Week 14: Monday, April 24
Nuremburg, 1946: Remaining Nazi leaders find themselves on trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes. Back row, left to right: Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Franz von Papen, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Albert Speer, Konstantin von Neurath, and Hans Fritzsche. Front row, left to right: Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walther Funk, and Hjalmar Schacht.
ANNOUNCEMENT: I will be showing The Battle of Algiers on Tuesday, April 25, at 7:30 in Gadbois 4. Much of class discussion will revolve around the movie, so please make every effort to see it.
Also, keep in mind that the last movie, Black Hawk Down, will be shown on Sunday, April 30 at 7:30 in Gadbois 4.
1) According to Brodie, what basic and significant decision had the U.S. made with regard to nuclear warfare?
2) Upon what kind of strategy had the U.S. embarked upon with regard to nuclear war? What were the risks with that strategy? Why could it fail?
3) If the U.S. is serious about the strategy it has chosen, what must it do to strengthen itself in pursuit of this strategy?
4) According to Brodie, how must a state go about fighting a nuclear war? What would be the biggest problem with such a war?
5) According to Stimson, on what grounds could the international community prosecute the Nazis for crimes against peace? In other words, what precedent or law had been set in this regard before World War II?
6) Why did the editors of Fortune think that putting the Nazis on trial for crimes against peace odd?
Other
Questions
1) What kind of feeling must the strategy of deterrence instill in an enemy? Why must we walk a tightrope with deterrence? What kind of foreign policy must we employ?
2) How does the scenario marked out by Brodie resemble the one described by Douhet? How is it different?
3) How does nuclear war seem to turn Clausewitzian thought inside-out?
4) According to Stimson, what was the significance of Nuremburg?
5)What problem did the editors of Fortune have with the four indictments at Nuremberg?
6) What do all of these readings have in common? Do they have anything in common?
Nevada Test Site, Area 7 (June 1953): This test, Upshot-Knothole Climax, tested a light-weight fission device dropped from a B-36. The explosion yielded 61 kilotons (the equivalent of 61,000 tons of TNT).
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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle, 2006.