[samgheb]

I have to write my bachelor this semester in history and I have to send in my suggestion for the topic I want to write about on friday. I have several ideas but I’m not sure which to pick and what would be wise to pick either. I’m only allowed to write 30 pages so I can’t choose more extensive topics.

This is what I’m considering at the moment:
1. A historical look at the communist collaborators in WWII who worked against the allies until Nazi Germany went to war with the Soviet Union. My inspiration for this came from a talk by Paul Gottfried where he said that the French communists worked against their own government and that this is rarely discussed not to mention that they after the war highlighted their own credentials in the fight against the fascist.

The advantage: With this topic my area of research is more narrow from 1938 to 1941

2. Using Hans Hoppe’s theory of how liberal states tend to produce more aggressive empires e.g. Britain or America. I like this topic but not sure how exactly to formulate a narrow case.

3. The liberal antecedents of the Marxist class analysis
This I imagine could be easy since I have at least Ralph Raico’s essay and Hoppe’s essay and I can follow the footnotes. It is especially relevant since we have started to hear some mumblings among the right here in Denmark about tax payers and tax takers and this class view was recently attacked by a influential left magazine(a Danish version of the Atlantic magazine if you will). Not to mention that the current problems in the EU has also been discussed as a question of the tax paying northern Europe vs the consuming Europe of the south. I imagine this might be of interest as well since I’m guesing most historians haven’t heard of this.
This is but some of the ideas I have been considering but I still haven’t settled on anything. If anybody has constructive advice for what could be added to the 3 projects or has any ideas for other projects, perhaps using some of the tools of the austro/libertarian school like Hoppe’s theory of empire then I’m all ears.

[Jason Jewell]

The 20th century is not my forte, so I may not be of much help in suggesting topics from that period. I know more about the 19th century but am still not an expert. Having said that, I like all three of these topics. The second may be the most difficult to pull off; as you say, it would be hard to narrow the thesis to something manageable.

For projects like this it’s always best to restrict the potential amount of material you’ll have to sift through. The language issue is also important for certain topics, although if you are Danish you’re probably a lot better off in that area than most English-only Americans.

I would say that if these topics interest you equally or nearly so, go with the one that has the most manageable bibliography and will be the least likely to arouse the animosity of your committee. Your bachelor’s thesis is not your “95 Theses” to nail to the door of the university. It’s to prove you know what you’re doing as a young historian so that graduate schools will consider your application seriously (if your goal is in fact to go on to graduate school).

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