HS1867: Cymru a'r Rhyfel Mawr, 1880-2014

School History
Department Code SHARE
Module Code HS1867
External Subject Code 100760
Number of Credits 30
Level L6
Language of Delivery Welsh
Module Leader Dr Toby Thacker
Semester Double Semester
Academic Year 2014/5

Outline Description of Module

Bydd y modiwl hwn yn olrhain dylanwad y Rhyfel Mawr ar ddiwylliant a chymdeithas yng Nghymru – ac ar nifer fawr o unigolion o Gymru – gan ystyried y datblygiadau o’r cyfnod ymhell cyn i’r ymladd ddechrau hyd y presennol. Yn y semester cyntaf byddwn yn astudio profiadau ar y ‘ffrynt gartref’ rhwng 1914 a haf 1918 yn ogystal ag ar y llinell flaen, ac yn ystyried tystiolaeth o nifer o ffynonellau amrywiol. Ar un llaw, mae digon o arwyddion bod Cymru wedi chwarae rhan allweddol yn y Rhyfel – yn cynhyrchu glo, dur ac arfau i’r ymgyrchoedd; yn darparu cannoedd o filoedd o filwyr; hyd yn oed yn cynnig arweiniad, ym mherson y Prif Weinidog, Lloyd George. Fodd bynnag, mae’n amlwg nad oedd yr ymateb i’r Rhyfel yn unfrydol, ac roedd nifer o leisiau wedi codi i gwestiynu doethineb a chyfiawnder yr ymladd.

Yn yr ail semester byddwn yn parhau i olrhain dylanwad y Rhyfel Mawr ar ddiwylliant a chymdeithas yng Nghymru, gan ddilyn y stori o haf 1918 hyd y presennol. Er i’r ymladd ddod i ben (o leiaf ar ffrynt y Gorllewin) ar 11 Tachwedd 1918, mae’n bosibl dadlau bod yr aflonyddwch a achosodd y Rhyfel o hyd yn effeithio ar gwrs y byd heddiw. Ers 1918 mae’r ffordd y mae’r Cymry’n deall y Rhyfel wedi newid yn sylfaenol, a byddwn yn olrhain sut mae atgofion am y profiadau wedi cael eu lliwio gan amgylchiadau cyfredol.

On completion of the module a student should be able to

  • analyse key events in the history of the First World War in relation to their effect upon society and culture in Wales;
  • discuss with reference to modern historical scholarship selected topics in the history of the First World War, including how the outbreak of the War was received in Wales; developments within the debate surrounding the justification for the war; how the Welsh public received news from the front lines and of enemy ‘atrocities’; the role of Welsh women in the conflict; Welsh poetry about the War; how politics in Wales was transformed by the conflict; celebrations of ‘victory’ and the subsequent disillusionment; how the attitudes of Welsh writers towards the First World War changed during the subsequent decades; and how the War is represented in contemporary Welsh culture;
  • assess different approaches to the analysis of contemporary primary sources about the War;
  • critically evaluate the interrelation of political, social, cultural, and technological factors in determining how the First World War was understood in Wales;
  • demonstrate a critical understanding of the potentialities and problems of different kinds of evidence (images, poetry, letters, newspaper reports, speeches, memoirs) for understanding subjective experiences.

How the module will be delivered

A range of teaching methods will be used in each of the sessions of the course, comprising a combination of lectures, seminar discussion of major issues and workshops for the study of primary source material. The syllabus is divided into a series of major course themes, then sub-divided into principal topics for the study of each theme.

Lectures:

The aim of the lectures is to provide a brief introduction to a particular topic, establishing the salient features of major course themes, identifying key issues and providing historiographical guidance. The lectures aim to provide a basic framework for understanding and should be thought of as useful starting points for further discussion and individual study. Where appropriate, handouts and other materials may be distributed to reinforce the material discussed.

Seminar and Source Workshops:

The primary aim of the sessions will be to generate debate and discussion amongst course participants, focused in particular on primary source material. Seminars and source workshops for each of the course topics will provide an opportunity for students:

(a) to discuss topics or issues introduced by the lectures,

or(b) to discuss related themes, perhaps not directly addressed by the lectures, but drawing on ideas culled from those lectures.

and(c) to analyse different types of primary sources available, discussing the principal ways in which they can be used by historians.

Seminars and source workshops will provide the student with guidance on how to critically approach the various types of primary source material. Preparation for seminars and workshops will focus on specific items from the sources and related background reading, with students preparing answers to questions provided for each session. Both seminars and source workshops will provide an opportunity to discuss and debate the issues with fellow students. Classes will be divided into smaller groups for discussion purposes, with the results presented as part of an overall class debate at the end of the session.

Skills that will be practised and developed

  • communicate ideas and arguments effectively, whether in class discussion or in written form, in an accurate, succinct and lucid manner.
  • formulate and justify arguments and conclusions about a range of issues, and present appropriate supporting evidence
  • an ability to modify as well as to defend their own position.
  • an  ability to think critically and challenge assumptions
  • an ability to use a range of information technology resources to assist with information retrieval and assignment presentation.
  • time management skills and an ability to independently organise their own study methods and workload.
  • work effectively with others as part of a team or group in seminar or tutorial discussions.   

How the module will be assessed

Students will be assessed by means of a combination of an assessed essay relating to primary sources [20%], an assessed essay [30%] and an examination paper [50%].

Course assignments:

  1. TheAssessed Essay relating to primary sources will contribute 20% of the final mark for the module and must be no longer than 1,000 words.
  2. The Assessed Essay will contribute 30% of the final mark for the module. It is designed to give students the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to review evidence, draw appropriate conclusions from it and employ the formal conventions of scholarly presentation. It must be no longer than 2,000 words.
  3. The Examination will take place during the second assessment period [May/June] and will consist of an unseen two hour paper that will contribute the remaining 50% of the final mark for this module. Students must write 2 answers in total.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 20 Assessed Essay 1 N/A
Written Assessment 30 Assessed Essay 2 N/A
Exam - Spring Semester 50 Cymru A'R Rhyfel Mawr, 1880-2014 2

Syllabus content

Cyflwyniad i’r modiwl

Adrodd hanes y Rhyfel : Sut mae’r ddealltwriaeth o’r Rhyfel Mawr wedi newid dros y degawdau

Trafodaeth o sut mae’r myfyrwyr yn edrych ar y Rhyfel, a’r delweddau sydd yn gyfarwydd i’r Cymry; gwylio rhaglen Y Rhwyg (1988), a gyflwynwyd gan Dr John Davies

Sôn am ryfel; poeni am ryfel; paratoi at ryfel; ysu am ryfel?

Rhyfel y Boer – rhagflaenydd i’r Rhyfel Mawr?

Tyndra rhwng ymerodraethau

Gorffennaf i Awst 1914

Cymeriad Lloyd George; Cyfraniad Lloyd George; Chwedl Lloyd George

Sosialwyr a’r Rhyfel

Ymateb i ddechreuad y Rhyfel; ai myth yw’r syniadau am y cyhoedd yn derbyn y newyddion ‘yn orhoenus lawen’

Mons ac Ypres

Barbareiddwch y gelyn?

Lladdfa ar Ffrynt y Gorllewin

Ymateb y capeli

Yr ymladd yn lledaenu: Gallipoli; y Dwyrain Canol

Aflonyddwch yn y maes glo

Ymladd a gwrthod ymladd: Sosialwyr a’r Rhyfel / Gwrthwynebwyr Cydwybodol

Merched: newid byd - Merched yn y ffatrïoedd arfau

Brwydr y Somme

Barddoniaeth y Rhyfel yn Gymraeg, 1914-16

Gwylio rhaglen Mametz (1987)

Lloyd George yn brif-weinidog

Passchendaele

Cylchgrawn Cymru 1917

Mamau Cymru; Gwragedd dosbarth canol;

Tafliad olaf y deis i’r Almaenwyr: ‘cefnau i’r wal’

Barddoniaeth y Rhyfel yn Gymraeg, 1917-18

Diwedd yr ymladd: rhyddhad, gorfoledd a galaru

Etholiad Rhagfyr 1918

Buddugoliaeth Lloyd George? Cytundeb Versailles

Chwyldroadau yn Ewrop; Gwrthryfel yn Iwerddon; Terfysg yng Nghymru

Dirwasgiad a Dadrithiad: y 1920au;

Gwersi 1914 a’r ymgais i gymodi â Hitler: David Davies a’r mudiad heddwch

Ymateb llenyddol: chwedl Hedd Wyn; All Quiet on the Western Front; Traed mewn Cyffion

Trafod y Rhyfel Mawr yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd.

Ysgrifau yn y Gymraeg am y Rhyfel Mawr, 1939-1959

Trafodaeth y 1960au: ‘Lions led by Donkeys’; pwysleisio ffolineb a gwastraff y rhyfel

Gwylio rhaglenni o gyfres The Great War (1964) a thrafod Cymru a’r Rhyfel Mawr  (1964)

Y gwahaniaeth rhwng maes y gad a fodolodd yn Ffrainc a Fflandrys rhwng 1914 a 1918 a’r un dychmygol sy’n gread y cenedlaethau a edrychai nôl mewn syndod a braw

Cofio brwydr Mametz yng Nghymru

Sut oedd cyn-filwyr Cymreig yn portreadu eu profiadau yn y blynyddoedd ar ôl y Rhyfel.

Trafferthion gydag atgofion cyn-filwyr, er gwaethaf eu hatyniad amlwg: atgofion Griffith Williams, Bob Owen ac Ithel Davies

Rhoi’r cyfan mewn i gyd-destun diwylliannol

Portreadu’r Rhyfel Mawr yn y Gymraeg heddiw, a gwylio Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (2008)

Edrych nôl ar y Rhyfel ar drothwy’r canmlwyddiant

Rhaglenni teledu am y Rhyfel Mawr 2012-14

 

Essential Reading and Resource List

Llyfrau Cymraeg / Books in Welsh

Dewi Eirug Davies, Byddin y Brenin, (Abertawe: T? John Penry, 1988)

Ifor ap Glyn (addasiad Lyn Ebenezer), Lleisiau’r Rhyfel Mawr (Llanrwst: Carreg Gwalch, 2008)

Alan Llwyd ac Elwyn Edwards (goln.) Gwaedd y Bechgyn (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas, 1989)

Gerwyn Wiliams, Tir Neb: Rhyddiaith Gymraeg a’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf (Caerdydd: Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru, 1996).

Gerwyn Wiliams, Y Rhwyg (Lladysul: Gomer, 1993)

Llyfrau Saesneg / Books in English

Matthew Cragoe a Chris Williams, Wales and War: Society, Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2007)

Angela Gaffney, Aftermath: Remembering the Great War in Wales (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1998)

Emma Hanna, The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009)

Alan Llwyd (gol.) Out of the fire of hell: Welsh experience of the Great War 1914-1918 in poetry and prose (Llandysul: Gomer, 2008)

Hew Strachan, The First World War : a new illustrated history (London: Simon and Schuster, 2003)

Dan Todman, The Great War: Myth and Memory (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007)

Jay Winter ac Antoine Prost, The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005) 


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