HIS 150 History of Europe, Culture & Society

This course looks at the development of culture and society in Europe from a historical perspective, beginning with a pre-modern segment that focuses on the Late Middle Ages and a series of upheavals (the Black Death and peasant revolts) which led Europe into the Age of Mercantilism and the Early Modern Era. The fabric of society in Europe was altered immeasurably by the following epochs, all of which this course will examine in detail: the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-reformation. During the next stage of HIS 150 we will look at the unique culture and philosophies that developed during the Baroque period, and continued with the Age of Enlightenment and coincided with the Age of Absolutism, where European monarchs struggled to retain supreme power.

After looking at the upheavals caused by the French Revolution and by the Napoleonic conquests, we will consider the industrialization of European society and the rising tide of nationalism, with a particular focus on the multiethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire. Once we transition into the 20th century, we will look at the rise of modern antisemitism, fascism, and bolshevism while considering WWI, the Bolshevik Revolution, WWII, and the Holocaust.

Finally, the last portion of this course dissects political culture and society in postwar Europe, where the East and West are split by the Iron Curtain. We will also consider the wider implications (internationally) of the Cold War and its impact on society in Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Czechoslovakia.