Wesleyan University
HISTORY 203:   MODERN EUROPE
Fall 2001               414 PAC -- ext. 2385               Mr. Morgan
E-mail:  dmorgan@wesleyan.edu                Home phone:  346-1522
Course website:  http://dmorgan.web.wesleyan.edu/modeurope/

Course Overview

Europe has remade itself repeatedly in modern times. This course picks up the story in 1815, after a quick review of the French Revolution of 1789 and the quarter-century of wars and political turmoil that followed it. In 1815 the restored "Old Regime" monarchies of Europe entered an era of confusing social and political change, driven not only by the legacy of the French Revolution and Napoleon but also by the forces of the Industrial Revolution. Sometimes quietly and undramatically (as with most economic change), sometimes violently (as in the Revolutions of 1848 and the Wars of German Unification), the societies and governments of Europe were altered and modernized, making life better in many ways. At the same time, however, modernization created new sources of domestic and international conflict.

By the end of the nineteenth century change was accelerating in Europe. The devastating general wars of the twentieth century, World War I from 1914 to 1918 and World War II from 1939 to 1945, along with novel movements such as Communism and Fascism, called into question the direction of European development. Around 1950 Europe emerged into yet another new epoch, featuring the Cold War, the end of European overseas empires, and the Common Market. And since the end of the Soviet Empire in 1989 and collapse of the Soviet Union itself in 1991, we are watching yet another new Europe emerge, one whose contours are far from clear at present.

The course is centrally concerned with the development of the major European countries. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and Russia are in the foreground, with some reference to Spain, the Austrian and Ottoman Empires (to 1918), and the countries of Eastern Europe (after 1918). We follow the political stories of these countries with constant reference to the social relations, economic change, and ideological developments that helped shape politics, as well as being themselves shaped by politics.

Books

The following books (all paperbacks) have been ordered for the course through Atticus:

Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, 3rd ed.
Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory
Sebastian Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler
E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus
Walter Laqueur, Europe in Our Time: A History, 1945-1992
John Merriman, The History of Modern Europe, vol. II
A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck, The Man and the Statesman

The textbook, Merriman's History of Modern Europe, is an optional purchase. There are no specific assignments from this book, but you will need the basic information it contains when you write a paper. (You could also use other reputable textbooks such as those by Gordon A. Craig or Jackson Spielvogel.) Consult a textbook as you need it -- to link up the subjects discussed in class, to fill in gaps, and to provide continuity as we go along.

You will also want to consult materials posted on this website, especially timelines and tables. You can reach them through links from this page, or through the Materials link in the index to the left of this page.

Syllabus

The written work for the course consists of three five-page papers and a final exam. Many students will be able to join a Writing-Intensive Section of the course, which permits submitting revised drafts of papers. The due dates for the papers -- Sept. 24, Oct. 22, and Nov. 19 -- are marked on the syllabus. Each paper will be on an assigned topic, to be handed out ten days before the paper is due; and each can be written from the course books and the lectures without additional research. The final is a two-hour bluebook exam scheduled by the Registrar.

Once each writing assignment has been announced, the particulars will be posted on the website. They can be reached by links from this page or through the Written work link in the index.

Old Regime and New Forces, 1815 to 1848

David Landes, The Unbound Prometheus (1969), chs. 1-3
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1987), pp. 143-77
E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution, 1789-1848 (1962), chs. 1-13 and 16

Materials on the course website:
     Major Dates in Modern European History
     Monarchs and Political Systems
     Population of the Major European Countries
     Gross National Product of the Major European Countries

Landes, Unbound Prometheus, chs. 4-5
Kennedy, Rise and Fall, pp. 178-93 and ch. 5
A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck, the Man and the Statesman (1955), whole book

Materials on the course website:
    Chronology of German Unification, 1848-1871
    The Constitutions of Germany and Prussia

Landes, Unbound Prometheus, ch. 6
Kennedy, Rise and Fall, ch. 6
Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (1975), chs. 1, 2, and 4, and pp. 169-90, 299-309
Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, 2nd ed. (1994), whole book
Sebastian Haffner, The Meaning of Hitler (1978), whole book

Materials on the course website:
     Chronology of Major International Events, 1919-1939
     The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich

Kennedy, Rise and Fall, ch. 7
Walter Laqueur, Europe in Our Time (1992), parts One, Two and Four