Modern World History after 1750

Engelsk

The lecture will cover the developments of the so called long 19th century, beginning with the age of revolutions. The French Revolution and the Haitian Revolution will be compared, before Napoleon's rise to power and the impact of the Napoleonic wars will be discussed. After a discussion of the Congress of Vienna and the European revolutions of the 1840s, major determining factors of the century will be discussed, i.e. nationalism, colonialism, and imperialism.

Following these basic introductions, the two world wars and the interwar period with the rise of Fascism and National Socialism will be discussed, before the Global Cold War and Decolonization will be taken into closer consideration.

The course aims to introduce non-European cases to the students, why next to the national unification of Germany and Italy, the nation building process of Japan will also be discussed. The two world wars will be essential for the understanding of the 20th century from a European perspective, but the lectures will also take a closer look at Asia and the Middle East.

The Cold War and Decolonization will, similarly, not be focussing on the US or the Soviet Union, but discuss Asian American minorities, as well as the consequences of the conflict and its consequences in Africa and Latin America.

• The French Revolution 1789-1815
• The Haitian Revolution
• The Napoleonic Wars
• The Congress of Vienna and the European Revolutions of the 1840s
• Nationalism, Colonialism, Imperialism
• The Two World Wars
• The principal trends of political and economic development during the inter-war period: (the Russian Revolution, the Versailles peace, fascism and National Socialism, the relations between the major powers until the Second World War)
• The Global Cold War 1945-1990
• Decolonization

Lectures will be given in English.