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History 3355

Europe 1815-1918: The Last Century of the Habsburg Monarchy

The nationalisms and rivalries of the nations of Eastern Europe are a product of the nineteenth century. Contemporaries were as troubled by their implications as we are today, so studying these problems in their genesis has immediate relevance. By the end of the course, you will no longer be able to say that these are "distant peoples of whom we know nothing." Early in the semester, all participants will select one of the following as "their nation", and henceforth form part of a national contingent that will contribute its views to class discussions:

Germans Czechs Serbs Slovenes Italians Ukrainians

Hungarians Slovaks Croats Poles Romanians

Writing about the history of the Habsburg Monarchy and Eastern Europe is more burdened than most topics with rhetoric and propaganda. We will seek to penetrate the fog by examining primary sources and preparing short analytical papers on an event or person in relation to one of the nationalities of the region. Your paper must cite at least one primary source, two articles, and two books in 5-8 pages. A thesis statement and draft will be required well in advance of the final due date, and only the final draft will be counted toward the grade.

There are three required texts for the course:

A.J.P. Taylor, The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809-1918
Alan Sked, The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire 1815-1918
Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March

There will be one copy of each of these books on library reserve, and also copies of the following titles that include readings listed below or may be otherwise usefully consulted:

Austrian History Yearbook, volume 3, parts 1-3 (1967)
Carl Dolmetsch, "Our Famous Guest": Mark Twain in Vienna
Peter Sugar and Ivo Lederer, Nationalism in Eastern Europe
Emil Niederhauser, The Rise of Nationality in Eastern Europe
Istvan Deak, Beyond Nationalism: a Social and Political History of the Habsburg Officer Corps, 1848-1918
The following work, in our library's maps collection, is also highly recommended:

Paul R. Magocsi, Historical Atlas of East Central Europe, MAPS G2081.S1 M3 1993

Databases, e-mail, and the WorldWideWeb (WWW) are increasingly important tools of the historian. In addition to the above readings, you will be responsible for several short texts that will be available from a location on the WWW that will be identified later. All students will receive an e-mail account if they do not have one already. Discussion topics marked by an asterisk (*) on the outline below will have an online component.

Grading:

Two Map Quizzes (September 16, November 18): 5%

Review of a Web Site (Due September 30) 5%

Classroom Participation 10%

Online Participation 10%

Paper (Thesis due October 7; draft due November 11;

final version due December 2) 20%

Midterm (October 16) 20%

Final 30%

Optional, Extra-Credit Listserv Review (Due November 4) 5%

Any student who, because of a disabling condition, may require some special arrangement in order to meet course requirements should contact the instructor as soon as possible so that the necessary accommodations can be made.