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CONTENTS
| Course Description | Texts | Grading | Attendance Policy |
| Late Policy | Other Remarks | Class Schedule |
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Goals
In this course, students will study the process of political and economic modernization in Germany, a country torn between the political poles of democracy and dictatorship. As a part of this, students will examine:
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the impact of industrialization and unification on Germany;
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the flourishing of modernism during Weimar;
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the rise and legacy of Nazism;
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the impact of two world wars; and
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the division and reunification of the country in the second half of the twentieth century.
Course Objectives
To meet the goals of the course, students will take two exams which will test their knowledge of a) key ideas, movements, and historical figures associated with the modern era since 1815; b) important events and trends that helped to give shape to Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century; and c) the cause & effect relationships that help to explain the flow of events from the end of the French Revolution to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Students will also write two papers in which they prove that they have read and grappled with issues and themes of the course.
Courses Relationship to Department Goals
This course helps the history department reach its goals by covering the following dimensions of history widely perceived as crucial for a well-rounded view of the world:
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political developments;
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significant intellectual movements and debates;
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socio-cultural issues of class,
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race,
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and gender.
Students will also gain some exposure to how history is practiced by
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examining primary sources.
Technology Skills
Students will need some basic knowledge of web browsers in order to be able to find and utilize material on the on-line version of this syllabus. They will also need some basic working knowledge of using a computer word-processor in order to write papers in this class.
Instructional Format
This course will mix lecture days together with days set aside for discussion of readings or relevant topics.
TEXTS
- Martin Kitchen, A History of Modern Germany
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2006), ISBN:
978-1405100410.
- Robert Gellately, Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany (Oxford University Press, 2001), ISBN: 978-0192802910
- Mary Fulbrook, The People's State (Yale University Press, 2009), 978-0300144246.
- On-Line Packet. All the readings can be accessed separately by clicking on the hot text in the assignment column of the schedule below. Or, if you prefer, you can access all the readings by going to the Library's web page for this class. If you have any trouble printing these readings, see my troubleshooting tips.
The
readings listed under each day should be done before the assigned day.
GRADING
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Attendance
and Participation: |
5% |
| Map Quiz | 5% |
| Quiz on Gellately's Consent and Coercion | 5% |
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2 exams |
20% |
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1
short (4-5 page)
essay: |
15% |
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Final
exam: |
30% |
I reserve the right to give other quizzes (announced or pop) in case if I feel that discussion has been poor, reflecting the possible fact that students are not completing the reading. In this case, the quiz grade will be factored into the participation grade.
ATTENDANCE
POLICY
Students
are permitted one unexcused absences.
Additional absences will lead to a lower participation grade which can
hurt the final grade. Too
many absences may also lead to an attendance warning and forced withdrawal from
the class.
Excused
absences are those due to approved college-related activities (e.g. sporting
events), documented illness, and family emergencies. Students have the responsibility to make up missed work.
LATE
POLICY
Students
with a doctor’s excuse (or another suitable excuse) can make up the exam up to
a week after the exam date. There will be no make-up for quizzes.
OTHER
REMARKS
All cell phones must be turned off at the beginning of class. Do not, of course, take phone calls during class. Please be on time. If you must arrive late or leave early, do so as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. Finally, all work must be yours. Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment.
Students are permitted to use laptops in class, and many have felt it useful for note-taking. However, I ask that you refrain from using the computer for purposes besides note taking (checking emails, surfing the web, etc.). I consider this extremely rude, and trust me I can tell the difference.
Of course, all work must be yours. Plagiarism and cheating will be punished with an F for the assignment. Plagiarism, we should note, is defined in the following way according to Wofford College's Honor Code:
(1) the verbatim repetition, without acknowledgement, of the writings of another author.
(2) Borrowing without acknowledging the source.
(3) Paraphrasing the thoughts of another writer without acknowledgement.
(4) Allowing any other person or organization to prepare work which one then submits as his or her own.
You should pay close attention to the third definition, especially when referring to ideas borrowing from a website. For more information, please reference my handout "Living by Wofford's Honor Code".
CLASS SCHEDULE
| Day | Class | Assignment |
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Week 1 |
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| June 1 | Germany before Unification | |
| June 2 | The Unification of Germany |
Kitchen, Chs. 6 Start Reading Gellately's Consent and Coercion |
| June 3 | Bismarck's Germany | Kitchen, Chs. 7-8 |
| June 4 | Wilhelmine Germany |
Kitchen, Ch. 9 Readings on Wilhelmine Culture |
| June 5 | World War I | Kitchen Ch. 10 |
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Week 2 |
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| June 8 | Test 1 |
Study Study Guide for First Test |
| June 9 | The Birth of the Weimar Republic | Peter Fritzsche, "November 1918," from Germans into Nazis |
| June 10 | Weimar: Politics, Culture, and Society |
Kitchen, Ch. 11 Readings on Weimar Culture |
| June 11 | The Nazi Coming-To-Power | Work on Gellately's Consent and Coercion |
| June 12 | Watch Film: Cabaret | |
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Week 3 |
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| June 15 | The Nazi State | Kitchen, Ch. 12 |
| June 16 | War and the Nazi "New Order" | Kitchen, Ch. 13 |
| June 17 | Discuss Gellately's Consent and Coercion | Finish Gellately's Consent and Coercion |
| June 18 | Watch Film: Deutschland, Bleiche Mutter | Work on Paper |
| June 19 | Test 2 |
Study Study Guide for Second Test |
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Week 4 |
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| June 22 | Postwar Germany |
Read the following readings in the
on-line packet: Richard Pells, "American Culture and the Cold War: The Reshaping of Western Europe," from Not Like Us: How European Loved, Hated, and Transformed American Culture since World War II (New York: Basic Books, 1997). Elizabeth Heineman, "The Hour of Woman: Memories of Germany's 'Crisis Years' and West German National Identity." (s |
| June 23 | West Germany, 1949-1963 |
Kitchen, Ch. 14 Also, read the following readings in the on-line packet: Guillaume de Syon, "Lufthansa Welcomes You: Air Transport and Tourism in the Adenauer Era," in Selling Modernity: Advertising in Twentieth-Century Germany, eds. Pamela Swett, Jonathan Wiesen, and Jonathan Zatlin (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2007), 182-201. Selection from Dagmar Herzog, Sex after Fascism: Memory and Morality in Twentieth-Century Germany(Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2005). |
| June 24 | East Germany, 1945-1961 | Fullbrook, Chs. 1, 2, 8 |
| June 25 | Catch-Up | Selections from Fullbrook 3, 5, 11 |
| June 26 | Watch Film: The Lives of Others | Work on paper. |
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Week 5 |
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| June 29 | West Germany after Adenauer, 1963-1982 | Kitchen, Ch. 15 |
| June 30 | East Germany in the Years of Stabilization | Kitchen, Ch. 16 |
| July 1 | Reuniting Germany |
Gellately Paper Due |
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Final Exam: Thursday afternoon |
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