HIST-UA 750 (Draft Syllabus) “Europe is so well gardened that it resembles a work of art, a scientific theory, a neat metaphysical system. Man has re-created Europe in his own image” – Aldous Huxley

From the Enlightenment to the Holocaust: The Modern European Age (1789-1945) Summer 2013 (Session 1) MW: 9:30-12:30 KJCC, 701

Instructor: Vasilis Molos Office Hours: (TBA) Email: [email protected]

Course Description: Which processes led to the fall of the ancien régime, and what distinguished the society that emerged in its wake? What is it that is distinctively „modern‟ about the „modern European age‟? This course considers these questions by examining Europe‟s history from the Peace of Westphalia (1648) to the end of the Second World War (1945), and reading this history next to the writings of contemporary philosophers and political figures. It moves quickly from an introduction to the ancien régime to discussing the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, the first Industrial Revolution, the Revolutions of 1821-1848, the „Going to the People Movement‟ of 1874, national unification in Germany and Italy, European colonialism, the First World War, the inter-war period, and the Second World War. It explores how shifting understandings of power, personhood and history informed European history during this period. The aim of the course is to illustrate how Enlightenment ideas about reason, autonomy and progress opened up a range of political possibilities throughout Europe from the time of the French Revolution to the Second World War.

Class Outcomes: You will be expected to: (1) Identify the major political, economic and intellectual developments from 1648 to 1945. (2) Discuss how Enlightenment ideas about reason, autonomy and progress informed diverse schools of thought from Republicanism to Liberalism, Romanticism, Conservatism, Marxism, Russian Populism, Anarchism, Nationalism, Imperialism and Fascism. (3) Develop your critical reading and writing skills by engaging with primary sources. (4) Explain what was distinctively „modern‟ about this stage in Europe‟s history.

Course Requirements and Format: You are required to read all assigned works, attend all classes, and complete all assignments in a timely fashion. Attendance and Participation: For our meetings to function effectively, participants have to be well-prepared. This means attending every class, participating in discussions, and reading all assigned materials. Each unexcused absence will result in a penalty of one letter grade.

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HIST-UA 750 (Draft Syllabus) Response Papers: Before each session, each student will email me a short response paper. You will be asked to either (1) select a short passage from one of the readings, and explain why you found it significant, or (2) write a paragraph offering your thoughts about the material for a given week. Presentation: Each student will be expected to introduce the readings for the week at some point during the semester. At the beginning of class, the presenter(s) will provide a brief summary of the readings (2-3 minutes), and provide two to three questions to guide our discussion. Essay Proposal: A one-page proposal for your final paper will be due in class on June 12. In this proposal, you are expected to outline your topic and the direction in which you hope to take your research. You are also expected to submit an annotated bibliography that includes at least four scholarly sources (books, journal articles etc) that you have used to prepare your proposal (and that you plan to use in your paper). After submitting the essay proposal, we will take a guided tour of Bobst Library on June 17, where you will have significant class time to work with me on your paper. Primary Source Assignment: Each student will select one of the primary sources included in the readings and prepare a short paper of approximately 1000 words explaining the historical significance of the text. This assignment will be due in class on June 19. Research Paper: A research paper of approximately 2500 words will be due on the final day of class (July 3). This assignment will ask you to describe the philosophical foundations and historical significance of one of the political ideologies discussed in this course. These include: Nationalism, Liberalism, Jacobinism, Bonapartism, Conservatism, Marxism, Russian Populism, Anarchism, Colonialism, Leninism, and Fascism. Grading: Attendance and Participation: 10% Response Papers: 10% Presentation: 10% Essay Proposal: 15% Primary Source Assignment: 20% Research Paper: 35% Plagiarism and Late Assignments: Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and can result in penalties. If you are not sure how to avoid plagiarism, please speak to me about the issue. Late assignments will result in a grade penalty of 2% for every calendar day, and will only be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

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HIST-UA 750 (Draft Syllabus)

Readings: The majority of the primary sources assigned in this course are available online on the „Internet Modern History Sourcebook‟ (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.asp). Links to assigned readings will be provided on the course website. Additionally, you are required to purchase John Merriman’s A History of Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the Present 3rd ed. Vol. 2 (2009). Copies will be available at the bookstore. Finally, copies of the following books will be put on reserve at Bobst Library: John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Present 3rd ed. Vol. 1 (2009). René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract (1762). Franco Venturi, Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth Century Russia (1960). Mikhail Bakunin, Statism and Anarchy (1873). Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918 (2003). George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust (1989).

Topics and Readings: The Ancien Régime: from the Peace of Westphalia to the Storming of the Bastille May 29: Social Contract Theory and the „Glorious Revolution‟ John Merriman, Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon (On Reserve). Chapter 9. Primary Source Readings: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651) (Excerpts). John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689) (Excerpts). June 3: The Enlightenment and the Philosophical Challenges to the Ancien Régime John Merriman, Modern Europe: From the Renaissance to the Age of Napoleon (On Reserve). Chapter 10. Primary Source Readings: René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). (Meditation 1). (On Reserve). Immanuel Kant, “What is Enlightenment” (1784). Marquis de Condorcet, “The Future Progress of the Human Mind” (1794).

The French Revolution, The Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna June 5: Romantic Nationalism, Liberalism and Jacobinism in the French Revolution John Merriman, Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the Present (JM). Chapter 12. Primary Source Readings: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, On the Social Contract (1762). (Special focus should be paid to books 2 and 3). (On Reserve). Abbé Sieyes, “What is the Third Estate?” (1789). 3

HIST-UA 750 (Draft Syllabus) Maximilien Robespierre, “Justification of the Use of Terror” (1794). June 10: Bonapartism and Conservatism JM. Chapter 13. Primary Source Readings: The Code Napoleon (1804). Edmund Burke, “Reflections on the Revolution in France” (1791). Prince Klemens von Metternich, Political Confessions of Faith (1820).

The First Industrial Revolution and the Concert of Europe June 12: Industrialization and Marxism JM. Chapter 14. Primary Source Readings: Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844 (1845). Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848). Research Essay Proposal Due in Class June 17: Challenging Metternich‟s „Conservative Order‟: The Revolutions of 1821-1848 JM. Chapters 15 and 16. Primary Source Readings: Provisional Greek Constitution (1822). “The Treaty of London” (1827). Alphonse de Lamartine, History of the Revolution of 1848 in France (1849). Bobst Library Guided Research Time

Populism, Nationalism and Colonialism in the Late Nineteenth Century June 19: The Narodniks of Imperial Russia and the “Going to the People” Movement of 1874 Franco Venturi, Roots of Revolution: A History of the Populist and Socialist Movements in Nineteenth Century Russia, trans. Francis Haskell (1960). Introduction, Chapter 2 (Bakunin), and Chapter 18 (The Chaikovskists and the Movement „To Go To The People‟). (On Reserve). Primary Source Readings: Mikhail Bakunin, Statism and Anarchy (1873). Section VII and Appendix A. (On Reserve). Primary Source Assignment Due June 24: German and Italian National Unification and European Colonialism JM. Chapters 17 and 21. Primary Source Readings: “Documents of Italian Unification, 1846-1861”. “Documents of German Unification, 1848-1871”. Jules Ferry, “On French Colonial Expansion” (1884). Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man‟s Burden” (1908).

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HIST-UA 750 (Draft Syllabus) The First World War, its Aftermath, and the Great Depression June 26: Towards Revolution and the „Age of Extremes‟ JM, Chapters 22-23 (Students can skim the second half of chapter 22). Stephen Kern, The Culture of Time and Space, 1880-1918 (Chapters 10-11). (On Reserve). Primary Source Reading: Vladimir Lenin, “Call to Power” (1917). July 1: National Self-Determination, Population Exchange and Economic Collapse JM, Chapters 24-25. Primary Source Readings: Woodrow Wilson, “Speech on the Fourteen Points” (1918). Woodrow Wilson, “President Wilson‟s Address to Congress” (February 1918). The Treaty of Versailles (1919). John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of Peace (1920). George Orwell, The Road to Wigan Pier (1937). Part 1. (On Reserve). “Convention Concerning the Exchange of Greek and Turkish Populations” (1923).

The Second World War July 3: The Rise of Fascism; Nazism and the Holocaust JM, Chapter 25. Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust (Introduction). (On Reserve). Documentary: Night and Fog (1955). We will watch this short 32-minute documentary in class before our discussion. Primary Source Readings: Benito Mussolini, “What is Fascism” (1932). Joseph Stalin, “Degeneration of the Bukharinites Into Political Double-Dealers. Degeneration of the Trotskyite Double-Dealers Into a Whiteguard Gang of Assassins and Spies. Foul Murder of S.M. Kirov. Measures of the Party to Heighten Bolshevik Vigilance” (1935). Research Paper Due in Class

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