German History: Germany Since 1945 (344-2-20)

Instructors

Lauren Stokes
847/467-3086
Harris Hall - Room 235

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L28: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM

Overview of class

In 1945, Germany was in ruins. The defeat of the Nazis had physically destroyed Germany's infrastructure, morally delegitimized its institutions, and divided its diminished territory into a capitalist West and a socialist East. The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) represented two experiments of how to create the "ideal society" in a vacuum of traditional authority. This course examines those two states and the solutions they developed to common challenges. How did these societies "re-civilize" in the wake of global war and genocide? How is it possible that the "ruined land" of 1945 became the "economic motor of Europe" eighty years later? How did a divided country become unified once again, and what legacies did forty years of division leave for 21st century Germany?

Learning Objectives

Analyze primary sources that offer multiple perspectives on everyday life in East, West, and unified Germany since 1945; Analyze secondary sources to identify and evaluate historical arguments; Think critically about how societies deal with difficult and challenging pasts, specifically how three different societies, East, West, and unified Germany, approached the challenge of "denazification" and of integrating different memories of the Nazi past and the Holocaust • Think critically about how societies on opposite "sides" of the Cold War responded to shared challenges such as immigration, terrorism, nuclear power, and environmental degradation.

Evaluation Method

Class attendance and participation; writing assignments.

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): European
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area