Syllabus

Short Course Description

For a brief moment at the end of the 20th century it seemed that Europe had finally reached true peace and tranquility: the Cold War was over, Germany was reunited and the European Union was expanding. Liberal democracy won. However, the developments of recent years, such as the rise of authoritarianism in post-Socialist states, strong right-wing parties in Western Europe, and the war in Ukraine, remind us that liberal democracy, for many years, was not the only option for Europe. The present course examines the history of modern Europe through the prism of its regimes. It traces the emergence of the modern state in the late 18th and early 19th century Europe, and the competition that developed in 19th and 20th centuries over the character of the system that would take over once the old monarchies were defeated. Alongside modern liberal-democracy, born in Europe with the French Revolution, Communism and then Fascism and Nazism rose as alternatives that promised to solve the problems of the modern era: rapid industrialization and urbanization, atomization of society, decline of old elites, and a clash between emerging new nations and multi-ethnic empires.
The course will trace the 'hot spots' of European history that shaped its political systems. It will start with the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna as the first revolutionary wave, and will then examine other attempts in the 19th c. to replace or alter the old regimes in Europe (such as a series of revolutions/revolts with national-liberal agendas in the 1820s and 1830s, and the Springtime of Nations of 1848). The rise of socialism in Europe in the second half of the 19th and early 20th century will shift attention to the emergence of workers' movements, their development into unions and political parties, and their eventual seizure of power in Russia. The discussions will focus on the connections between ideology and revolutionary practices as well as on the clash that developed between Communism and liberal democracy. Finally, we will discuss the birth of Fascism and Nazism and how those became central alternatives for the young independent states that had been established in Europe following the Great War. The final part of the course will look into the central clashes between the three regimes in the 20th century: the Second World War which saw the defeat of Fascism and Nazism before communism and liberalism; and the Cold War, which brought the victory of liberal democracy over communism in Europe.
The course will include a variety of secondary sources to demonstrate how the historiography of Europe changed over the years. Primary sources, such as archival documents, memoirs and writings of leaders will help create a vivid picture of the period and serve as a 'historian's lab' - an exercise in turning sources into history. Assessment: Active class participation (10%), in-class midterm (19%), two home assignments (20%), Final take-home exam (51%).