Central European History Compared - JMMZ111

• Title: Central European History Compared
• Guaranteed by: Department of German and Austrian Studies (23-KNRS)
• Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences
• Actual: from 2011 to 2011
• Semester: winter
• E-Credits: 6
• Examination process: winter s.:
• Hours per week, examination: winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: 15 / unknown (unknown)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): doc. PhDr. Tomáš Nigrin, Ph.D.

Annotation

Last update: PhDr. Václav Šmidrkal, Ph.D. (24.10.2019)

The course covers the historical development of Central Europe in 20th century. The focus is laid on crucial historical tendencies and nodal points in history of this macro-region with regard to the European and global historical development. The course will highlight convergences and divergences in the modern history of ethnic groups, nations, territories and states that Central Europe has consisted of.

Literature

Last update: PhDr. Václav Šmidrkal, Ph.D. (27.09.2018)

Recommended literature

 

Austria

Beller, Steven. A Concise History of Austria. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

Rathkolb, Oliver. The Pradoxical Republic: Austria 1945–2010. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010.

 

Czechia/Czechoslovakia

Agnew, Hugh LeCaine. The Czechs and the lands of the Bohemian crown. Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 2004.

McDermott, Kevin. Communist Czechoslovakia, 1945–89: A Political and Social History. London: Palgrave, 2015.

Pánek, Jaroslav, Oldřich Tůma et al., A history of the Czech lands. Prague: Karolinum, 2009.

 

East-Central Europe

Pittaway, Mark. Eastern Europe, 1939–2000. London: Hodder Arnold, 2004.

Rothschild, Joseph and Nancy M. Wingfield. Return to diversity: a political history of East Central Europe since World War II, 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Ther, Philipp. Europe since 1989: A History. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.

Wandycz, Piotr S. The Price of Freedom: A History of East Central Europe from Middele Ages to the Present. London: Routledge, 2001.

 

Europe

Jarausch, Konrad H. Out of Ashes: A New History of Europe in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2015.

Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945. London: Vintage, 2010.

Kaelble, Hartmut. The social history of Europe, 1945–2000: recovery and transformation after two World Wars. New York: Berghahn Books, 2011.

Kershaw, Ian. To Hell and Back: Europe, 1914–1949. London: Penguin Books, 2016.

Kershaw, Ian. Roller-Coster: Europe, 1950–2017, London: Penguin Books, 2018.

 

(East) Germany

Fulbrook, Mary.  A History of Germany: 1918–2008: The Divided Nation. Malden, Mass: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Grieder, Peter. The German Democratic Republic. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

 

Historical Geography

Magocsi, Paul R. Historical atlas of Central Europe. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002.

 

Hungary

Kontler, Laszló. A History of Hungary. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.

 

Poland

Davies, Norman. God’s Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 2 1795 to present. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

Kemp-Welch, Anthony. Poland under communism: a Cold War history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.

 

Slovakia

Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. Historical Dictionary of Slovakia. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007.

Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. A History of Slovakia: The Struggle for Survival. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005.

Syllabus

Last update: PhDr. Václav Šmidrkal, Ph.D. (29.09.2013)

JMMZ111 - Modern Central European History Compared

 

The aim of the course is to cover the historical development of Central Europe since the 19th century until today. The focus is laid on crucial historical tendencies and nodal points in history of this macro-region. The course will highlight convergences and divergences in the modern history of ethnic groups, nations, territories and states Central Europe (has) constisted of.  

 

The course is made up by double lessons, each of which is divided into a lecture and a seminar. 

 

Requirements:

- Active participation in the lessons. Preperation of the assigned readings (25 %)

- An oral presentation of a historical issue (25 %)

- A "comment" to a historical source document (25 %)

- A final knowledge-based test (25 %)

 

Course structure:

 

1. Introduction to the course plan and structure. What is Central Europe? Defining Central Europe. Historical geography of Central Europe.

2. Nationalism and creation of national identities in 19^th century Central Europe. Theories of nationalism and their application on Central European nation-building processes.

3. The Habsburg Monarchy in the 19^th century. Geography, political system, social and economic changes.

4. World War I and the inter-war order in Central Europe. Downfall of old empires and creation of new states in Central Europe.

5. Nazism and communism in inter-war Central Europe. Influence of Russian Bolsheviks on Central Europe. Creation of the fascist movement.

6. Expansion of Nazi Germany and World War II. International politics on the eve of the World War II. Germany’s territorial claims. The beginning of the war.

7. Occupation, Resistance, Collaboration in Central Europe. Nazi policies towards Central European peoples 1939-1945. The Holocaust.

8. The way of Central Europe into two blocks. Occupation of Germany. Establishment of communist rule in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary.

9. Central Europe during the Cold War I. Communist regimes in Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary.

10. Central Europe during the Cold War II. Division of Germany.

11. Annus mirabilis 1989 and beyond: a return of Central Europe?

12. Central Europe nowadays. History, memory and politics.