History 440: Germany in the 19th Century

Instructor: William Mood

Email: wmood@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

 

 

Purpose

In this course, we will examine the history of Germany during the so-called long 19th century, the period from the French revolution to World War I. Our focus is on Germany's rise as a modern state and the political debates about its role as a world power. Together we will analyze the social and economic upheavals of industrialization and German response to workers' protests. In particular, we will map the development of German ideology and trace both the continuity as well as the discontinuity of German history. Using a combination of primary sources, students will investigate topics such as nationalism and imperialism, free trade and liberalism, the revolutions of 1848 and German unity 1871 as well as immigration and racism.

Textbooks

• Volker R. Berghahn, Imperial Germany 1871-1914: Economy, Society, Culture and Politics (Berghahn Books, 1994) ISBN 1-57181-014-5

• David Blackbourn, The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918 (New York: O.U.P, 1998) ISBN 0-19-507672-9

• Arden Bucholz, Moltke and the German Wars, 1864-1871 (New York: Palgrave, 2001) ISBN 0-333-68758-2

• Supplemental Primary Sources On-line: Internet History Sourcebook: 19th Century Austria and Germany

Objectives

• Identify the effects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars on Germany.

• Describe the impact of nationalism and liberalism on the formation of a German state.

• Analyze the relationship between church and state, and describe Bismarck's motivation in the Kulturkampf.

• Examine the impact of technology on the workplace, home and society.

• Discuss the rise of socialism and the problems of urbanization and demographic growth during the ninetieth century.

• Describe the role of race, class, and gender in German society.

• Evaluate the social and economic impact of German imperialism in Africa.

• Assess the social, political and economic effects of warfare on German society and in particular discuss the causes of the World Wars I.

• Explain the debate over continuity or discontinuity in German history.

Our secondary goal is to promote writing skills and to introduce you to the concepts of source analysis and documentation of sources.

Grading

Class participation/Weekly Assignments (30%)
Group Project: PowerPoint Project or Web Page (10%)
Review of an academic article (10%)
Review of a Web site (5%)
Final (20%)
A 10 page research paper, approximately 2000 words (25%)

Review of an Academic Article

Write a 2-page review of an academic article located in either the JSTOR or Project Muse database. Your review should combine both the main ideas of the article as well as course materials. In particular, you should address the question: "How does the author add to our understanding of 19th century Germany?"

Term Paper

The 10-page term paper offers you a chance to investigate some aspect of German history. You can select from a wide range of topics from sports, politics, music, art, business, or military history. Be creative in your selection of a research topic; but remember that, in a short paper, you must narrow your topic as much as possible. A paper on the Revolutions of 1848 would be too broad. You could, however, focus on a small aspect of the revolution, for example, the Turnverein. Frame your topic in the form of a question: "What was the role of the Turnverein movement in the revolution of 1848?" Then check the UMUC library database for 5 academic sources as well as primary sources that answer your research question. Keep in mind that articles in Encarta are not considered academic sources. Relying too heavily on dubious internet sites and online encyclopedias for information is a sign of poor research skills. Your final paper should demonstrate mastery of the topic, use of proper formatting style with endnotes, and solid English skills. To review writing skills, see The Nuts & Bolts of College Writing. Also, refer to the UMUC Effective Writing Center for help.

Web Links

• Avalon Project: Major Documents Collection

• Center for Studies of Intelligence: Publications

• Foreign Relations of the United States: Electronic Facsimile (1900-1918)

• German Historical Museum

• German History Resources

• H-German Home Page

• Images of World War I: French Posters 1914-1920 (Baylor University)

• Images of World War I: The Western Front part of the Virtual Seminar for Teaching Literature (Oxford Univ.)

• Images of Australian Identity In The First World War 

• Internet Modern History Source Book (Paul Halshall)

• Military History Institute Digital Library Collection

• Primary Documents: 19th century Germany (Brigham Young University)

• World War I Document Archive (Brigham Young University)

• TAKE UP THE SWORD. British Posters of World War One (Georgetown Univ.)

• The Red Scare Image Database

• 1914-18 war - Art of the First World War

• John Gilinsky, Military/War Art and Artists

• The Propaganda Gallery (requires RealPlayer)

• Photos of the Great War

  Non-Academic

  • World War I: Trenches on the Web

  • Karl Murray, The Great War, 1914-1918

  • Robert Swanson, First World War Images  

  • The Great War (PBS)