History 276: Europe: Global Dreams, National Nightmares, 1871-1945

Europe: Global Dreams, National Nightmares.  From 1871 to 1945 the major nations of Europe battled for position and power, first competing for dominance across the globe, and later at home through two World Wars spreading across their sprawling empires. The year 1871 saw the formation of a new German Empire and a reborn French Republic, both vying with England for imperial dominance. By the end of the nineteenth-century nationalist and democratic ideas spread, destabilizing older Empires such as Austria and Russia. Socialism and Feminism matured and took their place on the European stage; anti-Semitism flared; Fascism, Soviet Communism, and Nazism were born. Together these movements upended norms and destroyed nations. New philosophies of the human emerged as art, music, and culture wrestled with and embraced new theories of the unconscious and questioned the Enlightenment vision of human reason as paramount.  Course includes primary sand secondary source readings, in-depth discussion, analytic papers; research paper option available. May be taken for credit toward the German Studies major.