Synopses & Reviews
The first half of the twentieth century was of one of the most turbulent periods in Europe's history. While social theorists challenged orthodox ways of thinking about the establishment of a "good society," scientists offered up new visions of the workings of the universe. Women fought for increased power within the altered social landscape, and change and controversy reigned in the worlds of art and culture. The chaos of world politics ushered in the two great wars, which would forever alter Europe's position in the world.
Europe, 1890-1945 offers a concise, accessible overview of this tumultuous time period. It provides a clear outline of the political events that shaped the age and offers a discussion of the seismic shifts in social and cultural landscapes. Topics covered include the rise of modernism in the arts, Social Darwinism and its effects on theories of race, the making of "national" identities, the origins of the modern ecology movement, and the changing roles of women in an era of war and violence. The authors thoroughly analyze the causes and effects of the two great wars, while reaching beyond Europe to discuss the events in the United States, Africa, and Asia that contributed to the evolving face of world politics. With nine maps for easy reference, chapter summaries to aid in reader comprehension, a detailed chronology, and twenty-four photographs, Europe, 1890-1945 is an ideal text for undergraduate courses that explore the crisis and conflict that governed the early twentieth-century European world.
Synopsis
Writing History is designed to provide the necessary material for general courses in historiography, identifying in turn the evolution of 'traditional' approaches, the challenge of the 'linguistic turn', and contemporary perspectives that inform our current understandings.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-282) and index.
Table of Contents
1. The New Age European Peoples
The Creative Passion
The New Sciences
New Visions of Society
Freud and the Science of the Mind
New Women
Summary
2. The Modernization of Nations
Political Ideas
Britain: Toward Democracy and Crisis
France: The Third Republic, 1890-1914
Italy: Unity and Frustration
Germany: The Nation-State
Austria Hungary: Dividing Humanity into Nations
Imperial Russia: The Struggle for Modernity
The Autocratic Monarchies in 1914
The United States: The Emerging Great Power
Summary
3. Great War, Great Revolution
Causes of the War
The Course of the War
The Home Fronts
The Peace Settlements
The Russian Revolution of 1917
The Environment
Summary
4. Between the Wars: A Twenty-Year Crisis
The First Triumph of Fascism: Italy
The Weimar Republic: Germany, 1918-1933
Germany Under Hitler, 1933-1939
Authoritarianism in Iberia
Successor States to the Habsburg Empire
Other Authoritarian Regimes in Europe
The Soviet Union
Summary
5. The Democracies and the Non-Western World
Great Britain
France
The United States
The East Meets the West: Western History and World History
Summary
6. The Second World War and Its Aftermath
International Politics Between the Wars
The Road to War, 1931-1939
World War II, 1939-1942
Victory for the United Nations
Aftermath
Summary
Chronology
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