History of the Contemporary Era - 1st semester
Objectives
a)Be able to acquire a general overview of the Contemporary period, having as fundamental landmarks the rise and decline of the European preponderance in the 19th and 20th centuries
b)Make sense of the major transformations brought about by the social, economic and political modernizing processes in the Contemporary period and understand their impact in the non-European world
c)Identify the reasons which explain the decline of the European colonial order after the Second World War and identify the main developments in world politics in the post-war era
d)Be familiar with some of the major historical debates related with the various topics of the course
e)Be familiar with some of the key authors on the various topics of the course and be able to locate and work with historical sources for different Contemporary periods
f)Be able to write critical essays and deliver oral presentations on any of the topics of the course
General characterization
Code
711051131
Credits
6
Responsible teacher
José Neves, Pedro Aires Oliveira
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
None.
Bibliography
BAYLY, C. A. The Birth of the Modern World (1780-1914). Oxford: Blackwell, 2004
DARWIN, John After Tamerlane. The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000. London: Penguin, 2007
HOBSBAWM, E. J. A Era dos Extremos. Lisboa: Presença, 1999
KENNEDY, Paul The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers. Londres: Fontana Press, 1988
REYNOLDS, David One World Divisible. A Global History since 1945. Londes: Penguin, 2000.
Teaching method
A combination of lectures by the teacher and scheduled interventions by the students, followed by discussion among all the participants in the class. Occasional screening of documentaries or films. Tutorial meetings with students to help them with the drafting of their essays.
Evaluation method
Exam (40%) and written essay (40%). Participation in some of the classes is mandatory (20%)
Subject matter
a)Europe of the great powers. The impact of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars. State-building processes and related tensions. The revolution/reaction dialectic in the 19th century. The nationalist challenge to Europes dynastic order
b)Europes economic modernization. Different models of industrialization. The persistence of the old regime. Challenges to Britains supremacy. Winners and losers in the new capitalist order. The first globalization and its problems.
c)The imperial expansion of the European powers. Geopolitical rivalries. The Eastern question and the Great Game. The Berlin conference and the scramble for Africa. The struggle for supremacy in the Far East. The impact of Europes colonial rule.
d)Europes civil war. The debate on the causes of the First World War. Total war and society. The Versailles settlement. The Russian Revolution. The inter-war crisis: political, intelectual and economic aspects. The totalitarian moment: fascism and stalinism. The Second World War.
e)The Cold War: origins, characteristics and key phases of the global bipolar conflict. The crisis of the European empires. The main stages of decolonization. The legacies of empire in Europe and in the former colonies. Post-imperial conflicts. The collapse of Soviet communism and the post-Cold War international landscape.