HIST 231 Britain Since 1848 (Not offered 1997-98)

This course will offer a chronological and topical survey of British history since 1848. It seeks to explore both the nature of Britain's industrial and political supremacy in the mid-nineteenth century and the reasons for the subsequent decline of Britain as a world power. Several themes will be stressed: the meanings of "Victorianism;" the social, economic, and ideological underpinnings of what has been termed "mid-Victorian stability;" the increasing threat posed to that stability by a new politics of class, gender, and imperialism towards the end of the nineteenth century; the "crisis" of the British state in the early twentieth century; the impact of two world wars and the Depression on British political, social, and economic life; the emergence of the modern welfare state; and, finally, Britain's attempt to chart a new identity for itself in the post-1945 world. While the instructor will deliver four introductory lectures, emphasis in the course will be placed on the discussion of a variety of sources which, taken together, will chart the transformation of Britain from a major power to a "dim little island," as one critic has termed it, off the coast of Europe.
Along with History 230, "Britain, 1714-1848," this course is conceived as part of a two-semester survey of modern British history. Evaluation will be based on class participation, two interpretive essays (8-10 pages each), and a self-scheduled final exam. Group B

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