Europe in World Wars:1914-1945

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

History 236 explores Europe in the era of the two world wars, from 1914 to 1945. Rather than highlighting military history in the narrow sense of the term, the course focuses on the relationship between war and society. Why did European civilization virtually self-destruct during this period? Were the calamities of these years an outgrowth of fundamental structural problems or of highly contingent events? How did this era's convulsive violence transform societies, cultures, values, and institutions? How did societies respond to the ordeal of military occupation, to the illusions of victory, and to the traumas of defeat? In what ways was the continent's crisis related to broader global trends and how did it transform Europe's role in the world? These are among the core issues that we will explore through a blend of lectures and discussions.