UCSB Hist 133A, Winter 1997
"19th Century Germany" (1993 syl.)
3515 Phelps, MWF 11:00-11:50
Prof. Harold Marcuse (homepage, Courses page)
5833 Ellison, 893-2635
Office hours: Wed. 2-4

19TH CENTURY GERMANY
COURSE SYLLABUS

note 4/24/06: I will be teaching this course again in Fall 2006. In addition to Hagen Schulz's book on German Nationalism, I am considering as a textbook:

This lecture course examines central aspects of German history from the late 18th century to the eve of World War I, including:

  • the impact of the French Revolution on the German states,
  • mass movements in early 19th century Germany,
  • "pre-March" and the revolution of 1848
  • the processes of unification and industrialization,
  • the workers' and women's movements in the second half of the century
  • the nature of the Bismarkian state
  • foreign policy under Bismark
  • William II's "personal regime" after the fall of Bismark
  • fundamental transformations at the end of the century.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

  • There will be three written assignments, each at least 600 words (about 3 pages) long.
    They are due at the beginning of class on the set date. Work submitted after that time will be reduced by 5% (B to B-, etc.) that day and each day thereafter.
    Note that this course fulfills the General Education Writing Requirement. Failure to submit any of the papers will result in failing this course.
  • There will be a midterm examination on Feb. 27, consisting of 2/5 IDs, one source interpretation, and one essay question.
  • The final exam will consist of 5/9 IDs, one source interpretation, and one essay question.
    For the essay question study questions will be distributed in advance.

GRADING
Assignments 1-3: 20% each / midterm: 15% / final exam: 25%.

COURSE BOOKS

  1. Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life [1874], trans. by Peter Preuss (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1980), 64pp., ca. $5.
  2. Hagen Schulze, The Course of German Nationalism From Frederick the Great to Bismarck, 1763-1867 [1985], trans. by Sarah Hanbury-Tenison (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1991), 174pp., ca. $13.
  3. Heinrich Mann, Man of Straw [Der Untertan, 1918] (New York: Penguin, 1984), 300pp., ca. $12.
  4. A course reader will be available from the Alternative Copy Shop on Pardall Road in Isla Vista.

LECTURE TOPICS

1. Introduction: Central Themes

2. The "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation"

3. 18th century Germany: Absolutism and Enlightened Despotism

4. Germany, the French Revolution, and French Hegemony

5. Discussion; first written assignment due

6. Reform and Liberation, 1807-1815

7. The Political Reconstruction of Europe: The Vienna Congress

8. Social Restoration: Reactionary Politics in the 1820s

9. The Emergence of a New Social Order: 1830-1848

10. Discussion of Nationalism; 2nd assignment due

11. The Revolutions of 1848

12. 1848: Theory and Historiography

13. The post-1848 Reaction, Bismarck's Early Years

14. Industrialization and the Social Question

15. Midterm

16. German Liberalism, 1860-1914

17. The Labor Movement and Social Democracy

18. The Women's Movement

19. Bismarck and the Wars of Unification

20. Domestic Affairs under Bismarck, 1871-1890

21. Foreign Policy under Bismarck; "Imperialism"

22. William II

23. The 1890s: A Decade of Transition

24. Final paper due; discussion Man of Straw

25. Nationalism II; "Mitteleuropa"

26. Cultural and Intellectual Currents

27. Associations in Imperial Germany

28. The Road to World War I

29. Germany's "Special Path"

30. Conclusion


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