Hist 102-02, Fall 1998

TR 8-9:15

Prof. Gunvor Satra

Office: Atrium 211

Office Hours: M 3-4; T&R 11-12:30

E-mail: gsatra@frontier.wpunj.edu

Welcome to class! In this second half of the Western Civilization course we will be covering major events and currents of thought in our Western world over the past 350 years.

Hopefully, by the time the semester ends, you will be familiar with the most important political, social and economic issues and trends of development in our Western world, have some understanding of the basic concepts and ideas that are part of our intellectual legacy, be able to see certain cause and effect relationships in history and be conscious of the fact that our past can be seen from different perspectives.

We should be aware of the fact that this course stresses only our so-called Western heritage. It does not deal with the vast areas of Asia, Africa or Latin America except, marginally, when they come in touch with Western expansionism. Consequently, while it is important that we gain an understanding of our own past history, we should keep in mind that it represents only a part of the total global experience. On the other hand, we should also be aware that much in our Western Civilization has been adopted and adapted in the rest of the world and is thus exerting an influence far beyond its geographic origins.

Lerner, Robert E., Standish Meacham and Edward McNall Burns. Western Civilizations: Their History and Their Culture. Vol. II/Thirteenth edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1998.
On-Line Material. Your access code will be included with your textbook.

Readings:

Sept. 3 Introduction

Early Modern Europe, 1500-1750

Sept. 8 Commercial Revolution and Overseas Expansion 564-590
Mercantilism excerpts from Colbert’s Writings

Sept. 10 Absolutism versus Limited (Constitutional) Monarchy 593-612
Bishop Bossuet, Extract from his essay on Kingship
John Locke, Second Treatise on Government

Sept. 15 Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment 635-643
Copernicus, Biographic Sketch
Galileo, The Galileo Project

Sept. 17 The World of the Philosophes 643-658
Dennis Diderot
Condorcet, The Future Progress of the Human Mind

French and Industrial Revolutions & Their Consequences, 1789-1870

Sept. 22 The French Revolution, first stage 679-692; film
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
Declaration of the Rights of Women

Sept. 24 The French Revolution, 1792-99 693-707
France declared a Republic
The Terror, A classic statement by M. Robespierre

Sept 29 Napoleon, 1799-1815 707-722
Napoleon’s Speech to his Troops, 1896

Oct. 1 Test I

Oct. 6 The Industrial Revolution 725-747
A Biography of James Watt by Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of the Manufacturers, 1835

(Oct. 7 Last day for 50% refund for WD)

Oct. 8 Urbanization and Standard of Living 749-772
The Sadler Report
Factory System: Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th Cent Eng
Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England

Oct. 13 Middle Class World View and Early Critics 772-782
William Graham Sumner, A Defense of Free Enterprise
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Thomas Malthus, On the Principle of Population
Robert Owen, The Basis of Utopian Socialism

Oct. 15 Rise of Liberalism, 1815-1870 718-721; 785-809
The Aims of the Chartists
Louis Blancs, The Organization of Labor
Revolutions in Europe (1848): pieces re France

Oct. 20 Nationalism and Nation-Building 811-841
Giuseppe Mazzini, On Nationality,1852
Proclamation of the German Empire, 1871

(Oct. 21 Last day for WD)

The West at the World’s Center, 1870-1945

Oct. 22 International Industrialization and Imperialism, 849-875
Senator Albert J. Beveridge: American Imperialism
Platform of the Anti-Imperialist League
Rudyard Kipling, The White Man’s Burden

Oct. 27 Middle Class Challenged 877-908
Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto
Contemporary newspaper interviews with Karl Marx
On Tolstoy’s Death: A young student’s memoir

Oct. 29 Delicate Equilibrium, 1870-1914 911-944
Lenin, What is to be Done?
Biographical Sketch of Lenin
Revolt of the Young Turks (1908): A discussion

Nov. 3 Test II

Nov. 5 The First World War, 1914-1918 947-956, 963-974
The World War I Document Archive
Under Fire, a memoir written by a Belgian soldier
Canada: An Historical Perspective
The Versailles Treaty

Nov. 10 The Russian Revolution & Stalin’s Regime 957-961, 977-987
Stalin

Nov. 12 Rise of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany 987-1017
Mussolini: short biography
Benito Mussolini, What is Fascism?
Hitler’s attempted putsch: A description
Hitler, Mein Kampf
Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany: An essay

Nov. 17 World War II 1021-1035
World War II Resources

Nov. 19 Film: The Red Star

Nov. 24 The Peace Settlement 1035-1040

(Nov. 26 Thanksgiving)

The Emergence of a World Civilization

1. TWO tests, each 20%, quizzes 10%, contribution to class 10%, final exam (cumulative) 40%. Note that the exams consist of a combination of essay questions and short (3-5 lines) "explain-identify" questions. There will be no make-ups except for documented illness.

2. Weekly home writing assignments (to a total of twelve) of approx. one typewritten page each. These will be largely based on the online material and will be given check, plus or minus.


3. Short oral presentations of assigned readings.

Attendance policy: More than 3 absences will result in lowering the final grade.

Note that the History Department policy stipulates an automatic F for plagiarism.