New Lectures in History (300-0-22)
Topic
Europe in the Age of Total War
Instructors
Robin Duffin Bates
847/467-4839
Harris 242
I am a historian of Modern Europe, specializing in France and the francophone world, especially the cultural and social implications of the transformation of politics during and after the Revolution of 1789. In 2015, I received my PhD from the University of Chicago.
Meeting Info
University Hall 101: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM
Overview of class
The outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 created modern politics and, in so doing, brought forth a new form of war - a total social mobilization on a previously unimaginable scale fought by mass armies of ordinary citizens in the name of the nation, its glory, and its survival. This course will trace the social, political, and cultural implications of total war through the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, World War I and World War II, comparing these to the colonial wars of imperial conquest pursued by European states in the same period as extensions of the political claims of the nation on a global scale - wars whose practices in turn changed and intensified the conduct, scale, and human consequences of war in Europe itself.
Learning Objectives
1) Explain and critically interrogate the historical events, ideas, and actors crucial to the development of modern European warfare, including its social, cultural and political implications;
2) Assess competing explanations of historical transformations, showing an awareness of how claims are supported by evidence and how analytic categories structure arguments;
3) Develop original arguments based on independent interpretation of sources.
Evaluation Method
Participation: 30%, Source Evaluation Assignment: 20%, Essay Assignment: 25%, Take-Home Final Exam: 25%
Class Materials (Required)
All the assigned readings will be uploaded on Canvas
Class Notes
Concentration: European
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Distro Area
Associated Classes
DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-440: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM
DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM
DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM