Course Description

Course Description

This course will introduce students to a series of major events and processes in global history between 1900 and 1945, a time of great upheavals, marked by the apogee of European imperial power across the globe; the collision, conflict, and destruction of two world wars; the dissolution of old empires; the emergence of new global distributions of political power; challenges from women, colonial subjects, racial and ethnic minorities, and the working class; innovative and often dangerous experiments in forging new utopias of social and political life; and heinous crimes against humanity.

Our field is world history albeit with a focus on Europe, as Europe played a dominant role on the world stage during this period. To make sense of this tumultuous time, we will reach back into the late nineteenth century to set the stage, identifying the major social, technological, and economic changes taking place, the main figures involved, and the ideologies which shaped their worlds and influenced their actions. We will make extensive use of contemporary source materials, including novels, letters, news accounts, films, art and music, in order to get a vivid impression of the dynamism and excitement of this era as well as the horrific violence and suffering.