Given that I generally try to concentrate on the German Wars of Unification when I do any serious research I thought I would toss this link out there. I ran across the following article about the Battle of Lundby in 1864 today. It is probably the best description of any single action from the Danish War of 1864 I have ever seen. What makes it so great for my purposes is that it is in English and I can direct my readers to it. The first of the German Wars of Unification, the Danish War of 1864, is practically ignored in English scholarship and thus finding something like this is a treasure as it sheds light on the development of Prussian tactical and operational methods that is not generally open to the English speaking world.
Thesis Research and Updates
Updates on my Thesis and progress towards MA completion
Book Review – Iron Kingom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 by Christopher Clark
This massive tome lays claim to being a complete history of Prussia, and if he doesn’t achieve it, he doesn’t miss it by much. It is fairly large at over 700 pages but Dr. Clark has a pleasant writing style that makes the book easy to read. He is not so much recounting events as using the historical events to tell the story of Prussia. The book opens with the retelling of the Allies abolishment of Prussia as a political unit in 1947 then goes right to the beginning of Prussia with the establishment of Prussia as a political unit under German sovereignty under the Great Elector in the years … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 10 and Final update
This is the final update I will post about writing my thesis. I got the final grade for my Capstone (Thesis) class. I have been academically cleared for graduationa and now all I am waiting on is word from the finance department and library that I do not owe them any money or have any books checked out. I should be good on both. If that is the case then on May 15, my degeree will be officially concurred and my school odyssey is complete. At least for now, or unless I get the masochistic urge to try and get a PhD, which I do … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 9
Well, I figured it is time for another update. I have made the first round of changes to my rough draft and turned them back in and my thesis made it past my professor and is now in the hands of the second reader. It went up to the second reader Tuesday and I should get it back sometime next week for corrections, if any. If there are no corrections needed it will go the department Chair and then I will get a final grade for the thesis and the thesis class. At that point I will be done with my thesis and should only need … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 8
I got my rough draft back from my Thesis professor this morning with the first round of requested corrections. It actually looks much better than I thought it would. There are not as many corrections as I expected and so I will start working on revising it tonight after I get home from work. I just quickly glanced at it this morning. I guess it will take me two or three days to make the requested corrections. After I make corrections and resubmit it as a final version, it will go to a second reader in the history department for a final round of changes. … More after the Jump…
I Suppose I Can Consider Myself Published Now
I got my first article published this past week. I belong to the Society for Military History and in a recent society newsletter, they asked for people who had recently worked in an archive to submit a guide. I visited the Austrian Kriegsarhive last spring while doing research for my MA thesis and emailed them contact person that I would be interested in providing a guide for the Kriegsarchive. I got a positive response and pulled out my notes and recollections of my visit and over the next week or so, I wrote up a guide. It has now been posted on the SMH website at: … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 7
Well, I just finished the final revisions to my rough draft before I submit it. It is a great felling. The final paper ended up at 85 pages and it was actually much easier to write than I thought it would be. Now all that is left to see is what my thesis adviser thinks of it.
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 6
I just finished writing the rough draft of my MA Thesis. It is currently sitting right around 73 pages. I would guess I will end up adding about 4-5 more ages as I do my final revisions before submitting the rough draft this coming Sunday when it is due. It was both easier and harder to write than I thought it would be. I also am very curious to see what comments my thesis adviser will have. I already have comments on my intro ad first chapter and will spend the rest of the week incorporating the changes he suggested into the rough draft. … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 5
I finished Chapter 2 of my thesis last night, ten days later than I planned, but finished is finished right? it was the chapter about the opening skirmishes and battles of the Königgrätz Campaign. It was fun to write but difficult at the same time. I essentially knocked out a twenty-page paper in two weeks where I normally wrote that much in a month being much more leisurely about it. Now I just have to work extra hard to catch up and get my paper done by the deadline for the rough draft, which is on February 20th. I should be able to do it because the next chapter … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 5
I am now a little over half-way through writing my thesis at least going by the Outline I drew up. I got to page 50 last night and am almost ready to start writing the chapter concerning the main battle at Königgrätz itself. I am actually behind on the time-line I set myself because I got hit with writer’s block earlier this week. That is not the first time I have ever been blocked, but it is one of the worst episodes I have ever had. I got over it pretty well tough and have punched out about ten pages since I fiured out a way forward. … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 4
I was getting to the actual writing of a description of the fighting part of my thesis today when something hit me.  I was looking at casualty figures for the various actions and they are decidedly lopsided. Most historians blame that on the Prussian possession of the Needle-Gun but I just don’t buy that, it’s too pat an explanation. As I was thinking about it, it hit me that the Prussians and Austrians fought in completely different ways.
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 3
    At this point, I am well into writing my thesis. I completed chapter one last night and got started on writing chapter two. So far, with the introduction and first chapter I have written twenty-six pages out of what should end up being about an eighty pages or so project.     So far that actual writing part has been easier than I thought it would be. I have never written a paper that is as long as this one is and that had me worried at first. What I am finding is that the initial getting started writing each day can be difficult but once … More after the Jump…
Book Review: The Campaign of Germany in 1866
      This work is the Official History of the 1866 Seven Weeks’ War prepared by the Prussian General Staff after the war. I got this book for use in my thesis and it probably would not be of interest to anybody except for hard-core history fans or specialists. That being said, it is one of the better official histories I have ever read.       It is readable and concise and includes a wealth of information. Perhaps the best part of this work from a historian’s perspective is that it is based on primary source documents that are no longer available because they were destroyed in the closing days of World … More after the Jump…
The Actual Writing of a Thesis-Part 2
I rediscovered the importance of an outline over the past few days of working on my thesis. Idiot me did not do an outline as I have one for all my papers in the past both undergrad and Graduate level. I have no idea why I thought i could tackle a project as large as Master’s Thesis with only a Table of Contents to use as a guide. I say rediscovered because I started writing and after about 20 pages I realized I have essentially been wasting my time because I tend to ramble when I do not have something to keep me focused.
After I realized I was rambling I stopped and took a brief break to figure out what I was doing wrong and how I could fix it. That is when it struck me that I don’t have an outline. It was definitely a V-8/face palm 
moment. I then settled down and decided to write an outline.
The Actual Writing of a Thesis
I am about 20 pages into writing my thesis and it is killing me. I generally really enjoy writing, especially writing about history. I have studied my topic for about 3 years now and actually visited the battlefield twice. I find myself wanting to hurry writing the introductory chapters so I can get to the good stuff. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to motivate myself to write, I suppose I will struggle through it somehow though. Writing my thesis is exciting and boring at the same time. The best comparison I can think of is sitting on a screen line in Iraq overwatching a … More after the Jump…