HIST 238(F) Germany in the Twentieth Century

Written documents, literature, film, and the writings of historians will be used in surveying the history of Germany since 1890. Topics to be considered include: Wilhelmian Germany and the role played by domestic and foreign policy in the decision of the imperial government to opt for war in 1914; the impact of war and defeat on German society; the relation of the cultural flowering that occurred in Germany during the 1920s to the political and social instability of the Weimar Republic; Hitler and the collapse of democratic Germany; the Third Reich; World War II and the Holocaust; the reconstruction of Germany after 1945; Germany in the context of the Cold War (the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic); and the two Germanies in the context of Europe (Germany as the Wall comes down). A central theme of the course will be the attempt of Germans during the twentieth century to decide what Germany is and how it fits into the rest of Europe and to determine the nature of their state and society. Requirements include: three short papers and a number of pop quizzes. Group B

Hour:  KOHUT