HIST 3880 - Europe and the Great War

Content: This course deals with events associated with the First World War. Emphasis will be on the development of Europe on the eve of the First World War and the impact of that war on European politics and society. The first part of the course covers events and developments leading to the war from about 1870 to 1914. Emphasis will be on domestic social and political developments during the transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. In particular we are concerned with: a) The pressures associated with the development of a mass society (including social and political conflicts), b) the transformation of cultural values that can be seen as part of the transition to the new century with the expansion of Europe during an era of imperialism, and c) the international rivalries that ultimately led to war. The latter part of the course deals with the war itself, its consequences for European political and social developments, (including the impact of the Russian Revolution on Europe) and the postwar upheaval and search for stability during the early years of the 1920s.

Taught: Alternate years.

Credits: 4