Germany and Central Europe in the Twentieth Century

Winter 2000/Kalamazoo College

Melissa Feinberg

Office: Dewing 303I, ex. 7054 Office Hours: Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00

This course will explore the history of Central Europe during the last century. For our purposes, Central Europe will encompass the countries of Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. One of the goals of the course will be to try and figure out the political, cultural and economic links between these nations, and to think about the ways in which their pasts intertwine. The general approach of the course will be regional and comparative rather than national. We will consider the topics we study within the framework of Central Europe as a whole, though we will examine also the different effects these events and ideas had in different countries.

Another goal of this course is to show how different kinds of sources can be used to document the past. We will be reading a wide variety of materials, from books written by historians to novels, newspaper articles, and films. The films (noted in the syllabus) will be shown on Wednesday eveningsch, in Dewing 300 at 7:30 pm. They are also available in the library.

Course Requirements: The basic requirement for this course is that you read each day’s assignment before the class session and come to class prepared to discuss what you have read. Your class participation will be part of your grade. You will also be asked to write two papers (4-6 pages), due during the 5th and 9th weeks of the quarter, and to take a final exam.

The following books have been ordered from the Kalamazoo College Bookstore:

V.R. Berghahn, Modern Germany (Cambridge University Press, 1987)

R.J. Crampton, Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (Routledge, 1997)

Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front (Fawcett Crest, 1982)

ichDavid Crew, ed., Nazism and German Society (Routledge, 1994)

Václav Havel, Living in Truth (Faber and Faber, 1990)

Czeslaw Milosz, The Captive Mind (Vintage, 1981)

All of these materials are also on reserve at the library.

Daily Topics and Assignments:

Week One—Central Europe in the Age of Empires

f20January 4: Introduction: What is Central Europe?

January 6: Central Europe in 1900

Reading: Berghahn, p. 1-29

Crampton, p.1-30

Week Two—The End of the Imperial Age

January 11: The First World War

Reading: Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

Berghahn, p. 38-56

January 13: Redrawing the Map of Central Europe: The Treaty of Versailles

Reading: Istvan Bethlehn, "The Treaty of Trianon and the Danubian Nations"*

Week Three— Politics in the Postwar Years

January 18: Socialist Revolution and Conservative Reaction

Reading: Berghahn, p. 57-81

Crampton, p.39-56 (Poland), 152-159

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January 19: Film, The Joyless Street (Germany, 1925)

January 20: Making Parliamentary Democracies in Central Europe

Reading: Berghahn, p. 87-101

Crampton, p.57-76 (Czechoslovakia)

Ernst Troeltsch, "The German Democracy"*

January 27: New Morals, New Ways and The "New Woman"

Reading: Elsa Herman, "This is the New Woman"*

Hilde Walter, "Twilight for Women"*

Week Five— The Crisis of the 1930’s

February 1: The Depression and Its Effects

Reading: Berghahn, p. 102-128

"f20Women’s Work and the Economic Crisis"*

"The Unemployed"*

*First Paper Due*

February 3: The Lure of Fascism

Week Six— The Impact of Nazism on Central Europe

February 8: A New German Reich

Reading: Berghahn, p. 129-171

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February 9: Film, The Shop on Main Street (Czechoslovakia, 1965)

February 10: German Occupied Central Europe/ the Holocaust

Reading: Crampton, p. 179-210

Week Seven—Breaking Europe into "East" and "West"

February 15: Superpower Politics and the Division of Central Europe

Reading: Berghahn, p. 177-197

bch Crampton, p. 211-239

Milosz, The Captive Mind p. 111-134 ("Beta, The Disappointed Lover")

February 16: Film, Ashes and Diamonds (Poland, 1958)

February 17: The Stalinization of the new "East"

Reading: Crampton, p. 240-275

Milosz, The Captive Mind, p.3-81

Week Eight—The West in the Postwar Era

February 22: The ‘Economic Miracle’ and American Influences

Reading: Berghahn, p. 197-216

Wagnleiter, "The U.S. Cultural Mission in Austria"*

February 23: Film, The Nasty Girl (Germany, 1990)

February 24: A New Germany Faces Its Past

Reading: Berghahn, p. 232-268

Week Nine—The East Under Soviet Domination

February 29: Reform Communism: Can Socialism Have A Human Face?

Reading: Crampton, p. 304-344

*Second Paper Due*

March 1: Film, Riddance (Hungary, 1972)

March 2: Normalization and Resignation

Reading: Crampton, p. 345-367

Havel, p. 3-35 "Letter to Dr. Husák"

Week Ten—Central Europe Reunited?

March 7: Dissident Movements and the Collapse of the East Bloc

Reading: Crampton, p. 367-391

f4 Havel, p. 36-122 "The Power of the Powerless"

March 9: Central Europe After 1989

Reading: Crampton, p.391-415