131-124 Europe in the Age of Total War: 1900 to the Great Depression

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Subject Description

This subject will provide an introductory overview of European history from 1900, through the first world war to the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929. The subject will focus on Europe at war and peace and raise questions about the causes of armed conflict, the nature of total war, and the consequences (social, economic, cultural and political) of war in modern European history. Special emphasis will be placed on illuminating the link, if any, between war and social and political change in Europe and on the process of modernization and its discontents. Topics include: fin-de-siècle society and culture, imperialism, militarism and pacifism, origins of WWI, the experience of war, the impact of war on the homefront, the Russian Revolution, the aftermath of the war, peacemaking, the emergence of Italian fascism, the great inflation, and the fruitless search for "normalcy".

Assessment

Written work totalling not more than 4000 words.