Written originally for an undergraduate course at the University of California, Berkeley, this essay describes the paths to treason taken by two of the most important members of the German military resistance to the National Socialist regime: General Ludwig Beck and Colonel Claus Schenk (Count) von Stauffenberg. From Beck's fastidious professionalism to Stauffenberg's aristocratic romanticism, the essay describes the officers' awakening to the regime's criminality and the thought processes they undertook to rationalize their eventual rejection of the Hitler Oath.
Making this essay available now, some fifteen years later, is more an exercise in self-publishing than anything else. It is the author's hope that it can nevertheless prove useful to other students tackling assignments concerning the German resistance to National Socialism. The sources herein are well cited and a bibliography is included.
Recall, however, that this is an undergraduate essay and nothing close to expert opinion on the subject. Be very critical while reading it and, needless to say, do not plagiarize.
ESSAY LENGTH
Because this is a Kindle title, it is difficult to gauge the length in terms of the number of pages. Printed on paper measuring 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches with double line-spacing, as is typical for university essays in the U.S., it extends to 15 such pages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Dawson received a B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1998. Though the University requires history majors to take courses across broad topics, he did his utmost to emphasize German and Austrian History in his undergraduate curriculum.
Free from his studies, he finally visited those two countries in 1999, meeting his future wife, Daniela, in Vienna, Austria. They reside now in Vienna with their daughter and too many cats.
Now a computer programmer by profession, Bill maintains a technically-oriented blog at http://billdawson.com, and keeps his German History Blog (http://germanhistoryblog.com) alive in its current dormant state.
Making this essay available now, some fifteen years later, is more an exercise in self-publishing than anything else. It is the author's hope that it can nevertheless prove useful to other students tackling assignments concerning the German resistance to National Socialism. The sources herein are well cited and a bibliography is included.
Recall, however, that this is an undergraduate essay and nothing close to expert opinion on the subject. Be very critical while reading it and, needless to say, do not plagiarize.
ESSAY LENGTH
Because this is a Kindle title, it is difficult to gauge the length in terms of the number of pages. Printed on paper measuring 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches with double line-spacing, as is typical for university essays in the U.S., it extends to 15 such pages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bill Dawson received a B.A. in History from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1998. Though the University requires history majors to take courses across broad topics, he did his utmost to emphasize German and Austrian History in his undergraduate curriculum.
Free from his studies, he finally visited those two countries in 1999, meeting his future wife, Daniela, in Vienna, Austria. They reside now in Vienna with their daughter and too many cats.
Now a computer programmer by profession, Bill maintains a technically-oriented blog at http://billdawson.com, and keeps his German History Blog (http://germanhistoryblog.com) alive in its current dormant state.
