HIST 128 Europe since 1945
Gassert
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
History 128 continues where History 127 stopped. It begins in May 1945 with Europe in ruins, Germany defeated and Russian, British, and American forces facing each other in the rubble of a destroyed continent in the beginning of what came to be known as the Cold War. It follows the absorption of the aftershocks of the Holocaust, the reconstruction and reorganization of Europe , the Americanization of the Western, and the Sovietization of the Eastern half of the continent. It will take an in-depth look at the emergence of moves towards a European federation which led to the European Union. It traces the changes in labor, emigration, the rise of consumerism and feminism, violence, and organized revolts in 1968 and afterward. And it will look at how Europe absorbed the economic and cultural shocks of the 1970s such as the oil price crisis and the rise of terrorism. It will give equal weight to Eastern as well as to Western Europe and will examine the collapse of the Soviet Union and the democratization of Eastern Europe . The lecture ends with an outlook on the state of Europe at the beginning of the 21st century.
Course Syllabus (PDF)
