| History 4375 — Spring 1997 |
G. Shanafelt
|
WAR AND PEACE:
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN THE MODERN WORLD
| The great questions of the day cannot be solved by speeches and majority votes . . . but by blood and iron. |
| There must be, not a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but organized peace. |
Reading Assignments
Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Garrett Mattingly, The Armada
James Joll, The Origins of the First World War, 2nd ed.
Kenneth M. Jansen, ed., Origins of the Cold War, 2nd ed.
Eyre Crowe, “Memorandum on the Present State of British Relations with
France and Germany”
Course Requirements
War and Peace are the subjects of this course, which covers the development of the modern state system as it evolved from the time of the Renaissance in Europe to the present day. What makes a state weak or strong? What causes war? What causes peace? How have statesmen worked to advance the interests of their states through both war and peace? What are the chief motive forces that govern how sovereign states perceive their interests and relate to other states? What has been the role of individual leadership, economic development, and plain accident on the course of developments over the centuries? If some of these questions receive answers by the end of the semester, then the course will have fulfilled its goals.
It goes without saying that you are expected to come to class having completed
the weekly reading assignments. Your grade in this course will be
computed as follows: 25% on each of three noncomprehensive tests and 25%
on a 10-page typed, double-spaced paper. The paper will be an essay
comparing two primary documents from recent diplomatic history: Eyre Crowe's
1907 memorandum on Germany and George Kennan’s 1946 “Long Telegram” on
the Soviet Union. The tests will be roughly 40% objective and 60%
essay. The final exam will be in actuality simply the third test; it will
not be comprehensive.
Proposed Class and Reading Schedule
| Jan 14 Jan 16 |
Origins of the European State System The Rise of the Habsburgs |
Kennedy, xv-xxv, 3-72 Mattingly, 1-109 |
| Jan 21 Jan 23 |
The Crises of the 16th Century From the Armada to the 30 Years War |
Mattingly, 110-244 |
| Jan 28 Jan 30 |
Louis XIV and the Shopkeepers Politics and War in the 18th Century |
Mattingly, 245-334, 397-402 Kennedy, 73-115 |
| Feb 4 Feb 6 |
The French Revolution and Napoleon The Vienna Settlement, 1815 |
Kennedy, 115-139 |
| Feb 11 Feb 13 |
Metternich’s Europe FIRST TEST |
Kennedy, 143-169 |
| Feb 18 Feb 20 |
Napoleon III and Cavour Bismarck and Blood and Iron |
Kennedy, 170-193 |
| Feb 25 Feb 27 |
Bismarck’s Europe Weltpolitik |
Kennedy, 194-249 Joll, 1-9, 42-145 |
| Mar 4 Mar 6 |
The Making of the Ententes The Bones of a Pomeranian Grenadier |
Kennedy, 249-256 Joll, 146-198 |
| [Spring Break] |
||
| Mar 18 Mar 20 |
Wilson, Lenin, and the New Diplomacy The Versailles Settlement, 1919 |
Kennedy, 256-291 Joll, 10-41, 199-240 |
| Mar 25 Mar 27 |
SECOND TEST The End of Collective Security |
Kennedy, 291-320 |
| Apr 1 Apr 3 |
Appeasement To Die for Danzig |
Kennedy, 333-343 |
| Apr 8 Apr 10 |
The Road to Pearl Harbor The Diplomacy of the Grand Alliance |
Kennedy, 320-333, 347-357 |
| Apr 15 | The Cold War— I | Kennedy, 357-437 Jensen, vii-95 |
| Apr 17 |
PAPER DUE | |
| Apr 17 |
The Cold War — II | |
| Apr 22 Apr 24 |
The Fall of the Wall A New World Order? |
Kennedy, 438-540 |
| Apr 29 |
Conclusion | |
| May 5 | THIRD TEST |