Modern Germany

Catalog description

This course examines German history from 1871 to the present. Topics covered include European imperialism, World War I, the Weimar Republic, Hitler and the rise of National Socialism, World War II, the Holocaust, post-World War II reconstruction, East and West Germany in the Cold War, West Germany's role in European integration, the student rebellion of 1968, the revolution of 1989, and the changes in unified Germany after the collapse of Communism. In line with recent trends in transnational and global history, we will also analyze Germany's manifold connections with the rest of Europe and the world. We will engage with a variety of sources, including films, images, fiction, memoirs, diaries, party and state documents, and secondary accounts.