German History 1871 - Present

I. Topics

Part I: The Bismarck-Ära (1871-1890)

The Foundation of the German Empire and the Constitution
Industrialization, Industrial Revolution and the Cultural Fight in Germany
Foreign Policy I: Bismarck\'s Appeasement Policy

Part II: World-Power-Policy

The Wilhelminian Ära: Policy and Society
Foreign Policy II: German Colonialsm and Imperialism
Word War I: From the Crisis of July 1914 to the End of War

Part III: The Weimarer Republic (1919-1933)

Years of Instability (1918-1923): Revolutions, Hyperinflation and the Constitution
Political Consequences of the Treaty of Versailles
The Breakdown of Weimar

Part IV: The III. Reich

The End of Democracy and the Changes of Society (1933-34)
The political system: Elements of the Totalitarian State
Foreign Policy III: The Revision of the Versailles Treaty and War Planning
German Resistance Groups

Part V: Under Military Control (1945-1949)

The consequences of World War II (an overview)
Constitutions and Political Systems in East- and West Germany
Social and Economical Development

Part VI: West-Integration and Stalinism (1949-1961)

The "Cold War" and German Division
The Relationship between East and West Germany: Economy First
Foreign Policy IV: Integration in the Western State Community
The Economical Development in Germ,any

Part VII: German Dualism (1961-1985)

GDR: From Ulbricht to Honecker
Foreign Policy V: New East Policy and the German Treaties
Political Extremism
Economical and Political Developments in West German<

Part VIII: From Reunification to the Present (1990-2002)

The Breakdown of the GDR
Foreign Policy VI: International Conferences (2 + 4) and National Unity
Politics and Policy after Unification

II. Literature:

Craig, Gordon: Germany 1866 - 1945, Oxford 1978
Craig, Gordon: Germany 1945 - the Present, Oxford 1986
Childs/Jeffrey: West Germany: Politics and Society, London 1981
Goldhagen, Daniel: Hitler\'s willing executioners, ordinary germans and the holocaust, London 1996
Grunberger, Richard: Germany 1918-1945, London 1964
Hoffmann, A.: Facts about Germany, Frankfurt 1922
McElvoy, Anne: the saddled cow: Est Germany\'s life and legacy, London 1993
Parkes, Stuart: Understanding Contemporary Germany: The Federal Republic of Germany, London 1997
Rice/Zelikow: Germany unified amd europe transformed, London 1995
Further Materials: Statistics, Graphics, Internet Sources

III. Structure of the seminar:

The seminar gives a survey of german history from 1871 to the Present. It is based on the reading and the discussion of standard scientific descriptions of german history.
Each member of the seminar gets a reading in the second sitting. It consists of 250-300 pages of Literature and further material which prepare the different topics of the course. During the sittings the topics get discussed and further information is given (mainly by verbal speeches but also by films, graphics and visits of museums).
What do the participants?

they prepare and hold a speech of ten minutes about a historical topic
they write a presentation paper (3-5 pages)
they write three tests
they prepare the courses

Sektionen

German History 1871 - Present