SWARTHMORE COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

HISTORY 3A: MODERN EUROPE, 1789-1918

THE AGE OF REVOLUTION AND COUNTERREVOLUTION

Spring 2007

Bob Weinberg Office Hours: Monday: 1-3

Trotter 218 Wednesday: 1--3

8133 Thursday: 1--2

rweinbe1 By Appointment

This course introduces you to the impact of French Revolution on European politics, society, and culture from the late eighteenth to the early twentieth century. Topics include the revolutionary tradition; industrialization and its social consequences; the emergence of liberalism, feminism, socialism, and conservatism as social and political movements; nationalism and state building; imperialism, the rise of mass society; and world war. I make no attempt to narrate the entire history of the period. Instead, I will focus on a variety of themes and problems in order to illustrate certain key features of European history since 1789.

I plan to mix lectures and discussions. It is therefore imperative that you keep up with the assigned readings so you can participate actively in the class

All articles and documents are available through Blackboard. In addition, the following books are on reserve in McCabe and available for purchase:

Gay Gullickson, Unruly Women of Paris: Images of the Commune

Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost

Lynn Hunt, Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution

Jean-Yves Le Naour, The Living Unknown Soldier: A Story of Grief and the Great War

Joan Neuberger and Robin Winks, Europe and the Making of Modernity, 1815-1914

Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale

Evgenii Zamiatin, We

Course Requirements:

Attendance and participation in class discussions

Three five-page papers

Final Examination

Seven-page research paper (Proposal and outline due April 29; Final paper due May 17)

Short Papers Due:

February 12

March 5

April 2

April 16

Please note that you need to write only three of these papers.

All students are expected to read the College’s policy on academic honesty and integrity that appears in the Swarthmore College Bulletin. The work you submit must be your own, and plagiarism will be penalized. Any work suspected of containing plagiarized material will subject you to prosecution by the College Judiciary Council. When in doubt, check with me.

In addition, I will not accept late papers and will assign a failing grade for the assignment unless you notify me and receive permission to submit the paper after the due date. Class attendance is required, and unexcused absences will result in a lower grade (perhaps failure) in the course.

January 22: What is Europe?

January 24: Europe in the Eighteenth Century

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 1-9

E. P. Thompson, “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd”

January 26: The Enlightenment

Alan Lightman, “In God’s Place”

January 29: The French Revolution and the Limits of 1789

Abbe Sieyes, “What is the Third Estate?”

“Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen”

Malcolm Gladwell, “Historical Outbreaks of Panic Linked to Rye Bread”

January 31: The Radicalization of 1789

Documents on the Sans-Culottes

February 2: The Radicalization of 1789

Robespierre, “The Republic of Virtue”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “The Social Contract”

February 5: Revolution and Women

Olympe de Gouges, “The Declaration of the Rights of Woman”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “Emile”

Documents on Women and Citizenship

February 7: Jews and Rights of Citizenship; The Revolution in the Colonies

Documents on the Emancipation of Jews

February 9: Revolution as Metaphor

Lynn Hunt, Politics, Culture, and Class in the French Revolution

February 12: The Revolution’s Legacy

Robert Darnton, “What was Revolutionary about the French Revolution?”

**FIRST PAPER DUE ON FEBRUARY 12 BY 4 PM**

February 14: Napoleon and the Legacy of the French Revolution

February 16: The Industrial Revolution

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 64-92

E. P. Thompson, “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism”

Samuel Smiles, “Self Help”

Andrew Ure, “Decent Working and Living Conditions”

February 19: Europe after Napoleon

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 11-40

February 21: The Age of Isms: Conservatism and Liberalism

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 41-63 and 125-152

Edmund Burke, “Prejudice, Religion, and the Antagonist World”

John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty, “Of Property,” and “Of the Grounds and Limits of the Laisser-Faire or Non-Interference Property”

Konstantin Pobedonostev, “The Falsehood of Democracy”

February 23: The Age of Isms: Socialism before Marx and Engels

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 93-124 and 153-182

February 26: The Age of Isms: Marxism

Steven Marcus, “Marx’s Masterpiece at 150”

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto

February 28: The Age of Isms: Nationalism

Giuseppe Mazzini, “Conversion to Nationalism,” “Young Italy,” and “To the Young Men of Italy”

Ernest Renan, “What is a Nation?”

March 2: Midterm

March 5: Crisis at Mid-Century—The Revolutions of 1848

**SECOND PAPER DUE ON MARCH 5 BY 4 PM**

March 7: Women and Revolution

Gay Gullickson, Unruly Women of Paris: Images during the Commune

March 9: State and Society at the End of the Nineteenth Century

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 183-228

“The Liberals’ Struggle with Bismarck and Their Consequences”

March 19: Library Session (Meet in Electronic Classroom, McCabe, 4^th Floor)

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 229-256

March 21: The Expansion of Europe

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 257-288

Ch’ien Lung, “Letter to George III”

“The Letter of Commissioner Lin to Queen Victoria”

Jules Ferry, “Speech Before the French National Assembly”

Royal Niger Company, “Standard Treaty”

Jawaharlal Nehru, “British Rule in India”

March 23: Europe at Its Best

Adam Hochschild, King Leopold’s Ghost

March 26: The Woman’s Question

Emmeline Pankhurst, “Why We Are Militant”

Hubertine Auclert, “La Citoyenne”

Alexandra Kollontai, “Women and the Family in the Communist State”

March 28: The Jewish Question and the Emergence of Modern Antisemitism

Wilhelm Marr, “The Victory of Judaism over Germandom”

Edouard-Adolphe Drumont, “Jewish France”

“Protocols of the Elders of Zion”

Theodor Fritsch, “The Racists’ Decalogue”

Houston Stewart Chamberlain, “The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century”

March 30: Antisemitism and Everyday Life

Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale

April 2: Mass Society and the Challenge to Liberalism

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 289-318

Fyodor Dostoevskii, “Notes from the Underground”

**THIRD PAPER DUE ON APRIL 2 BY 4 PM**

April 4: Approaches to Social and Political Problems

Eduard Bernstein, “Evolutionary Socialism”

Rosa Luxemburg, “Social Reform or Revolution”

April 6: The Cataclysm of World War: Europe Loses Its Innocence

Neuberger and Winks, pp. 319-358

‘Denis Winter, “The Strain of Trench Warfare”

April 9: The Cataclysm of World War

April 11: The Meaning of War

Discussion of The Grand Illusion (115 minutes)

April 13: The Legacy of the War

Jean-Yves Le Naour, The Living Unknown Soldier: A Story of Grief and the Great War

April 16: Russia’s Road to Revolution

Leon Trotsky, “Peculiarities of Russia’s Development”

**FOURTH PAPER DUE ON APRIL 16 BY 4 PM**]

April 18: Russia’s First Brush with Revolution

Lenin’s Theory of the Party

April 20: 1917 or the Year of Reckoning: The Bolsheviks Come to Power

Ronald Suny, “Revising the Old Story”

April 23: The Meaning of the Russian Revolution

April 25: Europe after the War

April 27: Modernity Goes Awry: One Vision of the Future

Evgenii Zamiatin, We

April 30: Research Proposal and Outline Due

May 2: Final Exam (Part One)

May 4: Individual Meetings

**RESEARCH PAPER DUE ON MAY 17