Course Description
An investigation of the spectacular and often traumatic historical processes of the twentieth century, including imperialism, the world wars, Communist and fascist revolutions, decolonization, and the Cold War from a global perspective. Students will become conversant in the grand movements of the twentieth century and better oriented in the twenty-first.
Athena Title
20th Century Global History
Pre or Corequisite
One course in HIST or POLS or INTL or GLOB
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
At the end of the course, the student will be able to: Summarize the major historical movements of the 20th century listed in the catalog description. Understand and use the terminology of international relations and diplomacy and reflect on its relation to "bottom-up" processes. Identify the major features of the “first, second, and third” worlds and how they interacted in the global system. Within these, they will be able to identify local and regional histories and how they diverge from the more general categories. Understand and describe general historical trends for different regions of the world and how they relate to news and events of the current day. Identify regions of particular historical interest to them for further study.
Topical Outline
Pre-1914 imperialism World War One in a global perspective The Russian Revolution, Marxism and Leninism (and its relation to later Communist revolutions) Wilsonian liberalism and the post-war order Great Depression in the U.S. and Western Europe Stalinism Fascism and Nazism Spanish Civil War Japanese Imperialism World War Two, with particular emphasis on the Eastern Front International Relations theories and practice Cold War Chinese communism and its post-Mao reforms Nuclear Weapons Decolonization Cold War interventions (several case studies, and greater attention to Vietnam and Afghanistan) Dissolution of the Soviet bloc American capitalism, postwar, and post-1970s