11L» STATeI BOARD OF AGRICULTtFRE. 



KEl'OKT OK THJ^: DMPAHTINIENT OF HISTORY. 



President Frank S. Kedzie, East Lansing, Mich. 



Dear Sir — I submit the following as my report for the Department of 

 History for the year 1918-19. 



The unusual conditions prevailing during the war required modi- 

 fications of our j-egular d(>partmental program. The Federal Govern- 

 ment, in its program of training for soldiers included as one of the sub- 

 jects to be given every soldier in training a course known as War Aims, 

 which should set forth the historical causes of the w^ar. This order made it 

 necessary for this department to enlarge its activities. 



Beginning with the men of the second vocational section, July 15th 

 to Septend^er 15th, each man was required to attend one lecture per week, 

 in which were heard discussed in consecutive order, the histoiical con- 

 tlitions existing from the foundation of the German Empire to the out- 

 break of the world war. In addition there was presented the reasons for 

 each European nation l)eing engaged in this war, as well as special em- 

 phasis upon the reasons for the entrance of the United States. Attention 

 was also given to important results of the conflict, such as are found em- 

 bodied in the Fourteen Points of President Wilson. 



These lectures were repeated for the third vocational contingent, 

 up to the signing of the armistice, except as they were interrupted by 

 the scourge of influenza. In all, some twelve hundred men were handled 

 in these two vocational groups. This work fell to the lot of the head of 

 the department. 



With the organization of the S. A. T. C. at the opening of the college year 

 the governmental order included War Aims as a necessary part of the 

 training of prospective soldier boys. This order brought five hundred 

 more students into the department for three hours of work each per week. 

 The work was conducted as follows: Each student was given one lecture 

 per week in which current matters were dealt with. Effort was made to 

 acquaint him with the developing conditions in Europe, many of which 

 needed some historical survey in order to establish a clearer and more 

 adequate understanding. For instance: such topics as the Polish problem, 

 formation of states by the Czech-Slovaks and Jugo-Slavs, the Armenian 

 trouliles, the Russian revolutions together with an analysis of the govern- 

 ments of England, France, Germany and Austria. Also the cardinal 

 principles of intei-national law as understood by the allies were considered. 

 These topics were of course integrally related to President Wilson's Foui- 

 tee'n Points and to the I'eason for the United States' part in the wai-. 



In addition to this each student was a member of a second group in 

 which two hours per week were devoted to the history of Europe from 

 1860 to the beginning of the war. In this course a text. Holt and Chilton's 

 "European History," a book written for this purpose, was used. Some 

 twenty sections were necessary, which were placed in charge of members 

 of the faculty available for this purpose. The department takes this op- 

 portunity to acknowledge the services of Professors Bessey, Conger, 

 Hedrick, Hasselman, Johnston; also Messrs. Mayne and Weaver. 



Professor A. C. Conger constructed, with painstaking care, a large map, 

 eight by eight, of Western Europe, which was exhibited in the corridor of 

 the Agricultural Hall. On this was shown the positions of the Allied and 

 the enemy forces. The changes in position were recorded for each day 

 as the tide of the battle progressed. This contributed very materially for 

 all, teacher and student, to an understanding of the facts about the war. 



