HIST138 - WAR AND GENOCIDE IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE

Status
O
Activity
LEC
Title (text only)
HIST138 - WAR AND GENOCIDE IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY EUROPE
Term
2019A
Syllabus
Subject area
HIST
Section number only
001
Section ID
HIST138001
Meeting times
TR 0300PM-0430PM
Meeting location
COLLEGE HALL 314
Instructors
MOSES, ANTHONY
Description
War and genocide have caused untold suffering in twentieth-century Europe. Various types of violence, including aerial bombing, ethnic cleansing, and genocide have caused the tens of millions of civilian casualties. This class poses basic questions about this violent period of European history: How and why did armed conflict and violence against civilians occur? How are war and genocide related? How are the categories of civilians ("innocent women and children"), war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide constructed? How do victims respond to their treatment, and does gender identity play a role in their experiences? Are war crimes trials effective? How does memory of victory and defeat affect political culture? Is racism elemental to war and genocide? Finally, how is this violence related to state decomposition, formation, and consolidation? In answering these questions, the class takes a long view of the twentieth century, beginning with the "eastern crisis" decades before the First World War, when European powers sought to gain advantage in the expected demise of the Ottoman Empire. It proceeds chronologically by examining a new type of ethnic warfare waged in the Balkan Wars of 1912/13, and then the experience of civilians during the First World War and Second World Wars, including the Holocaust and other Axis victims. The class also covers the Soviet violence against perceived internal enemies. The question of postwar stability during the Cold War is set against the massive population expulsions of the mid-1940s, and Europeans' use of violence maintaining the colonial empires into the 1970s. The class considers the reasons for the renewal of war and genocide in Europe after the end of the Cold War in 1990, as well as the controversies about memories of the Holocaust and Communism in Central and Eastern Europe. We will watch and discuss extracts from relevant films and documentaries. Given the subject matter, these will not make for easy viewing. Please consult with me if you might find them challenging.
Course number only
138
Use local description
No
LPS Course
false
Major Concentrations
Major/Minor Requirements Fulfilled