MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

Department of History

 

History 106-03                                                                                               Professor Pastor

Contemporary Europe                                                                                     Spring 2009

pastorp@mail.montclair.edu                                                                           DI 421

Office Hours: M, W, 2:30-3:45                                                                              973-655-7564

                                   

SYLLABUS

The texts used for this course are :

            James Wilkinson, Contemporary Europe (Prentice Hall 10th ed.)

            Augustinos, G., The National Idea in Eastern Europe (Heath)

            Barnes and Feldman, eds., Breakdown and Rebirth, 1914-Present

            (University Press of America)

 

The books listed above are available in paperback editions.  In addition to the reading assignments from these books, the student will also be responsible for the readings attached to the syllabus, and to the duplicated material that may be distributed throughout the semester.

 

There will be three exams covering the material of the required readings and videos.

Date of in-class exams: February 23, March 30

Date of Final Exam: May 11, at 3:15-5:15 p.m.

Date of make-up exam: May 4.         

 

In case the exam is not given on the scheduled date due to some emergency, the next meeting is the revised date of the exam. You will be notified of postponement by e-mail.

 

Video presentations are scheduled to be shown in class. The students are as responsible for being familiar with the audio-visual material presented, as they are for the reading assignments. The missed video presentations can be seen by the student in the Non-Print Media Department of Sprague Library.

 

There should be no drinks and food consumed in class. Students are not permitted to leave and return to class during the lecture. Please close laptops, and turn off cell phones, and beepers at the start of the class period. The disregard of any of these rules disturbs teaching and the learning process and will be penalized by lowering the final grade by one grade.

 

TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:

 

1.         Introduction.

           

2.         Europe at the Turn of the Centuries.

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 2-14; 567-598;

            “The Schengen Agrement,” in syllabus, also on the Web: www.migrationsverket.se/infomaterial/om_eu/schengen_en.pdf

 

3.         Turn of the Century Ideologies: Conservatism and Liberalism

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 15-18, 20-24,

            http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Dreyfus

            Christopher Caldwell, “In Europe ‘Secular’ Doesn’t Translate,” “New York            

            Times-Historic,” Library Data Base 12/21/2003

            Video: Captain Dreyfus, VT 3664

 

4.         Turn of the Century Ideologies: The Varieties of Socialism

            Readings: Wilkinson: pp. 18-20, 28-29.

 

5.         Turn of the Century Ideology: Nationalism

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 24-31; Augustinos, pp. 14-30; NY Times article on       

            Belgium in the Syllabus

 

6.         The Alliance System

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 31-35; Barnes, pp, 1-16; “The Balance of Power             System.”Attached to the syllabus.

 

7.         Total War: World War I

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 39-79, 105-110; Barnes, pp. 16-29, 39-41.

 

8.         The Road to the Russian Revolutions.

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 79-87.

            Video: The Red Dawn, VT 829.

 

9.         The Communist Revolution

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 87-97; Barnes, pp. 32-38, 89-93.

 

10.       Exam, February 23, 2009

 

11.       The End of the War and the Peace Conference

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 110-116

            Video: Europe the Mighty Continent: Are We Making a Good Peace? VT. 111/6

           

12.       The Peace Treaties

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 117-125; Barnes, pp. 46-53; Augustinos, pp. 30-44.

 

13.       Revolution in Culture

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 171-184, 274-276; “The Importance of Sigmund            

            Freud―Then and Now” (Letter to the Editor). Library “New York Times-            Historic”

            Library Data Base, October 22, 1979.

 

14.       The Triumph of Modernism

            Readings: Wilkinson, 184-191; Barnes, 265-270.

            Video: The Shock of the New The Mechanical Paradise, VT. 237/1

 

15.       An Attempt and Failure to Return to Normalcy

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 97-102, 127-168; Barnes, pp. 58-68; Augustinos, pp.      

            55-60; “A Good Word for Weimar,” Editorial Notebook, “New York Times-

            Historic” Library Data Base, December 26, 1994.

 

16.       The Depression and Its Sociopolitical Consequences

            Readings: Wilkinson, Wilkinson, pp. 194-211, 235-239, 266-268; Barnes, pp.      

            75-81.

           

17.       Fascism.

            Readings: Wilkinson: 213-219, 230-235; Barnes, pp. 102-106; “The Sawdust Caesar,” Editorial Notebook,             Library “New York Times-Historic” Library Data            Base, April 16, 1994; Alexander Stille, “The Latest

            Obscenity has Seven Letters,” “New York Times-Historic” Library Data Base,” September 13, 2003.

 

18.       Exam, March 30, 2009.

 

19.       Nazism―The German Variant of Fascism

            Video: The World at War. The New Germany, VT. 601.

 

20.       The Third Reich

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 219-235; Barnes, pp. 106-118; “Touching on Raw Nerves,” “New York

            Times-Historic” Library Data Base, November 12, 1988.

 

21.       Stalin―The Man of Steel

            Video: Stalin, VT 2458, pt. 2.

 

22.       Stalin’s Revolution

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 252-271; Barnes, pp. 93-102.

            Tony Judt, “The Longest Road to Hell,” OP-ED page, “New York Times-            Historic” Library Data

            Base,” December 22, 1997.

 

23.       From Appeasement to War    

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 279-340; Barnes, pp. 127-150, 153-169; Atlantic Charter; International

            Systems of the 1920s and 1930, attached to the syllabus..

            http://www.internet-esq.com/ussaugusta/atlantic1.htm

            Video: The Western Tradition: World War II, VT 3127, parts 48-49.

 

24.       The Consequences of the War for Europe

            Readings: Wilkinson, pp. 345-388, 406; Augustinos, pp. 74-79

 

25.       Communism in Eastern Europe

            Video: Eastern Europe: VT 4943, pt. 3.

           

26.       The Cold War, Wilkinson, pp. 412-428, 430, 443-446, 449-500; Barnes,  pp. 170-     184.

           

27.       The Crisis of Communism

            Readings: Huges, 503-563.

 

28.       Make-up exam.  December 10, 2007.Given to students, who missed exam # 1, or # 2, and who are

            able to provide a valid reason for being absent at exam time (ex.: medically proven illness, court

            appearance, auto accident, etc.). Students who took the first two exams on scheduled dates are

            excused from attending class on this date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Balance of Power System

 

It is a European interstate system of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries aiming to prevent  the rise of hegemonic state systems.

 

Principle: It is a decentralized, self-regulating system, based on consensual agreement of the actors, who see the system as the best way to protect sovereignty. (The first international institution set up in 1899 to support the consensus was the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague.)

 

Techniques to maintain the balance of power:

 

1.  Diplomacy:  a,        secret diplomacy of like-minded people who belong to an                                                             “international fraternity,” the diplomatic corps.

                          b,       principle of sanctity of pacts.

                          c,       summitry:  meeting of great powers to iron out differences in                                                 concerted action.

2.  Formation of Alliances.

3.  Shifting of Alliances.  a,  Diplomatic Revolution.

4.  Reciprocal Compensation:  a,  Territorial exchanges and divisions.

                                                  b,  Disarmament and arms control

5.  Intervention.  “War is diplomacy by other means.”-Clausewitz

 

Varieties in the balance of power system:

 

1.  Multi-Polar System:  States stand unaffiliated, yet share common principles and                                              values—“The Concert of Europe.”

2.  Overlapping Alliances:  Increasingly non-consensual, represents a breakdown of the                                            concert.

                                         Examples:  1879: Austro-Hungarian and German alliance

                                                            (The Dual Alliance)

                                                            1881:  The Three Emperors League

                                                            1882:  Austro-Hungarian-German-Italian alliance

                                                             (The Triple Alliance) 

                                                            1887:  German-Russian Reinsurance Treaty                                                                             (Russian neutrality unless Germany attacks France,                                                                         or German neutrality unless Russia attacks Austria-                                                                       Hungary.)

3.  Increasingly By-Polar System:   The Triple Entente vs. the Triple Alliance  

                                                            Franco-Russian Entente, 1891 (1894)

                                                            Anglo-French Entente, 1904

                                                            Anglo-Russian Entente, 1907

 

 

 

 

International Systems of the 1920s

 

a,         Conciliar:         The League of Nations. Headquartered in Geneva

 

                                    Aim of the organization: to maintain collective security

                                    Against an indeterminate aggressor.

                                    Spirit of the League: limited sovereignty, anti-imperialist ethos.

                                    Activities of the League: Treaty of Locarno (1925), the Kellog-

                                    Briand Pact (1928), also called as the Treaty of Paris.

 

b,         Communist:    The Communist International (Comintern). Headquartered in                                             Moscow

 

                                    Aim of the organization: to foment revolutions and “wars of                                              liberation” in the colonies, with the ultimate goal of communist                                        systems in Western Europe.

                                    The spirit of the system: To work for the inevitable rise of                                                             communism and the destruction of capitalism and                                                                         imperialism.

                                    Activities of the Comintern: Instigated worker’s risings in                                                             Germany, in the Ruhr area (1921) and in Saxony (1923). Both                                        attempts failed.  Supported the “national liberation movement,” in                                                 China.

 

c,         Balance of Power:   No supranational organization.

 

                                    Aim of the system: to deter a known aggressor.

                                    The spirit of the system: protection of sovereignty and the                                                             preservation of the post-Versailles status quo with the revisionist

                                    states: Germany, the Soviet Union, Hungary, and Bulgaria.

                                    Activities:

                                          The formation of alliances: The French-backed Little Entente

                                          of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, and Romania (1921); the        Franco-Polish Mutual Guarantee Treaty (1925); Treaty of Rapallo between the USSR and Germany (1922).

 

                                          Intervention:  The Franco-Belgian invasion of the Rhine (1923).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Systems of the 1930s

 

a.         Conciliar:         League of Nations:

                                    Activities: Hitler’s Germany left the League in 1933.  The Soviet                               Union joined in 1934, but was expelled in December 1939 as a                                  result of its aggression against Finland. Italy left the League on

                                    December 111, 1937, because of the League’s sanction following                              Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia. In support of Germany and Italy,

                                    Hungary withdrew from the League in April 1939.

 

b.         Communist:    The Comintern:

                                    Activities: Following the decision of the Seventh Congress of the                                 Comintern in 1935, the Communist parties were directed to                               cooperate with their erstwhile enemies, the Marxist Social                                      Democrats, and with bourgeois parties.  The goal was to stop the                                   spread of fascism. Hence the Popular Front in Spain and in France,                        1936-1939.

 

c.         The Balance of Power:

                                    Diplomatic functions: The Four Power Pact of Italy, Germany,                                   Great Britain and France to preserve the peace (1939).

                                    The Munich Agreement of September 29, 1938, on the                                      Czechoslovak-German Crisis without Soviet and Czechoslovak

                                    Participation.

                                    Alliances: Non-Aggression Pacts: Soviet-Polish (1932), Soviet                                     Union and the Baltic States (1932), Germany-Poland (1934).                                          The Encirclement of Germany: The Stressa Front of Italy,                                           Gt. Britain, and France, against German rearmament (1935).

                                          Franco-Soviet Pact (1935), and Soviet-Czechoslovak Pact                                    (1935).

                                    Reciprocal Compensation: The Disarmament Conference of 1932.

                                    For Germany: Germany renounces Versailles Treaty Terms                           (March 1935). The Saarland was returned tot he Reich following                                 a plebiscite of the Saarlanders. Anglo-German Naval Agreement                                     allowed Germany to rebuild its navy to 35 percent of the British                          tonnage. (1935)  Remilitarization of the Rhine (1936).  The                                         Anschluss with Austria (1938). The annexation of the Sudetenland                            following the Munich Agreement (1938), Taking of 2/3 of Poland,                                     and Lithuania as a result of German-Soviet Pact of August 23,                               1939.

                                    For Italy: Ethiopia, as a result of the Franco-Italian Treaty of                                 Rome (January 1935, and the Hoare-Laval agreement of Nov.                            1935. Anglo-Italian naval agreement of January 1937 on mutual                                  respect of interests in the Mediterranean. Anglo-Italian Pact of                                     April 1938 recognized Italy’s sovereignty over Ethiopia.

                                    For France: Universal Two Year Draft: January 1935.

                                    For England: Draft, April 1939.

                                    For the Soviet Union: The Baltic States, Bessarabia, Part of                              Poland in the secret clauses of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression                  Pact, which in fact made the pact into a secret alliance against                                    Poland.

                                    Shifting of Alliances: German-Italian Protocol over Austria, the                                 Berlin-Rome Axis, October 1936. The German-Japanese Anti-                                    Comintern Pact of November 1936, joined by Italy. Belgium                                     leaves its French alliance and returns to neutrality (1936). The                              Polish-German Non-Aggression Pact is denounced by Germany in                              April 1939. British guarantees to Poland, Romania, and Greece,                             in March 1939 following the German occupation of Bohemia. Pact             of Steel between Germany and Italy, May 1939. Soviet-German                                   Pact of August 23, 1939.

                                    Intervention: German attack on Poland, September 1, 1939. Anglo-                             French declaration of War on Germany, September 3, 1939.                           Russo-Finnish War, Nov. 1939-March 1940. Blitzkrieg against                                  Norway and Denmark, April, 1940.