HIST 2305
F/W 2007-2008
The Twentieth Century: Historical Perspectives, Main Events, Issues
and Themes of this Century
Wednesday and Friday 12:30-2:00
Dr. G. Morrell
Office: H320
Phone: ext.4300 Email: gordonm@nipissingu.ca
Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 3:00-4:00 and by appointment
Course Description
This course surveys the 20th century experience and considers such topics as
the social, political, economic, cultural, intellectual dynamics at work in the
world prior to the Great War of 1914-1918; the major theses on the causes
and consequences of the two world wars; the causes and consequences of the
Russian Revolution; the role of international organizations such as the
League of Nations and the UN; the evolution of the international system; the
rise of “totalitarianism” and other authoritarian systems; the origins and
course of the cold war; the politics of anti-colonialism, decolonization and
the rise of the “Third” World and contemporary problems in historical
perspective.
Required Text
W. Keylor, The Twentieth Century World and Beyond: An International
History Since 1900 (Oxford, 2005).
If you have not already done so, it is also useful for anyone writing history
essays to have a copy of Mary Lynn Rampolla’s, A Pocket Guide to Writing
in History or Diana Hacker’s A Canadian Pocket Style Manual.
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Assignments and Exams
Fall Semester
Fall Exam in class on Nov.21 2007
Position Paper due in class on December 5, 2007
(2,500 words + Title page, bibliography)
Winter Semester
Research Paper proposal due in class Jan. 25, 2008
Research Paper due in class on March 28, 2008
Winter Exam during regular Final exam schedule
=15%
=25%
=5%
=25%
=30%
Students with special needs should contact the Special Needs Office at
ext. 4235
Policy on Late Submissions
Penalties for Late Submissions: Students are urged to begin work on their
term papers well in advance of the due-date. Essays that do not meet the
assigned deadline can expect penalties up to a full letter grade per week,
beginning the day after the due date. If you are having difficulties with your
assignment please contact the instructor to seek advice and assistance.
Students may “stop the clock” by sending me an email attachment in MS
WORD format, but must provide me with a hard copy at the next class. In
an instance where students have legitimate health reasons for requesting an
extension appropriate documentation must be provided.
Academic dishonesty
By enrolling in this course, each student assumes the responsibilities of an
active participant in the scholarly community of Nipissing University.
Cheating, fabrication and plagiarism, and helping others to commit these
acts, are all forms of academic dishonesty. Academic misconduct will result
in disciplinary action. Please read the Policy on Academic Dishonesty; see
Nipissing University Calendar, under Student Policies, particularly if you
have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism. Pleading ignorance is
no excuse. All references must be properly cited. There is a zero tolerance
policy for plagiarism in effect in this course. Any amount of plagiarized
work will result in disciplinary action: an automatic zero for the assignment
and written notification to the Dean of Arts and Science for a first offence.
The office of the Dean of Arts and Science will deal with second offences.
Written assignments may be checked by plagiarism-detection software.
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FALL SEMESTER
Class Schedule and Weekly Reading
Week 1
September 7
Introduction to the Course
Week 2
September 12
September 14
The European “Order” (Keylor, Prologue and Ch.1)
Europe’s World
The coming of the Thirty Year’s War 1914-1945
Week 3
September 19
September 21
Into the Abyss: The Great War
The Iskra of the Russian Revolution.
Week 4
September 26
September 28
The West’s Peace (Keylor, Ch.2)
Paris 1919 and the Versailles Treaty
No class
Week 5
October 3
October 5
The Western World in the 1920s (Keylor, Ch.3)
Europe’s search for stability
The role of American power
Week 6
October 8-12
Thanksgiving Study Week –no classes
Week 7
October 17
October 19
The Western World in the 1930s (Keylor, Ch.4)
The Impact of the Great Depression
Mussolini and the Fascist alternative
Week 8
October 24
October 26
Hitler and Nazism
The Stalin Revolution
Week 9
October 31
November 2
The Gathering Storm (Keylor, Ch.5)
The Embattled Democracies
From local to World War, 1939
Week 10
November 7
November 9
Germany’s Second Bid For Dominance
The War Hitler Wins 1939-1940
The War Stalin Wins 1941-1945
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Week 11
November 14
November 16
The Victory of the Grand Alliance (Keylor, Ch.6)
The War the Americans Win 1944-45
Managing Victory
Week 12
November 21
November 23
FALL SEMESTER EXAM in class
The Post-war World (Keylor, Ch.7)
Week 13
November 28
November 30
The Emergence of the Cold War
The Antagonists
From Potsdam to the Marshall Plan, 1945-1947
Week 14
December 5
Stalinization and NATO, 1948-1949
POSITION PAPER DUE IN CLASS
WINTER SEMESTER
Class Schedule and Weekly Reading
Week 1
The Cold War in Asia (Keylor, Ch. 10)
January 9 The Communist Victory in China
January 11 The Korean War
Week 2
Coexistence and Confrontation (Keylor Ch.8)
January 16 France, the United States and Indo-China
January 18 The Cold War after Stalin
Week 3
Détente and Multipolarity (Keylor, Ch. 9)
January 23 Confrontation in Berlin and Cuba
January 25 Empire and Nationalism in the Middle East
RESEARCH PROPOSAL DUE IN CLASS
Week 4
Decolonization and Wars of Succession after 1945
(Keylor, Ch. 12)
January 30 Africa and Independence
February 1 Africa and Dependency
Week 5
Transformation in Asia after 1945 (Keylor, Ch. 13)
February 6 The Bandung Conference, 1955: The Afro-Asian Movement
and non-alignment politics
February 8 The Rise of Asia: Japan, the Tigers, and China
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Week 6
The Resurgence of East-West Tensions (Keylor, Ch.11)
February 13 Managing the MAD world
February 15 OPEC, War and the Global Cold War
Week 7
February 18-22th Winter Semester Study Week
Week 8
The European Union (Keylor, Ch. 15)
February 27 The competing vision of Europe after 1945
February 29 From Economic Union to Integration
Week 9
March 5
March 7
From Détente to Confrontation (Keylor, Ch. 14)
Embattled Superpowers: Iran and Afghanistan
Gorbachev and Reagan, 1985-1988
Week 10
March 12
March 14
Three years that shook the world, 1989-1991
Asia at the crossroads (Keylor, Ch. 16)
Week 11
March 19
March 21
Africa on Its Own (Keylor, Ch.17)
The Diversity of a Continent
Good Friday –University closed
Week 12 The Middle East (Keylor, Ch.18)
March 26 From War to Negotiation
March 28 Impact of the First Gulf War
Research Paper due in Class on March 28th.
Week 13
April 2
April 4
Latin America (Keylor, Ch.19)
Competing visions in Latin America
After the Cold War: In Search of Peace (Keylor, Ch.20)
April 8
Conclusions and exam review
Last day of class (in lieu of March 21st)
The Final Exam will be scheduled by the Registrar during the regular
exam period. Students are advised that the Registrar sets the Final exam
schedule that runs from April 10 to April 30, 2008. Professors have no
influence on the process. Do not make any travel plans until you have seen
the final exam schedule as there will be no opportunity to change the date
posted by the Registrar.
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Guidelines for the Fall Semester Position Paper
This paper should be 2,500 words in length, preferably in New Times
Roman font 12 + Title page and Bibliography.
The paper will address the macro argument made by William Keylor
in the course text that proposes a “Thirty Years War” model for an
understanding the period 1914-1945. Your paper should examine the
contours of his argument and select one important element within the
argument to research on your own more fully. You should make use of at
least 5 secondary sources (articles and monographs-not textbooks) to build
your understanding of this particular element and assess how well Keylor’s
framework handles it. For example, you might want to assess the impact of
the Great Depression on German political stability, or consider the nature of
the Locarno agreements of 1925-1926 that seemed to provide a firm
foundation of peace in the 1920s, or assess the meaning of Stalin’s
“socialism in one country” for the interwar period 1919-1939. These are just
3 examples of dozens of similar possibilities and are provided as illustrations
to get you thinking about other such issues in the period.
As you explore a topic be sure to see what materials are available through
our E-Resources in the library, interlibrary loan or our own Nipissing
collection. When you have a topic and some secondary sources, send me an
email at gordonm@nipissingu.ca and have your topic confirmed as a viable
and promising avenue. I might even have some ideas about how to proceed
from there!
DUE DATE December 5, 2007 = 25%
Guidelines for Research Proposal and Research Paper
Research Proposal: This should be 2-3 pages in length. You should identify
a topic from any part of the course that interests you and outline some key
questions or issues you wish to explore in this paper. Your proposal should
list 8-10 secondary sources in proper bibliographic form listing articles and
books (not textbooks) that you have found in your preliminary research. You
may also list any primary sources that appear relevant such as government
documents, memoirs, diaries, newspapers, magazines etc. that you might
utilize in your paper. Primary sources are not required for this paper, but if
you find them, you might well want to work with them.
DUE DATE January 25, 2008 =5%
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Research Paper: This should be 3,000 words in length, preferably in New
Times Roman font 12 + Title page and Bibliography. Please footnote (no
endnotes) all references at the bottom of each page according to the
guidelines provided by Mary Lynn Rampolla.
Obviously, the hope is that your research paper will come directly out
of your research proposal, though you should be sure to adapt your research
according to the suggestions I may have made when I returned the proposal
itself. Naturally with further research some of the shape of the project will
change and if you have any concerns about this evolution please talk with
me about it.
DUE DATE March 28th, 2008 =25%
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