worth, Texas, and World War II

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
World War II represented a watershed event in the history of the United States and affected political, economic, and social systems at all levels. In particular, the war unleashed forces that caused rapid industrialization, immigration, and urbanization in two regions, the South and the West. This study examines one community's place in that experience as those forces forever altered the city of Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to World War II, Fort Worth's economy revolved around cattle, food-processing, and oil, industries that depended largely on an unskilled labor force. The Fort Worth Stockyards laid claim to the single largest workforce in the city, while manufacturing lagged far behind. After an aggressive campaign waged by city civic and business leaders, Fort Worth acquired a Consolidated Aircraft Corporation assembly plant in early 1941. The presence of that facility initiated an economic transformation that resulted in a major shift away from agriculture and toward manufacturing, particularly the aviation industry. The Consolidated plant sparked industrial development, triggered an influx of newcomers, trained a skilled workforce, and stimulated an economic recovery that lifted the city out of the Depression-era doldrums. When hostilities ended and the United States entered the Cold War period, Consolidated and the adjacent …
Date: December 2003
Creator: Pinkney, Kathryn Currie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Statesman from Texas, Roger Q. Mills (open access)

Statesman from Texas, Roger Q. Mills

This is a biography of Roger Quarles Mills and his contributions to Texas history.
Date: August 1954
Creator: Purifoy, Russell Albritton, Jr.
System: The UNT Digital Library
From the Hague to Nuremberg: International Law and War, 1898-1945 (open access)

From the Hague to Nuremberg: International Law and War, 1898-1945

This thesis examines the body of international law drawn upon during the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The work analyzes the Hague Conventions, the Paris Peace Conference, and League of Nations decisions to support its conclusions. Contrary to the commonly held belief that the laws violated during World War II by the major war criminals were newly developed ideas, this thesis shows that the laws evolved over an extended period prior to the war. The work uses conference minutes, published government sources, the official journal of the League of Nations, and many memoirs to support the conclusions.
Date: December 1987
Creator: Wright, Crystal Renee Murray
System: The UNT Digital Library
To the Berlin Games the Olympic Movement in Germany from 1896-1936 (open access)

To the Berlin Games the Olympic Movement in Germany from 1896-1936

This thesis examines Imperial, Weimar, and Nazi Germany's attempt to use the Berlin Olympic Games to bring its citizens together in national consciousness and simultaneously enhance Germany's position in the international community. The sources include official documents issued by both the German and American Olympic Committees as well as newspaper reports of the Olympic proceedings. This eight chapter thesis discusses chronologically the beginnings of the Olympic movement in Imperial Germany, its growth during the Weimar and Nazi periods, and its culmination in the 1936 Berlin Games. Each German government built and improved upon the previous government's Olympic experiences with the National Socialist regime of Adolf Hitler reaping the benefits of forty years of German Olympic participation and preparation.
Date: May 1984
Creator: Durick, William Gerard
System: The UNT Digital Library
Diplomatic Relations between Russia and the United States from 1776 to 1933 (open access)

Diplomatic Relations between Russia and the United States from 1776 to 1933

This study has been made to ascertain the strength and basis of the Russo-American friendship of former days.
Date: 1948
Creator: Curtis, Ezell
System: The UNT Digital Library
From Lost Cause to Female Empowerment: The Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1896-1966 (open access)

From Lost Cause to Female Empowerment: The Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1896-1966

The Texas Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) organized in 1896 primarily to care for aging veterans and their families. In addition to this original goal, members attempted to reform Texas society by replacing the practices and values of their male peers with morals and behavior that UDC members considered characteristic of the antebellum South, such as self-sacrifice and obedience. Over time, the organization also came to function as a transition vehicle in enlarging and empowering white Texas women's lives. As time passed and more veterans died, the organization turned to constructing monuments to recognize and promote the values they associated with the Old South. In addition to celebrating the veteran, the Daughters created a constant source of charity for wives and widows through a Confederate Woman's Home. As the years went by, the organization turned to educating white children in the “truth of southern history,” a duty they eagerly embraced. The Texas UDC proved effective in meeting its primary goal, caring for aging veterans and their wives. The members' secondary goal, being cultural shapers, ultimately proved elusivenot because the Daughters failed to stress the morals they associated with the Old South but because Texans never embraced …
Date: August 2001
Creator: Stott, Kelly McMichael
System: The UNT Digital Library

Benevolent Assimilation: The Evolution of United States Army Civil Affairs Operations in the Philippines from 1898 to 1945

The history of the United States' occupation and administration of the Philippines is a premiere example of the evolution of the American military's civil administrative approach as it evolved from simple Army security in 1898, through an evolving ‘whole-of-government' method, to what was practically the full military administration of the country by March 1945. The second liberation and subsequent administration of the Philippines by the United States Army was unique, not simply because of the physical characteristics of the operations, but more so because of the theater commander, General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur used a rather self-reliant approach that rejected much of the direction from various authorities in Washington and adopted independently authored local solutions, but he took advantage of external resources when necessary. Ultimately the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under his command had to accept external direction to gain external resources. The Army's civil administrative planning and execution in the Philippines in 1944-1945 was the direct result of the social, political, economic, and military relationships between Americans and Filipinos from 1898 to 1944, much of which involved MacArthur, and the institutional changes that developed from these interactions. The result was civil administration that met the …
Date: August 2021
Creator: Musick, David C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
"They Have Gone From Sherman": The Courthouse Riot of 1930 and Its Impact on the Black Professional Class (open access)

"They Have Gone From Sherman": The Courthouse Riot of 1930 and Its Impact on the Black Professional Class

This study describes the development of the black business and professional community with emphasis on the period from 1920 to 1930, the riot itself, and the impact of the episode on the local black community. It utilizes traditional historical research methods, county records, contemporary newspapers, and oral history.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Kumler, Donna J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Why the Fuse Blew: the Reasons for Colonial America’s Transformation From Proto-nationalists to Revolutionary Patriots: 1772-1775 (open access)

Why the Fuse Blew: the Reasons for Colonial America’s Transformation From Proto-nationalists to Revolutionary Patriots: 1772-1775

The most well-known events and occurrences that caused the American Revolution are well-documented. No scholar debates the importance of matters such as the colonists’ frustration with taxation without representation, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts. However, very few scholars have paid attention to how the 1772 English court case that freed James Somerset from slavery impacted American Independence. This case occurred during a two-year stall in the conflict between the English government and her colonies that began in 1763. Between 1763 and 1770, there was ongoing conflict between the two parties, but the conflict temporarily subsided in 1770. Two years later, in 1772, the Somerset decision reignited tension and frustration between the mother country and her colonies. This paper does not claim that the Somerset decision was the cause of colonial separation from England. Instead it argues that the Somerset decision played a significant yet rarely discussed role in the colonists’ willingness to begin meeting with one another to discuss their common problem of shared grievance with British governance. It prompted the colonists to begin relating to one another and to the British in a way that they never had previously. This case’s impact on …
Date: August 2015
Creator: Davis, Camille Marie
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Way of Change and Surprise: A Strategic Cultural Analysis of China's South China Sea Policies from the 1930s to 2010s (open access)

The Way of Change and Surprise: A Strategic Cultural Analysis of China's South China Sea Policies from the 1930s to 2010s

This dissertation aims to discover the hidden pattern and rationales behind China's South China Sea policies over the last one hundred years from the perspective of Chinese strategic culture. A historical-cultural approach is a powerful tool in uncovering deeper understandings of the Chinese way of policy making and strategy on issues such as the South China Sea. The key research questions include: first, is there any historical legitimacy in China's sovereignty claim over the South China Sea islands? Second, do Beijing's South China Sea policies in various periods have any regularity or pattern, and how did they serve China's grand strategies at the time? By utilizing extensive Chinese and English primary sources and other sources, this study conducts a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the South China Sea issue from the framework of Chinese strategic culture.
Date: May 2023
Creator: Zhong, Wenrui
System: The UNT Digital Library
From Associates to Antagonists: the United States, Great Britain, the First World War, and the Origins of War Plan Red, 1914-1919 (open access)

From Associates to Antagonists: the United States, Great Britain, the First World War, and the Origins of War Plan Red, 1914-1919

American military plans for a war with the British Empire, first discussed in 1919, have received varied treatment since their declassification. the most common theme among historians in their appraisals of WAR PLAN RED is that of an oddity. Lack of a detailed study of Anglo-American relations in the immediate post-First World War years makes a right understanding of the difficult relationship between the United States and Britain after the War problematic. As a result of divergent aims and policies, the United States and Great Britain did not find the diplomatic and social unity so many on both sides of the Atlantic aspired to during and immediately after the First World War. Instead, United States’ civil and military organizations came to see the British Empire as a fierce and potentially dangerous rival, worthy of suspicion, and planned accordingly. Less than a year after the end of the War, internal debates and notes discussed and circulated between the most influential members of the United States Government, coalesced around a premise that became the rationale for WAR PLAN RED. Ample evidence reveals that contrary to the common narrative of “Anglo-American” and “Atlanticist” historians of the past century, the First World War did …
Date: May 2012
Creator: Gleason, Mark C.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Slavery in the Republic of Texas (open access)

Slavery in the Republic of Texas

Slavery was established in Texas with the first Anglo-American settlement in 1822. The constitution of the Republic of Texas protected slavery as did laws passed by the legislature from 1836 to 1846, and the institution of slavery grew throughout the period. Slaves were given adequate food, clothing, and shelter for survival, and they also managed to develop a separate culture. Masters believed that slaves received humane treatment but nevertheless worried constantly about runaways and slave revolts. The Republic's foreign relations and the annexation question were significantly affected by the institution of slavery. The most important primary sources are compilations of the laws of Texas, tax rolls, and traveler's accounts. The most informative secondary source is Abigail Curlee's unpublished doctoral dissertation, "A Study of Texas Slave Plantations, 1822 to 1865" written at the University of Texas in 1932.
Date: May 1982
Creator: Purcell, Linda Myers
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam (open access)

The Power of One: Bonnie Singleton and American Prisoners of War in Vietnam

Bonnie Singleton, wife of United States Air Force helicopter rescue pilot Jerry Singleton, saw her world turned upside down when her husband was shot down while making a rescue in North Vietnam in 1965. At first, the United States government advised her to say very little publicly concerning her husband, and she complied. After the capture of the American spy ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo by North Korea, and the apparent success in freeing the naval prisoners when Mrs. Rose Bucher, the ship captain's wife, spoke out, Mrs. Singleton changed her opinion and embarked upon a campaign to raise public awareness about American prisoners of war held by the Communist forces in Southeast Asia. Mrs. Singleton, along with other Dallas-area family members, formed local grass-roots organizations to notify people around the world about the plight of American POWs. They enlisted the aid of influential congressmen, such as Olin "Tiger" Teague of College Station, Texas; President Richard M. Nixon and his administration; millionaire Dallas businessman Ross Perot; WFAA television in Dallas; and other news media outlets worldwide. In time, Bonnie Singleton, other family members, and the focus groups they helped start encouraged North Vietnam to release the names of prisoners, allow mail …
Date: August 1999
Creator: Garrett, Dave L.
System: The UNT Digital Library
United States Lend-Lease Policy in Latin America (open access)

United States Lend-Lease Policy in Latin America

President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles began trying to make military matériel available to Latin America during the latter 1930s. Little progress was made until passage of the Lend-Lease Act in 1941 enabled Washington to furnish eighteen Latin American nations with about $493,000,000 worth of military assistance during World War II. This study, based primarily on State Department lend-lease decimal files in the National Archives and documents published in Foreign Relations volumes, views the policy's background, development, and implementation in each recipient nation. The conclusion is that the policy produced mixed results for the United States and Latin America.
Date: December 1983
Creator: Yeilding, Thomas D. (Thomas David)
System: The UNT Digital Library
James Evetts Haley and the New Deal: Laying the Foundations for the Modern Republican Party in Texas (open access)

James Evetts Haley and the New Deal: Laying the Foundations for the Modern Republican Party in Texas

James Evetts Haley, a West Texas rancher and historian, balked at the liberalism promoted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. Haley grew concerned about increased federal control over states and believed Roosevelt was leading the country toward bankruptcy. In 1936, Haley, a life-long Democrat, led the Jeffersonian Democrats in Texas, who worked to defeat Roosevelt and supported the Republican candidate, Alf Landon. He continued to lead a small faction of anti-New Deal Texans in various movements through the 1960s. Haley espoused and defended certain conservative principles over the course of his life and the development of these ideas created the philosophical base of the modern Republican Party in Texas.
Date: August 2004
Creator: Sprague, Stacey
System: The UNT Digital Library

James Earl Rudder: A Lesson in Leadership

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
This thesis is the about the life of Rudder. The emphasis of this work, however, is that Rudder was successful primarily because of his character and leadership style. Much of the study was drawn from primary sources. Secondary sources were also consulted. This thesis opens with a brief Introduction, which discusses the need for this work. Chapter 1 discusses Rudder's life prior to WW II, emphasizing particular characteristics that benefited his leadership ability. Chapter 2 examines the 2nd Ranger Battalion's transformation under Rudder's leadership and guidance. Chapter 3 chronicles the 2nd Ranger Battalion's assault on the Pointe du Hoc battery, ending in December 1944, when Col. Rudder was reassigned to the 109th Infantry Regiment. Moreover, the controversy surrounding the Ranger's mission is also examined in this chapter. Chapter 4 describes Col. Rudder's leadership with the 109th in the Battle of the Bulge. A chapter accounting Rudder's political career and leadership follows. Chapter 6 examines his term as chancellor and president of the Texas A&M University system, until his death in 1970, and the major institutional changes that he enacted during his tenure, which resulted in A&M becoming the respected research university it is today. This significance and recapitulation of Rudder's …
Date: December 2003
Creator: Bean, Christopher B.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Showing the Flag: War Cruiser Karlsruhe and Germandom Abroad (open access)

Showing the Flag: War Cruiser Karlsruhe and Germandom Abroad

In the early 1920s the Weimar Republic commissioned a series of new light cruisers of the Königsberg class and in July 1926, the keel of the later christened Karlsruhe was laid down. The 570 feet long and almost 50 feet wide ship was used as a training cruiser for future German naval officers. Between 1930 and 1936 the ship conducted in all five good-will tours around the world, two under the Weimar Republic and three under the Third Reich. These good-will tours or gute Willen Fahrten were an important first step in reconciling Germany to the rest of the world and were meant to improve international relations. The Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense carefully orchestrated all stops of the vessels in conjunction with the respective embassies abroad. Final arrangements were made at least six-nine months before the scheduled visits and even small adjustments to the itinerary proved troublesome. Further, all visits were treated as “unofficial presentations.” The mission of the Karlsruhe was twofold: first to extend or renew relations with other nations, and second to foster notions of Heimat and the Germandom (Deutschtum) abroad. The dissertation is divided in two large parts; the individual training cruises with all …
Date: August 2013
Creator: De Santiago Ramos, Simone Carlota Cezanne
System: The UNT Digital Library