Consulta de Guies Docents



Academic Year/course: 2021/22

3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)

22926 - Contemporary History


Teaching Guide Information

Academic Course:
2021/22
Academic Center:
339 - Faculty of Political and Social Sciences
Study:
3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)
Subject:
22926 - Contemporary History
Credits:
6.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Seminar: Group 101: English
Group 102: English
Group 103: English
Teachers:
Stephen Howard Jacobson Finberg
Teaching Period:
First semester
Schedule:

Presentation

This module covers major themes in European and global history during the twentieth century, the most violent in world history. It begins with a "Europeanized" world on the eve of the First World War and concludes with a multipolar world of the new millennium characterized by a shift of economic and demographic power from west to east. The course module traverses the significant events of the century - the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia; World War II and the Holocaust; the Cold War between superpowers; decolonization in Asia and Africa and the foundation of the United Nations; the Chinese Civil War and the Cultural Revolution; the world revolutions of 1968 and the counter-revolution of 1979; the "transitions to democracy" in Southern Europe and Latin America.  The focus will concern two overarching themes -- the major ideologies of the century (liberalism, republicanism, fascism, communism, and post-1989 neo-liberalism) and the global and imperial reconfiguration of world power.

Associated skills

This course addresses the five basic competences (hereinafter "BCs") common to the degree according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course module, students will have successfully developed the ability to

BC1: Demonstrate knowledge of the basic elements of twentieth-century European and world history, and will have explored some of the most recent theoretical developments within the field.  

BC2: Apply such knowledge in the field by elaborating and defending theories of historical causality in order to resolve debates concerning change and continuity in the twentieth century.

BC3: Interpret the past in order to reflect critically upon ethical, social, political, and scientific dilemmas taking place in the world today.

BC4. Transmit theories and explanations concerning historical questions to a specialized and non-specialized audience.

BC5.  Utilize acquired learning skills to confront postgraduate studies with a high degree of autonomy.

Specific Competences:This course module addresses the following specific competences (hereinafter "SCs") common to the area of history and philosophy according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course, students will have demonstrated the ability to 

SC1. Evaluate the history of the major ideological, political, economic and technological mechanisms at work within the contemporary, globalized, and cosmopolitan world, the social conflicts they generate, and their implications for all of humanity.  

SC3. Inter-relate the various paradigmatic theories used to explain change and continuity in the twentieth-century world in order to explain the historical underpinnings of contemporary society.

SC4. Enter debates about local and global phenomena taking place in the contemporary world after analysing diverse ideological, theoretical and normative approaches common to historical inquiry.

SC5. Integrate knowledge of the history of the contemporary world with philosophical, political, and economic approaches to the subject.

SC6. Analyse the social and political diversity present in the contemporary world through the basic tools of historical inquiry -- the identification of a historical problematic and the examination and interpretation of primary and secondary source materials.

SC11. Develop opinions based on ethical criteria that address fundamental social, scientific and economic issues present in a local and global context using historical methods.   

SC12. Formulate critical opinions and develop arguments explaining historical outcomes, employing precise terminology, specialized methods, and relevant source materials.

Learning outcomes

 - To acquire essential concepts, skills, and analytical methods needed to explore diverse historical phenomena taking place in the twentieth century.

-   To understand the local, national, regional, and global aspects of diverse historical occurrences.

-   To situate primary source materials (press accounts, memoirs, novels, etc.) relevant to a given event in twentieth-century history within their temporal and political and societal context.

- To distinguish and define the principal ideological and cultural milieu characterizing a given historical time and place.

- To analyse the forces of continuity and change present in a given historical time and place.  

- To identify the mechanism used to maintain the nuclei of global power as manifest in alliances and institutions.  

Sustainable Development Goals

The course module examines the process of decolonization and the construction of a neo-liberal political and economic order that triumphed following the Cold War, and continues to influence world governance through the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Throughout the course, we will question the extent to which this global model is sustainable.

Contents

1.  The "Europeanization" of the World

            1.1. The Liberal and Republican empires of Great Britain and France

            1.2. The Munroe Doctrine in the Twentieth Century:  United States Power in the Western Hemisphere

            1.3. The Emergence of Japanese Power in East Asia

 

2. World War I and The Russian Revolution

            2.1. The International Dimensions of the War

            2.2. The Rise of Germany

            2.3. Nationalism and Irredentism

            2.4. The Versailles Settlement in Europe and Abroad

            2.5. Russia: War and Socialist Revolution

           

3. Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, and State Terror

            3.1. Authoritarianism: Interwar Regimes in Southern and Eastern Europe

            3.2. Totalitarianism: Fascism, Nazism and Stalinism Compared

            3.3. Economic Causes of the Decline of Interwar Democracies

            3.4. The Origins of Totalitarianism and the Rise of State Terror

 

4. World War II and Genocide

            4.1. The Versailles Settlement and the Causes of World War II

            4.2. The Nazi New Order in Europe

            4.3. World War II in Europe and North Africa

            4.4. Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing Before, During, and After World War II

 

5. Revolution, War, and Decolonization in Asia, 1900-1950

            5.1. Civil War and Revolution in China

            5.2. The Rise of Japan and WWII in the Pacific

            5.3. Decolonization in the Wake of the Japanese Defeat

            5.4. Mao Zedong and "The Great Leap Forward"

 

 6. The Cold War

            6.1. Roots, Theories, and Origins

            6.2. Unwritten "Rules": Superpowers and their Zones of Influence

            6.3. Where the Cold War Was Hot: Korea, Cuba, Africa, and Vietnam

 

7. Decolonization and Informal Imperialism

            7.1. The British Precursors to Decolonization and the Practice of Partition

            7.2. The Postwar Political and Economic Order and the Foundation of the United Nations

            7.3. Theories of Decolonization and Their Problems           

 

8. The World Revolutions of 1968 and their Aftermath

            8.1. The Aftershocks of Decolonization: The Revolutions of 1968

            8.2. Cold War Thaw and the Era of Multi-Polarity, 1966-1981

            8.3. Transition to Democracy in Southern Europe and the Southern Cone

 

9. The World Counter-Revolutions of 1979 and their Aftermath

            9.1. The Counter-Revolutions of 1979: China, Iran, Poland, the Papacy, and the  Thatcher Reagan Years in the West

            9.2. Disintegration of the Soviet Block and the Transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe

            9.3. The Neo-Liberal World Order

Teaching Methods

The basis of the course module consists of a series of lectures (clases presenciales) in which the professor will outline and discuss the above-mentioned themes, concentrating above all on theoretical and interpretative aspects. In order to be able to follow the basic narrative (and to engage with the more advanced and theoretical questions posed), students must undertake background readings before attending class.

Seminars will focus on a selected number of required readings, contained in a coursepack. The specific nature of each seminar session, and the required readings and assignments, will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the virtual classroom (aula global).

Students must demonstrate a disciplined ability to work autonomously, to keep up with the readings and written assignments, and to attend class and seminar. Class and seminar participation will form an important part of the global evaluation of the course module.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated according to their ability to acquire the basic and specific competencies and the learning outcomes outlined above. Students will be evaluated based on their participation and performance during lectures and seminars in addition to their written work.  

The evaluation will consist of two parts -- continuous and final. Continuous assessment takes into account participation during class and seminar and the results of the written assignment. The final assessment consists of a final exam. The specific nature of the written assignment will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the Aula Global.

A student's final mark will be calculated according to the following formula:

Participation in Seminar Discussions: 20 percent.

Written Assignment: 30 percent.

Final Exam: 50 percent.

"Recovering" a failing mark (Sistema de recuperación):

In order to be eligible for the sistema de recuperación, students must have participated in at least half of the seminars and have either handed in the written assignment and/or taken the final exam. Such students will have received a failing mark (suspenso). Students who do NOT participate in at least half of the seminars and have neither handed the written assignment nor have appeared for the final exam receive a No Presentado and are not eligible for the sistema de recuperación.

Students who recover the written assignment or final exam may only receive a maximum mark of 5.0 on the exam or written assignment.

 

Bibliography and information resources

 

6.- Bibliography

Recommended textbooks: Multiple copies of the following books are available at the library

 

Pamela Crossley, Lynne Hollen Lees and John W. Servos, Global Society: The World since 1900, 3d ed. (Cengage Learning, 2012)

William J. Duiker, Contemporary World History, tth ed. (Cengage Learning, 2020)

Eric J. Hobsbawm, Historia del Siglo XX: 1914-1991 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2012). Multiple editions in Spanish and English languages available.

William Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900 (Oxford: 2011)

Mark Mazower, La Europa negra: desde la Gran Guerra hasta la caída del comunismo (Barcelona: Edicions B, 2001). English language edition also available.

 

The following textbooks are new interpretative "thematic approaches" to global and world history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

 

John C. Corbally, The Twentieth-Century World, 1914 - Present: State of Modernity (London: Bloomsbury, 2018)

Edward Ross Dickenson, The World in the Long Twentieth-Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018)

 

These textbooks on twentieth-century European and world history are also helpful.

Simon J. Ball, The Cold War: An International History, 1947-1991 (London: Arnold, 1998)

Philip M.H. Bell, The World since 1945: An International History (London: Arnold, 2001)

Josep Fontana, Por el bien del Imperio. Una historia del mundo desde 1945    (Barcelona: Pasado y Presente, 2011)

Mary Fulbrook, Europa desde 1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2002). English language  edition also available.

Julian Jackson, Europa, 1900-1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2003). English language  edition also available.

Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945, reprint ed. (Penguin, 2006).  Spanish-language edition also available.

Robert O. Paxton and Julie Hessler, Europe in the Twentieth Century, 5th ed. (Cengage Learning, 2011)

Joseph Smith, The Cold War, 1945-1991, 2d. ed. (Blackwell: 1998)

Richard Vinen, A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth-Century (London:  Abacus, 2000). Spanish-language edition also available.

Odd Arne Westad, The Cold War: A World History (Boston: Basic Books, 2019).  Spanish-language edition also available.

 


Academic Year/course: 2021/22

3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)

22926 - Contemporary History


Informaciķ de la Guia Docent

Academic Course:
2021/22
Academic Center:
339 - Faculty of Political and Social Sciences
Study:
3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)
Subject:
22926 - Contemporary History
Credits:
6.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Seminar: Group 101: English
Group 102: English
Group 103: English
Teachers:
Stephen Howard Jacobson Finberg
Teaching Period:
First semester
Schedule:

Presentation

This module covers major themes in European and global history during the twentieth century, the most violent in world history. It begins with a "Europeanized" world on the eve of the First World War and concludes with a multipolar world of the new millennium characterized by a shift of economic and demographic power from west to east. The course module traverses the significant events of the century - the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia; World War II and the Holocaust; the Cold War between superpowers; decolonization in Asia and Africa and the foundation of the United Nations; the Chinese Civil War and the Cultural Revolution; the world revolutions of 1968 and the counter-revolution of 1979; the "transitions to democracy" in Southern Europe and Latin America.  The focus will concern two overarching themes -- the major ideologies of the century (liberalism, republicanism, fascism, communism, and post-1989 neo-liberalism) and the global and imperial reconfiguration of world power.

Associated skills

This course addresses the five basic competences (hereinafter "BCs") common to the degree according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course module, students will have successfully developed the ability to

BC1: Demonstrate knowledge of the basic elements of twentieth-century European and world history, and will have explored some of the most recent theoretical developments within the field.  

BC2: Apply such knowledge in the field by elaborating and defending theories of historical causality in order to resolve debates concerning change and continuity in the twentieth century.

BC3: Interpret the past in order to reflect critically upon ethical, social, political, and scientific dilemmas taking place in the world today.

BC4. Transmit theories and explanations concerning historical questions to a specialized and non-specialized audience.

BC5.  Utilize acquired learning skills to confront postgraduate studies with a high degree of autonomy.

Specific Competences:This course module addresses the following specific competences (hereinafter "SCs") common to the area of history and philosophy according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course, students will have demonstrated the ability to 

SC1. Evaluate the history of the major ideological, political, economic and technological mechanisms at work within the contemporary, globalized, and cosmopolitan world, the social conflicts they generate, and their implications for all of humanity.  

SC3. Inter-relate the various paradigmatic theories used to explain change and continuity in the twentieth-century world in order to explain the historical underpinnings of contemporary society.

SC4. Enter debates about local and global phenomena taking place in the contemporary world after analysing diverse ideological, theoretical and normative approaches common to historical inquiry.

SC5. Integrate knowledge of the history of the contemporary world with philosophical, political, and economic approaches to the subject.

SC6. Analyse the social and political diversity present in the contemporary world through the basic tools of historical inquiry -- the identification of a historical problematic and the examination and interpretation of primary and secondary source materials.

SC11. Develop opinions based on ethical criteria that address fundamental social, scientific and economic issues present in a local and global context using historical methods.   

SC12. Formulate critical opinions and develop arguments explaining historical outcomes, employing precise terminology, specialized methods, and relevant source materials.

Learning outcomes

 - To acquire essential concepts, skills, and analytical methods needed to explore diverse historical phenomena taking place in the twentieth century.

-   To understand the local, national, regional, and global aspects of diverse historical occurrences.

-   To situate primary source materials (press accounts, memoirs, novels, etc.) relevant to a given event in twentieth-century history within their temporal and political and societal context.

- To distinguish and define the principal ideological and cultural milieu characterizing a given historical time and place.

- To analyse the forces of continuity and change present in a given historical time and place.  

- To identify the mechanism used to maintain the nuclei of global power as manifest in alliances and institutions.  

Sustainable Development Goals

The course module examines the process of decolonization and the construction of a neo-liberal political and economic order that triumphed following the Cold War, and continues to influence world governance through the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Throughout the course, we will question the extent to which this global model is sustainable.

Contents

1.  The "Europeanization" of the World

            1.1. The Liberal and Republican empires of Great Britain and France

            1.2. The Munroe Doctrine in the Twentieth Century:  United States Power in the Western Hemisphere

            1.3. The Emergence of Japanese Power in East Asia

 

2. World War I and The Russian Revolution

            2.1. The International Dimensions of the War

            2.2. The Rise of Germany

            2.3. Nationalism and Irredentism

            2.4. The Versailles Settlement in Europe and Abroad

            2.5. Russia: War and Socialist Revolution

           

3. Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, and State Terror

            3.1. Authoritarianism: Interwar Regimes in Southern and Eastern Europe

            3.2. Totalitarianism: Fascism, Nazism and Stalinism Compared

            3.3. Economic Causes of the Decline of Interwar Democracies

            3.4. The Origins of Totalitarianism and the Rise of State Terror

 

4. World War II and Genocide

            4.1. The Versailles Settlement and the Causes of World War II

            4.2. The Nazi New Order in Europe

            4.3. World War II in Europe and North Africa

            4.4. Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing Before, During, and After World War II

 

5. Revolution, War, and Decolonization in Asia, 1900-1950

            5.1. Civil War and Revolution in China

            5.2. The Rise of Japan and WWII in the Pacific

            5.3. Decolonization in the Wake of the Japanese Defeat

            5.4. Mao Zedong and "The Great Leap Forward"

 

 6. The Cold War

            6.1. Roots, Theories, and Origins

            6.2. Unwritten "Rules": Superpowers and their Zones of Influence

            6.3. Where the Cold War Was Hot: Korea, Cuba, Africa, and Vietnam

 

7. Decolonization and Informal Imperialism

            7.1. The British Precursors to Decolonization and the Practice of Partition

            7.2. The Postwar Political and Economic Order and the Foundation of the United Nations

            7.3. Theories of Decolonization and Their Problems           

 

8. The World Revolutions of 1968 and their Aftermath

            8.1. The Aftershocks of Decolonization: The Revolutions of 1968

            8.2. Cold War Thaw and the Era of Multi-Polarity, 1966-1981

            8.3. Transition to Democracy in Southern Europe and the Southern Cone

 

9. The World Counter-Revolutions of 1979 and their Aftermath

            9.1. The Counter-Revolutions of 1979: China, Iran, Poland, the Papacy, and the  Thatcher Reagan Years in the West

            9.2. Disintegration of the Soviet Block and the Transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe

            9.3. The Neo-Liberal World Order

Teaching Methods

The basis of the course module consists of a series of lectures (clases presenciales) in which the professor will outline and discuss the above-mentioned themes, concentrating above all on theoretical and interpretative aspects. In order to be able to follow the basic narrative (and to engage with the more advanced and theoretical questions posed), students must undertake background readings before attending class.

Seminars will focus on a selected number of required readings, contained in a coursepack. The specific nature of each seminar session, and the required readings and assignments, will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the virtual classroom (aula global).

Students must demonstrate a disciplined ability to work autonomously, to keep up with the readings and written assignments, and to attend class and seminar. Class and seminar participation will form an important part of the global evaluation of the course module.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated according to their ability to acquire the basic and specific competencies and the learning outcomes outlined above. Students will be evaluated based on their participation and performance during lectures and seminars in addition to their written work.  

The evaluation will consist of two parts -- continuous and final. Continuous assessment takes into account participation during class and seminar and the results of the written assignment. The final assessment consists of a final exam. The specific nature of the written assignment will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the Aula Global.

A student's final mark will be calculated according to the following formula:

Participation in Seminar Discussions: 20 percent.

Written Assignment: 30 percent.

Final Exam: 50 percent.

"Recovering" a failing mark (Sistema de recuperación):

In order to be eligible for the sistema de recuperación, students must have participated in at least half of the seminars and have either handed in the written assignment and/or taken the final exam. Such students will have received a failing mark (suspenso). Students who do NOT participate in at least half of the seminars and have neither handed the written assignment nor have appeared for the final exam receive a No Presentado and are not eligible for the sistema de recuperación.

Students who recover the written assignment or final exam may only receive a maximum mark of 5.0 on the exam or written assignment.

 

Bibliography and information resources

 

6.- Bibliography

Recommended textbooks: Multiple copies of the following books are available at the library

 

Pamela Crossley, Lynne Hollen Lees and John W. Servos, Global Society: The World since 1900, 3d ed. (Cengage Learning, 2012)

William J. Duiker, Contemporary World History, tth ed. (Cengage Learning, 2020)

Eric J. Hobsbawm, Historia del Siglo XX: 1914-1991 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2012). Multiple editions in Spanish and English languages available.

William Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900 (Oxford: 2011)

Mark Mazower, La Europa negra: desde la Gran Guerra hasta la caída del comunismo (Barcelona: Edicions B, 2001). English language edition also available.

 

The following textbooks are new interpretative "thematic approaches" to global and world history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

 

John C. Corbally, The Twentieth-Century World, 1914 - Present: State of Modernity (London: Bloomsbury, 2018)

Edward Ross Dickenson, The World in the Long Twentieth-Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018)

 

These textbooks on twentieth-century European and world history are also helpful.

Simon J. Ball, The Cold War: An International History, 1947-1991 (London: Arnold, 1998)

Philip M.H. Bell, The World since 1945: An International History (London: Arnold, 2001)

Josep Fontana, Por el bien del Imperio. Una historia del mundo desde 1945    (Barcelona: Pasado y Presente, 2011)

Mary Fulbrook, Europa desde 1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2002). English language  edition also available.

Julian Jackson, Europa, 1900-1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2003). English language  edition also available.

Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945, reprint ed. (Penguin, 2006).  Spanish-language edition also available.

Robert O. Paxton and Julie Hessler, Europe in the Twentieth Century, 5th ed. (Cengage Learning, 2011)

Joseph Smith, The Cold War, 1945-1991, 2d. ed. (Blackwell: 1998)

Richard Vinen, A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth-Century (London:  Abacus, 2000). Spanish-language edition also available.

Odd Arne Westad, The Cold War: A World History (Boston: Basic Books, 2019).  Spanish-language edition also available.

 


Academic Year/course: 2021/22

3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)

22926 - Contemporary History


Informaciķn de la Guía Docente

Academic Course:
2021/22
Academic Center:
339 - Faculty of Political and Social Sciences
Study:
3393 - Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (joint degree UPF-UAM-UC3M-UAB)
Subject:
22926 - Contemporary History
Credits:
6.0
Course:
1
Teaching languages:
Theory: Group 1: English
Seminar: Group 101: English
Group 102: English
Group 103: English
Teachers:
Stephen Howard Jacobson Finberg
Teaching Period:
First semester
Schedule:

Presentation

This module covers major themes in European and global history during the twentieth century, the most violent in world history. It begins with a "Europeanized" world on the eve of the First World War and concludes with a multipolar world of the new millennium characterized by a shift of economic and demographic power from west to east. The course module traverses the significant events of the century - the totalitarian states of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia; World War II and the Holocaust; the Cold War between superpowers; decolonization in Asia and Africa and the foundation of the United Nations; the Chinese Civil War and the Cultural Revolution; the world revolutions of 1968 and the counter-revolution of 1979; the "transitions to democracy" in Southern Europe and Latin America.  The focus will concern two overarching themes -- the major ideologies of the century (liberalism, republicanism, fascism, communism, and post-1989 neo-liberalism) and the global and imperial reconfiguration of world power.

Associated skills

This course addresses the five basic competences (hereinafter "BCs") common to the degree according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course module, students will have successfully developed the ability to

BC1: Demonstrate knowledge of the basic elements of twentieth-century European and world history, and will have explored some of the most recent theoretical developments within the field.  

BC2: Apply such knowledge in the field by elaborating and defending theories of historical causality in order to resolve debates concerning change and continuity in the twentieth century.

BC3: Interpret the past in order to reflect critically upon ethical, social, political, and scientific dilemmas taking place in the world today.

BC4. Transmit theories and explanations concerning historical questions to a specialized and non-specialized audience.

BC5.  Utilize acquired learning skills to confront postgraduate studies with a high degree of autonomy.

Specific Competences:This course module addresses the following specific competences (hereinafter "SCs") common to the area of history and philosophy according to the following scheme.

By the end of the course, students will have demonstrated the ability to 

SC1. Evaluate the history of the major ideological, political, economic and technological mechanisms at work within the contemporary, globalized, and cosmopolitan world, the social conflicts they generate, and their implications for all of humanity.  

SC3. Inter-relate the various paradigmatic theories used to explain change and continuity in the twentieth-century world in order to explain the historical underpinnings of contemporary society.

SC4. Enter debates about local and global phenomena taking place in the contemporary world after analysing diverse ideological, theoretical and normative approaches common to historical inquiry.

SC5. Integrate knowledge of the history of the contemporary world with philosophical, political, and economic approaches to the subject.

SC6. Analyse the social and political diversity present in the contemporary world through the basic tools of historical inquiry -- the identification of a historical problematic and the examination and interpretation of primary and secondary source materials.

SC11. Develop opinions based on ethical criteria that address fundamental social, scientific and economic issues present in a local and global context using historical methods.   

SC12. Formulate critical opinions and develop arguments explaining historical outcomes, employing precise terminology, specialized methods, and relevant source materials.

Learning outcomes

 - To acquire essential concepts, skills, and analytical methods needed to explore diverse historical phenomena taking place in the twentieth century.

-   To understand the local, national, regional, and global aspects of diverse historical occurrences.

-   To situate primary source materials (press accounts, memoirs, novels, etc.) relevant to a given event in twentieth-century history within their temporal and political and societal context.

- To distinguish and define the principal ideological and cultural milieu characterizing a given historical time and place.

- To analyse the forces of continuity and change present in a given historical time and place.  

- To identify the mechanism used to maintain the nuclei of global power as manifest in alliances and institutions.  

Sustainable Development Goals

The course module examines the process of decolonization and the construction of a neo-liberal political and economic order that triumphed following the Cold War, and continues to influence world governance through the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Throughout the course, we will question the extent to which this global model is sustainable.

Contents

1.  The "Europeanization" of the World

            1.1. The Liberal and Republican empires of Great Britain and France

            1.2. The Munroe Doctrine in the Twentieth Century:  United States Power in the Western Hemisphere

            1.3. The Emergence of Japanese Power in East Asia

 

2. World War I and The Russian Revolution

            2.1. The International Dimensions of the War

            2.2. The Rise of Germany

            2.3. Nationalism and Irredentism

            2.4. The Versailles Settlement in Europe and Abroad

            2.5. Russia: War and Socialist Revolution

           

3. Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, and State Terror

            3.1. Authoritarianism: Interwar Regimes in Southern and Eastern Europe

            3.2. Totalitarianism: Fascism, Nazism and Stalinism Compared

            3.3. Economic Causes of the Decline of Interwar Democracies

            3.4. The Origins of Totalitarianism and the Rise of State Terror

 

4. World War II and Genocide

            4.1. The Versailles Settlement and the Causes of World War II

            4.2. The Nazi New Order in Europe

            4.3. World War II in Europe and North Africa

            4.4. Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing Before, During, and After World War II

 

5. Revolution, War, and Decolonization in Asia, 1900-1950

            5.1. Civil War and Revolution in China

            5.2. The Rise of Japan and WWII in the Pacific

            5.3. Decolonization in the Wake of the Japanese Defeat

            5.4. Mao Zedong and "The Great Leap Forward"

 

 6. The Cold War

            6.1. Roots, Theories, and Origins

            6.2. Unwritten "Rules": Superpowers and their Zones of Influence

            6.3. Where the Cold War Was Hot: Korea, Cuba, Africa, and Vietnam

 

7. Decolonization and Informal Imperialism

            7.1. The British Precursors to Decolonization and the Practice of Partition

            7.2. The Postwar Political and Economic Order and the Foundation of the United Nations

            7.3. Theories of Decolonization and Their Problems           

 

8. The World Revolutions of 1968 and their Aftermath

            8.1. The Aftershocks of Decolonization: The Revolutions of 1968

            8.2. Cold War Thaw and the Era of Multi-Polarity, 1966-1981

            8.3. Transition to Democracy in Southern Europe and the Southern Cone

 

9. The World Counter-Revolutions of 1979 and their Aftermath

            9.1. The Counter-Revolutions of 1979: China, Iran, Poland, the Papacy, and the  Thatcher Reagan Years in the West

            9.2. Disintegration of the Soviet Block and the Transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe

            9.3. The Neo-Liberal World Order

Teaching Methods

The basis of the course module consists of a series of lectures (clases presenciales) in which the professor will outline and discuss the above-mentioned themes, concentrating above all on theoretical and interpretative aspects. In order to be able to follow the basic narrative (and to engage with the more advanced and theoretical questions posed), students must undertake background readings before attending class.

Seminars will focus on a selected number of required readings, contained in a coursepack. The specific nature of each seminar session, and the required readings and assignments, will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the virtual classroom (aula global).

Students must demonstrate a disciplined ability to work autonomously, to keep up with the readings and written assignments, and to attend class and seminar. Class and seminar participation will form an important part of the global evaluation of the course module.

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated according to their ability to acquire the basic and specific competencies and the learning outcomes outlined above. Students will be evaluated based on their participation and performance during lectures and seminars in addition to their written work.  

The evaluation will consist of two parts -- continuous and final. Continuous assessment takes into account participation during class and seminar and the results of the written assignment. The final assessment consists of a final exam. The specific nature of the written assignment will be outlined on the first day of class and posted on the Aula Global.

A student's final mark will be calculated according to the following formula:

Participation in Seminar Discussions: 20 percent.

Written Assignment: 30 percent.

Final Exam: 50 percent.

"Recovering" a failing mark (Sistema de recuperación):

In order to be eligible for the sistema de recuperación, students must have participated in at least half of the seminars and have either handed in the written assignment and/or taken the final exam. Such students will have received a failing mark (suspenso). Students who do NOT participate in at least half of the seminars and have neither handed the written assignment nor have appeared for the final exam receive a No Presentado and are not eligible for the sistema de recuperación.

Students who recover the written assignment or final exam may only receive a maximum mark of 5.0 on the exam or written assignment.

 

Bibliography and information resources

 

6.- Bibliography

Recommended textbooks: Multiple copies of the following books are available at the library

 

Pamela Crossley, Lynne Hollen Lees and John W. Servos, Global Society: The World since 1900, 3d ed. (Cengage Learning, 2012)

William J. Duiker, Contemporary World History, tth ed. (Cengage Learning, 2020)

Eric J. Hobsbawm, Historia del Siglo XX: 1914-1991 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2012). Multiple editions in Spanish and English languages available.

William Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History since 1900 (Oxford: 2011)

Mark Mazower, La Europa negra: desde la Gran Guerra hasta la caída del comunismo (Barcelona: Edicions B, 2001). English language edition also available.

 

The following textbooks are new interpretative "thematic approaches" to global and world history in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries

 

John C. Corbally, The Twentieth-Century World, 1914 - Present: State of Modernity (London: Bloomsbury, 2018)

Edward Ross Dickenson, The World in the Long Twentieth-Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018)

 

These textbooks on twentieth-century European and world history are also helpful.

Simon J. Ball, The Cold War: An International History, 1947-1991 (London: Arnold, 1998)

Philip M.H. Bell, The World since 1945: An International History (London: Arnold, 2001)

Josep Fontana, Por el bien del Imperio. Una historia del mundo desde 1945    (Barcelona: Pasado y Presente, 2011)

Mary Fulbrook, Europa desde 1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2002). English language  edition also available.

Julian Jackson, Europa, 1900-1945 (Barcelona: Crítica, 2003). English language  edition also available.

Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945, reprint ed. (Penguin, 2006).  Spanish-language edition also available.

Robert O. Paxton and Julie Hessler, Europe in the Twentieth Century, 5th ed. (Cengage Learning, 2011)

Joseph Smith, The Cold War, 1945-1991, 2d. ed. (Blackwell: 1998)

Richard Vinen, A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth-Century (London:  Abacus, 2000). Spanish-language edition also available.

Odd Arne Westad, The Cold War: A World History (Boston: Basic Books, 2019).  Spanish-language edition also available.