KEVIN CRICHTON

RESEARCH AND TEACHING

• PhD, Modern German History, University of St. Andrews, 2002

• MA, Historical Research, University of Lancaster, 1993

• BA(Hons), History and International Politics, University of Wales (Aberystwyth), 1992

I am writing a political biography of Fritz Sauckel, Gauleiter of Thuringia, and Hitler's Plenipotentiary for Replacement Labour.

My research also focuses upon Nazi rule in Thuringia, 1932 to 1945.

Article: “Nazi Education Policy before the Machtergreifung: Wilhelm Frick in Thuringia, 1930-1931”, submitted to History of Education

Article: “From Failure to Success? British Intelligence and the Strategic Orientation of the Luftwaffe, 1933-1939”, submitted to Intelligence and National Security

Review: M. Wildt (ed.), Nachrichtendienst, politische Elite und Mordeinheit. Der Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers SS (Hamburg, 2003), H-German Discussion Network (www.h-net.org/~german), submitted for publication

Review: H. James, The Nazi Dictatorship and the Deutsche Bank (Cambridge 2004), Canadian Journal of History/Annales Canadiennes d'Historie, forthcoming

I am the current owner and moderator of the German History mailing list (www.jiscmail.ac.uk), with 200 subscribers.

I have completed Stages 1 and 2 of the City and Guilds 730-7 Further & Adult Education Teachers Certificate at the Blackpool and Fylde College, and aim to continue my professional development with the Certificate of Education.

Sept 2003 – Jan 2004: Cardinal Newman College, Lark Hill, Preston, Lancashire, UK

• Tutor, AS/A2 Level History

June 2003: Cardinal Newman College, Preston

• Mentored AS level students on their course work option, in particular topic choice, and research methods

Mar-Apr 2003: Blackpool and the Fylde College, Ashfield Road, Bispham, Blackpool

Mar-Apr 1998: Tutor, Department of History, University of Liverpool

February 1998: ‘Introduction to Tutoring and Assessment’, University of St. Andrews

January 1998: Paper presented to the Annual Postgraduate Conference, German Historical Institute, London

November 1997: Paper presented to St. John’s Postgraduate Group, University of St. Andrews

My thesis aimed at a complete empirical analysis of the ministerial activity of Wilhelm Frick, Thuringia's Nazi Interior and Education Minister, 1930 to 1931. Frick was the first Nazi to become a government minister, a full three years before Hitler became Chancellor.

On the basis of a letter written by Hitler shortly after Frick came to power it is commonly believed that Hitler saw Frick's period in office as a model for future Nazi government activity, and (in retrospect) that it actually constituted a 'dress rehearsal' for the Nazi Party's 'seizure of power' in Germany between 1933 and 1934. The interpretative framework of my research focused upon the significance of Frick's measures and behaviour in office as a means of validating, modifying, or refuting these commonly held beliefs.

The main areas of my investigation were: the origins, drafting, and implementation of Frick's measures within the Interior and Education Ministries; Frick's impact upon Thuringia's civil service and administration; the nature of Frick's relationship with his coalition partners; the perception of him by the opposition parties; and his relationship with, and portrayal by, the Nazi Party in Thuringia and Germany.

My Ph.D. was funded by the School of History, University of St. Andrews. In addition, I won a three month research studentship award from the German Historical Institute (London) for archival research in Germany, and further discretionary awards from the University of St. Andrews. I was also short listed for a Leverhulme Trust 12 month 'Study Abroad Studentship'.

I took the MA in Historical Research at the University of Lancaster since it was one of only a few universities in the UK, which then ran a MA course which formally taught research technique. The course demanded that the student applied these research skills to writing a 25,000 word primary source based research dissertation, which constituted 50% of the final mark for the MA.

My dissertation investigated the attitude of British government and military towards intelligence on the Luftwaffe, 1933-1939. I was principally interested in how the material was handled, the preconceptions, prejudices and biases the intelligence reports were filtered through, and the impact on British policy. I undertook this research project, initially from my own interest in military and diplomatic history, airpower, and intelligence, but primarily because its emphasis on how others handled source materials (intelligence reports) offered an excellent opportunity for me to demonstrate the methodological and critical skills that I had acquired on the MA course.