Join a Live, History-Making Chat with Professor Vejas Liulevicius

Whether you are a serious historian, just interested in how the world as we know it came to be, or something in between, don’t miss this live chat with Professor Vejas G. Liulevicius on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015, 7-8pm ET. Professor Liulevicius’ expertise spans across topics including diplomacy and war, terrorism, World War I, and even espionage.

3rd & 7 37yd

How do you determine, from among the many sources and viewpoints of any given event, which to accept as "Historical Fact" or "Credible Source" over those you do not? How do you balance completely valid although opposing points of view of an incident and come up with a determination of which you accept to be ... or espouse as the "Historically Correct" viewpoint?

by BAy0Wulf 10/2/2015 12:24:44 AM

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We've received an abundance of questions for Professor Liulevicius, and he has graciously agreed to answer more of your questions within the next week. We will add them to the chat transcript. Check back here to see additional questions answered.

by The Great Courses 10/2/2015 12:29:44 AM

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Does the current war in the Ukraine have roots in WWI and or WWII?

by Ray 10/2/2015 12:29:57 AM

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Thank you very much Professor Liulevicius and, of course, "The Great Courses" for arranging this very enlightening event.

by Rick Moyer 10/2/2015 12:30:11 AM

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I recently published a book titled, The German Myth of the East: 1800 to the Present. Learn more about it here: http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199546312

by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius 10/2/2015 12:30:12 AM

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Thank you so much for joining us this evening. A special thank you goes out to Professor Liulevicius for taking the time and providing us with such insightful answers to your questions. We would love your feedback on the chat this evening and hope you will join us for future chats with our Great Courses instructors.

by TheGreatCourses edited by The Great Courses 10/2/2015 12:35:00 AM

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I want to thank everyone who took part in this conversation. It was such a pleasure to see the excellent and provocative questions that you posed. They demonstrate, I think, that we share the conviction that history is a good place to ask questions about meaning, the human condition, and what the future may hold. I bet we also share a sense of gratitude to the Great Courses for pioneering a great format for learning. With best wishes, Vejas

by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius 10/2/2015 12:35:27 AM

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Thank you for this wonderful opportunity by a professor made for the Great Courses, by a person who grew up in Marquette Park of Chicago.

by ira graham 10/5/2015 1:20:57 PM

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Could it be reasonably argued that two of the most fundamental driving forces behind all historical wars were do to the aggressive competition for natural resources and the preservation (or promotion) of pride (race or personal) by those who were in power?

by Gary Doughten 10/12/2015 7:51:56 PM

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The Roman empire had the toughest enemy it probably ever encountered with the Huns. These nomads from the steppes, as the Mongols would later come along, peoples who were born into battle, were their undoing. However, I understand that with another Marius in 378 the Romans could have stood as an empire for another couple of centuries easily. Here we come again to the role of chance. What do you think?

by Guillermo Garcia 10/12/2015 7:52:55 PM

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Reguarding World War 1, other than the extreme financial headwinds which facilitated WW2., what two other conditions led to the build up of Hitler's Reich?

by scorejuniore@hotmail.com 10/12/2015 7:55:08 PM

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This is a really generic question (for that I apologize). I read that terrorism is included within your area of expertise. What appears to be the best way to get rid of religiously motivated terrorism today? Is it possible? Another question: have governments usually taken an effective or well-advised course of action in fighting terrorism in the recent past?

by James 10/12/2015 7:55:29 PM

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How do you think George Patton would have done as President after WWII? Could this have prevented the cold war - or at least made it less problematic?

by John Clutcher 10/12/2015 7:55:56 PM

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Have you considered doing any biographies for the Great Courses? Thanks in advanced - I've enjoyed Turning Points in Modern History, World War I: The "Great War", Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century & Espionage and Covert Operations: A Global History

by John Clutcher 10/12/2015 7:56:41 PM

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Why do you think the Ottomans entered WW1 on the side of the Central Powers instead of the Entente? To regain their former No. African states? Because they thought they could gain the Caucasus? Or because they thought Germany would win? Interesting that they wound up on side of Austria-Hungary after fighting them in the past.

by Ronald J Smith 10/12/2015 7:57:33 PM

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Given Kaiser Wilhelm's intrigues to stir jihad in the Middle East, Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and support Mexican attack against the United States, do you think the Germans had a coherent concept of subversion during World War I?

by Thomas Visel 10/12/2015 7:58:13 PM

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I have 3 original letters from Friedrich Klausing (nicknamed Klaus) who was a member of the Valkyrie Plot. I had these translated & find them to be very interesting because of the names & places he mentions. Also, he wrote very well. Little is known about this man. The letters were written during WWII when he was recovering from wounds & were sent to a member of my husband's family.
I also have over 230 letters from a 3-star general of the Luftwaffe who was the grandfather of my husband's cousin. The cousin is deceased and his widow neither speaks nor writes any German and she gave them to me, knowing how interested I am in WWII. What do you suggest I do with these (what I consider to be) historical documents?

by Judi 10/12/2015 7:59:34 PM

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I was born during WW2 and I remember it only as history, not live. My children were born during Vietnam and also remember it only as history. Given how fast memories fade about historical lessons we should be learning, what do you think is needed for humans to retain memories, learn from them, and act accordingly?

by Donna 10/12/2015 8:00:14 PM

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Can you see the present day US is on the same path as was in the late 4th century? When Rome could not control her borders!

by A cioffi 10/12/2015 8:00:34 PM

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I am Greek and my great uncle fought in the Balkan wars and for the US in WWI. What direct influence did those wars have on WWI starting in that region if any?

by Ken Carnegis 10/12/2015 8:01:02 PM

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I'm sure you'll be reviewing Timothy Snyder's "Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning" very soon, if you haven't done so already, but could you perhaps give a bit of a preview of what you think of the book? In particular, perhaps the advantages/disadvantages of an ecological perspective on the "Bloodlands" and the Holocaust? Do you see any ecological factors connecting the First and Second World Wars in Eastern Europe, or shaping the conduct of the First World War there?

by Dan Franke 10/12/2015 8:01:19 PM

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Have you ever traveled to Germany and/or Austria? If so, how have those travels altered your view of the World Wars? (I ask because I lived in Austria for three years, and while living there received an entirely new perspective. I feel there is so much that is glossed over or ignored in American re-telling of those events.)

by MaryA 10/12/2015 8:04:09 PM

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By the end of 1914 it must have been obvious to all combatants that the war would last for years and be extremely costly. Why was there no serious effort to end the war diplomatically?

by Ken Strumpf 10/12/2015 8:04:38 PM

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I enjoyed your lecture on Thomas Walsingham, who arguably created the first modern spy network in Elizabethan England. In your opinion, was the poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe a spy working for Walsingham? Was Marlowe's death under suspicious circumstances in a tavern brawl in reality the story of "the man who knew too much"?

by James Norwood 10/12/2015 8:05:02 PM

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I think Ida Pfeiffer made up that part about having the sailors tie her to the mast in the tempest! I think she took Homer along to read in her cabin!

What is the role of fantastic fictions in mapping the Unknown?

by Catherine Bolton Brown 10/12/2015 8:05:20 PM

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Have you seen the Economist magazine article about Indiana Jones botanists-fighting the Narcos in Peru, driving up and back a mined road in Lebanon during the Civil War, and slicing off leeches with machetes as they chased down and brought back rare specimen?It says 80,000 flowering plants are likely to be out there somewhere. Sounds like your Voyaging Explorers to me! (September 12-18, 2015 Economist magazine)

by Catherine Bolton Brown 10/12/2015 8:05:50 PM

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Do you believe there is more cyber espionage now or are we being mislead in order to do our own cyber sleuthing?

by Joker573 edited by TheGreatCourses 10/12/2015 8:06:23 PM

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Whatvcaused WWI to end, and how much did each of the following contribute to that-- the Spanish Flu, German manpower and material losses, the cost of the war, political influences, and the U. S. entering the war?

by EHM 10/12/2015 8:06:41 PM

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Given Russia's involvement in Syria and Ukraine, what do you see happening to the Kaliningrad area and the Baltic States?

by Marianne 10/12/2015 8:06:59 PM

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Where do you think Putin is going with his Syrian adventure?

by Jerry Hayes 10/12/2015 8:07:18 PM

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Do you think that Putin has any real weakness that should be exploited but the U.S. is blind to it? laba diena!

by Victoria 10/12/2015 8:08:06 PM

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Have historians considered applying mathematics in modeling and determining rhyme and rhythm from past events and perhaps prognosticate potential time frames of tension, conflict, turning points? Economists are doing it all the time and even market theory has developed in spotting trends etc.

by Mehboob Hamza 10/12/2015 8:08:16 PM

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From your expert perspective - why does brutal conflict still exist in so-called modern times?...should we not be moving on?

by Joseph fiorile 10/12/2015 8:08:32 PM

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Love your courses. I'm impressed with the enormous hubris the former and current "leaders" display thinking they can set up societies where ALL needs are met and peoples emotional responses to changes in direction are sidelined and all the round pegs must fit into the estsblished square holes.

by Divk Menin 10/12/2015 8:08:52 PM

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Re WW i, Germany was a new country having been pasted together over only 40 years by Bismarck. Do you think the reckless behavior of the Germany was powered by an immaturity of their national "character", kind of like now we can act like other do?

by Ray C Haselby 10/12/2015 8:09:06 PM

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I am representing Bosnia-Herzegovina in a historical simulation of the 1995 crisis. I was wondering if you any information that could help me with this.

by Ross Van Farowe 10/12/2015 8:09:25 PM

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I posted this question earlier. Here it goes again. Dr. Liulevicius, what are your thoughts regarding the current ushering in of Syrian, and other, Islamic refugees into the EU? Do you feel that the presence of The Other on such a dynamic scale will create chaos and perhaps a Balkanization of European countries?

by Ryan Cavanaugh 10/12/2015 8:09:56 PM

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It has been argued that the generals in WW I had to go throug
h a "learning experience" which accounts for the horrible slaughter such as at the Somme before they learned the realities of modern mechanized warfare. Is this a reasonable view or were the generals either incompetent or monumentally stubborn?

by Ken P. 10/12/2015 8:10:11 PM

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Do you think that in the face-off between Putin and Obama, whichever one bends a little will be perceived by the rest of the world as weak, so that neither of them can move? Won't this lead to a standoff?

by Jane Binkoff 10/12/2015 8:10:15 PM

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I just read a fascinating article by Graham Allison in The Atlantic, entitled "The Thucydides Trap: Are the U.S. and China Headed for War?" He sees a pattern going back to the Pelopponesian War conecerning how the interactions between a rising power (China in this instance) and a dominant power (USA now) has often led to war through mistakes on both sides in handling the changing relative power relationships. DO you have any thoughts on that issue?

by Jack H 10/12/2015 8:10:42 PM

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What is your general opinion about popular history books such as written by the late Barbara Tuchman? Do you have any favorite popular history writers/books?

by Michael Murphy 10/12/2015 8:10:47 PM

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Can you cite a positive consequence of war, in general?

by linda lee 10/12/2015 8:10:58 PM

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How would Bismarck have handled the present situation in the Middle East today?

by Don Schwartz 10/12/2015 8:11:29 PM

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Why did the allies and central powers learn nothing from the the the technological horrors of the American civil war
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by roy hallliday 10/12/2015 8:11:35 PM

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