Political Projects of the Twentieth Century
Higher School of Economics (Moscow) – Faculty of History (2013-2014)
Instructor: Martin Beisswenger
(martin.beisswenger@gmail.com)
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Course description:
This course studies the political history of twentieth-century Europe, Russia (the Soviet
Union), China and the United States and the political systems they represented, such as
democracy, Fascism, National Socialism, and Communism. It examines how political ideas and
concepts shaped political decisions and realities and how, in turn, the challenges of reality
influenced political ideas.
In addition to providing an outline of the political history of particular states, this course
aims at developing a comparative perspective, determining similarities and differences between
various political projects, their successes and failures in achieving their goals. Although the main
focus will be on traditional politics, attention will also be paid to how politics were shaped by
cultural and social factors and developments.
Lectures will provide a survey of the most important political events and concepts,
whereas in seminars we will discuss key primary sources and analyze historiographical
controversies and debates.
Описание курса:
Курс исследует политическую историю европейских стран, России (Советского
Союза), Китая и США в ХХ веке и существовавшие в них политические системы, такие
как демократия, фашизм, национал-социализм и коммунизм. Мы рассмотрим, как
политические идеи и концепции влияли на политические решения, и как, в свою очередь,
политическая реальность с ее вызовами воздействовала на политические идеи.
Наряду с изложением политической истории отдельных государств, курс проводит
сравнение между различными политическими проектами, выявляя их сходства и различия,
их успехи и неудачи в достижении поставленных целей. Хотя в центре внимания будет
стоять традиционная политика, мы также рассмотрим то влияние, которое оказывали на
нее социальные и культурные факторы и изменения.
В лекциях будет предложен общий обзор наиболее важных политических событий и
концепций, в то время как на семинарах мы обсудим ключевые источники по теме и
проанализируем историографические споры и дебаты.
Course aims and learning objectives:
• to introduce students to the political history of twentieth-century Europe and the world
• to gain knowledge about important political events, systems and politicians
• to familiarize students with key historiographical debates about twentieth-century history
• to develop skills in close reading, critical evaluation and analysis of political documents
and relevant secondary literature
• to enable students to explore the topic of twentieth-century political history further and to
relate it to their own field of research interests
• to enhance students’ foreign language skills and apply them to individual research and
presentations
В результате освоения дисциплины студент осваивает следующие компетенции:
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Компетенция
Код по
Дескрипторы – основные
ФГОС/ признаки освоения (показатели
НИУ
достижения результата)
Формы и методы
обучения,
способствующие
формированию и
развитию компетенции
Способен работать с
информацией: находить,
оценивать и
использовать
информацию из
различных источников,
необходимую для
решения научных и
профессиональных
задач (в том числе на
основе системного
подхода)
СК-6
Способен выявлять,
сопоставлять и анализировать
информацию из различных
источников, таких как
политические программные
документы, уставы, договоры,
политические речи и мемуары,
а также из аналитических
статей
Способен грамотно
строить коммуникацию,
исходя из целей и
ситуации общения
СК-9
Способен излагать основные
Семинары
аргументы, представленные в
обсуждаемых материалах,
задавать аналитические
вопросы к текстам, участвовать
в концептуальных дискуссиях
Способен понимать и
анализировать
мировоззренческие,
социально и личностно
значимые проблемы и
процессы,
происходящие в
обществе
СЛК-6 Способен анализировать
значение различных
политических проектов ХХ
века и их связь с современным
миром
3
Лекции, семинары,
самостоятельная работа
Лекции, семинары
Компетенция
Код по
Дескрипторы – основные
ФГОС/ признаки освоения (показатели
НИУ
достижения результата)
Формы и методы
обучения,
способствующие
формированию и
развитию компетенции
Способен
ориентироваться в
системе
общечеловеческих
ценностей и ценностей
мировой и российской
культуры, понимает
значение
гуманистических
ценностей для
сохранения и развития
современной
цивилизации.
СЛК-9
Способен оценивать идейные
истоки и политические
последствия различных
политических проектов ХХ
века и делать выводы о
значении гуманистических
ценностей
Лекции, семинары,
самостоятельная работа
способность к
письменной и устной
коммуникации на
государственном и
иностранных языках
ПК 2
Способность читать источники
и исследовательскую
литературу на английском
языке и ясно формулировать
свои мысли на языке во время
дискуссии. Умение письменно
излагать свои идеи и
поставленную проблему на
английском языке
Семинары, рецензии,
самостоятельная работа
способность к
ПК3
использованию
иностранного языка для
поиска и анализа
иностранных
источников информации
Способен читать источники и
аналитические материалы на
английском языке, понимать и
анализировать смысл
прочитанного
Семинары,
самостоятельная работа
4
Компетенция
способность
использовать навыки
работы с информацией
из различных
источников для
решения
профессиональных и
социальных задач
Код по
Дескрипторы – основные
ФГОС/ признаки освоения (показатели
НИУ
достижения результата)
ПК 9
Формы и методы
обучения,
способствующие
формированию и
развитию компетенции
Способен анализировать
Лекции
информацию из письменных
источников различного
происхождения, а также
использовать как исторический
источник фотографии,
живопись и видео-материалы
Assignments, exam and grades:
Your grade for this course will depend on the following:
 regular participation in class discussions,
 degree of preparation for class, familiarity with all required readings,
 one book review (2-3 pages) on a monograph of your choice (and in consultation with the
instructor) related to the topic of our course,
 the final exam.
Participation in class and the book review will count for 30% of your final grade each, while the
final exam determines the remaining 40% of your grade.
Attendance:
This is a lecture and discussion course. You will be expected to do the reading assignments and
participate in class discussions. Attendance is mandatory, and you must be on time and prepared.
You can have three unexcused absence throughout the course. More absences may lower your
course grade. More than five unexcused absences may result in a failing grade for the course.
Arriving more than 15 minutes late in class counts as an unexcused absence as well. It is your
responsibility to make up missed work, or to meet with the instructor to go over lectures or
assignments that were covered while you were absent.
Academic integrity:
As in all university courses, students are required to maintain the personal integrity of their work
at all times. In this class, any instances of major plagiarism on any assignment may result in a
failing grade in the course and in referral to the Faculty’s Dean’s Office. Plagiarism includes
submitting a paper written or significantly revised by someone else, lifting ideas or words from
sources without giving credit, quoting without the use of quotation marks, or any other
borrowing of materials or writing skills without appropriate acknowledgement. Please come and
see me if you are ever unclear about what constitutes plagiarism or how to avoid it. See also:
http://www.hse.ru/org/hse/antiplagiat_info/plagiat
Course program:
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WEEK ONE: Introduction: European Economy and Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth
Century [L1]
WEEK TWO: Politics and Society in the Major European Countries [L2]
WEEK THREE: World War I [L3]
WEEK FOUR: Revolutions and the Emergence of a New Europe [L4]
WEEK FIVE: The 1920s [L5]
WEEK SIX: Italian Fascism [S1]
WEEK SEVEN: The Great Depression [L6]
WEEK EIGHT: The New Deal [S2]
WEEK NINE: The 1930s [L7]
WEEK TEN: National Socialism [S3]
WEEK ELEVEN: Stalinism [S4]
WEEK TWELVE: Totalitarianism: Stalinism and National Socialism Compared [S5]
WEEK THIRTEEN: World War II [L8]
WEEK FOURTEEN: The Recovery of Europe and the Cold War [L9]
WEEK FIFTEEN: Social Market Economies [S6]
WEEK SIXTEEN: Prosperity and Reform in Europe (1960s-1970s) [L10]
WEEK SEVENTEEN: “Gaullism” in France [S7]
WEEK EIGHTEEN: “Socialism with a Human Face” in Czechoslovakia [S8]
WEEK NINETEEN: Decolonization and the Emergence of the “Third World” [L11]
WEEK TWENTY: The Rise of China [L12]
WEEK TWENTY-ONE: “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics” [S9]
WEEK TWENTY-TWO: Europe in Crisis Again (1980s) [L13]
WEEK TWENTY-THREE: A Neoliberal Response: Thatcherism in Great Britain [S10]
WEEK TWENTY-FOUR: “1989” and the Reshaping of Europe [L14]
WEEK TWENTY-FIVE: European Unification and its Consequences [L15]
WEEK TWENTY-SIX: The European Political Project [S11]
WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN: Political Projects of the Twentieth Century and Beyond
(Conclusion) [S12]
Тематический план учебной дисциплины:
Аудиторные часы
№
Всего
часов
Название раздела
Лекци
и
Самост
ояПрактиче
Семин
тельная
ские
ары
занятия работа
1
Introduction: European Economy and Culture
at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
2
2
1
2
Politics and Society in the Major European
Countries
2
2
1
3
World War I
2
2
1
4
Revolutions and the Emergence of a New
Europe
2
2
1
5
The 1920s
2
2
1
6
Italian Fascism
2
6
2
1
7
The Great Depression
2
8
The New Deal
2
9
The 1930s
2
10
National Socialism
2
2
1
11
Stalinism
2
2
1
12
Totalitarianism: Stalinism
Socialism Compared
2
2
1
13
World War II
2
2
1
14
The Recovery of Europe and the Cold War
2
2
1
15
Social Market Economies
2
16
Prosperity and Reform in Europe (1960s1970s)
2
17
“Gaullism” in France
2
2
1
18
“Socialism with
Czechoslovakia
in
2
2
1
19
Decolonization and the Emergence of the
“Third World”
2
2
1
20
The Rise of China
2
2
1
21
“Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”
2
22
Europe in Crisis Again (1980s)
2
23
A Neoliberal Response: Thatcherism in Great
Britain
2
24
“1989” and the Reshaping of Europe
2
2
1
25
European Unification and its Consequences
2
2
1
26
The European Political Project
2
2
1
27
Political Projects of the Twentieth Century
and Beyond
2
2
1
Итого
54
24
27
a
and
Human
National
Face”
7
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
1
1
2
2
1
1
2
30
1
1
WEEK ONE: Introduction: European Economy and Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth
Century
Readings:
Felix Gilbert and David Clay Large. The End of the European Era: 1890 to the Present.
6th edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009: 4-34 (ch.1: “The Beginning of a New
Century”)
WEEK TWO: Politics and Society in the Major European Countries
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 35-89 (ch.2: “Politics and Society, 1890-1914”)
WEEK THREE: World War I
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 90-139 (ch.3: “The First World War”)
WEEK FOUR: Revolutions and the Emergence of a New Europe
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 143-178 (ch.4: “Peacemaking”)
WEEK FIVE: The 1920s
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 179-228 (ch.5: “The Era of Stabilization”)
WEEK SIX: Italian Fascism
Readings:
Stone, Marla. The Fascist Revolution in Italy: A Brief History with Documents. Boston
and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012 [excerpts].
Paxton, Robert O. “The Five Stages of Fascism.” The Journal of Modern History, Vol.
70, No. 1. (Mar., 1998): 1-23.
WEEK SEVEN: The Great Depression
Readings:
Hobsbawm, Eric. Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991. London:
Abacus, 1995: 85-108 (ch.3: “Into the Economic Abyss”).
WEEK EIGHT: The New Deal
Readings:
Divine, Robert A. et al., America: Past and Present. Vol.2: From 1865. 3rd ed. New
York, 1991: 766-795 (ch.26: “Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal”).
WEEK NINE: The 1930s
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 229-305 (ch.6: “The Economic Crisis and the Rise of Nazism” and
ch.7: “Toward the Inevitable Conflict”)
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WEEK TEN: National Socialism
Readings:
Moeller, Robert G. The Nazi State and German Society: A Brief History with Documents.
New York and Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2010.
Kershaw, Ian. The Nazi Dictatorship: Problems and Perspectives of Interpretation.4th ed.
Oxford: Arnold, 2000 [excerpts].
WEEK ELEVEN: Stalinism
Readings:
Malia, Martin. The Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia, 1917-1991. New
York: The Free Press, 1994: 177-226 (ch.6: “And They Built Socialism: 1929-1935”).
Kotkin, Stephen. Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1995: 1-25 (“Introduction: Understanding the Russian Revolution”).
WEEK TWELVE: Totalitarianism: Stalinism and National Socialism Compared
Readings:
Geyer, Michael and Sheila Fitzpatrick. “Introduction: After Totalitarianism – Stalinism
and Nazism Compared.” In Beyond Totalitarianism: Stalinism and Nazism Compared. Ed.
Michael Geyer and Sheila Fitzpatrick. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009: 1-37.
WEEK THIRTEEN: World War II
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 306-342 (ch.8: “The Second World War”)
WEEK FOURTEEN: The Recovery of Europe and the Cold War
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 345-403 (ch.9: “Postwar Uncertainties” and ch.10: “Reconstruction
and Revolt: The 1950s”)
WEEK FIFTEEN: Social Market Economies
Readings:
“Documents - Life during the Economic Miracle: West Germany”
(http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_doclist.cfm?sub_id=381&section_id=14)
Van Hook, James A. Rebuilding Germany: The Creation of the Social Market Economy,
1945-1957. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004: 1-18 (“Introduction”).
WEEK SIXTEEN: Prosperity and Reform in Europe (1960s-1970s)
Readings:
Gilbert and Large: 407-456 (ch.11: “Europe’s Abundant Decade: The 1960s” and ch.12:
“The Years of Disillusionment: 1967-1973”)
WEEK SEVENTEEN: “Gaullism” in France
Readings:
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De Gaulle, Charles. Memoirs of Hope: Renewal and Endeavor, 1958-1962. New York:
Simon and Schuster, 1971 [excerpts].
Sowerwine, Charles. France since 1870: Culture, Politics and Society. New York:
Palgrave, 2001: 296-327 (ch.21: “The Fall of the Fourth Republic, 1958” and ch.22: “De
Gaulle’s Republic, 1958-68”).
WEEK EIGHTEEN: “Socialism with a Human Face” in Czechoslovakia
Readings:
Williams, Kieran. The Prague Spring and its Aftermath: Czechoslovak Politics, 1968–
1970. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997 [excerpts].
Stokes, Gale (ed.). From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern
Europe since 1945. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996 [excerpts].
Navrátil, Jaromír et al. (ed.). The Prague Spring 1968: A National Security Archive
Document Reader. Budapest: Central European University Press, 2006 [excerpts].
WEEK NINETEEN: Decolonization and the Emergence of the “Third World”
Readings:
Hobsbawm, Eric. Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991. London:
Abacus, 1995: 344-371 (ch.12: “The Third World”).
WEEK TWENTY: The Rise of China
Readings:
Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China. 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2012 [excerpts].
WEEK TWENTY-ONE: “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”
Readings:
Cheng, Pei-Kai, Michael Lestz, Jonathan D. Spence (eds.). The Search for Modern
China: A Documentary Collection. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999 [excerpts].
WEEK TWENTY-TWO: Europe in Crisis Again (1980s)
Gilbert and Large: 457-505 (ch.13: “The Decade of Détente: 1969-1979” and ch.14:
“Western Europe in the Troubled 1980s”).
WEEK TWENTY-THREE: A Neoliberal Response: “Thatcherism” in Great Britain
Jackson, Ben and Robert Saunders (ed.). Making Thatcher’s Britain. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2012 [excerpts].
WEEK TWENTY-FOUR: “1989” and the Reshaping of Europe
Gilbert and Large: 506-589 (ch.15: “A New Order in Eastern Europe” and ch.16: “Continental
Drift”)
WEEK TWENTY-FIVE: European Unification and its Consequences
Gilbert and Large: 590-613 (ch.17: “Europe and the Challenges of Globalization”)
10
WEEK TWENTY-SIX: The European Political Project
Nelson, Brent F. and Alexander C-G. Stubb (ed.). The European Union: Readings on the
Theory and Practice of European Integration. 2nd ed. London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1998
[excerpts]
WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN: Political Projects of the Twentieth Century and Beyond
(Concluding Discussion)
Recommended literature:
Brandenberger, David (ed.). Propaganda State in Crisis: Soviet Ideology, Indoctrination, and
Terror under Stalin, 1927-1941. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.
Loth, Wilfried. “Explaining European Integration: The Contribution from Historians.” Journal of
European Integration History (2008)
Pelinka, Anton. “The European Union as an Alternative to the Nation-State.” International
Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society. Vol. 24, No.1-2 (2011): 21-30.
Perry, Marvin et al. (ed.) Sources of European History since 1900. 2nd ed. Boston: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning, 2011.
Schulz-Forberg, Hagen and Bo Stråth. The Political History of European Integration. New York:
Routledge, 2010.
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