How Empires Fall: Europe and the Making of the Modern World

Catalog description

At the height of their power in the early twentieth century, European empires controlled nearly 85% of the earth's land surface. Within a few decades, the old imperial order had begun to unravel. How did a world of empires give way to a world of nation-states? We begin with the French and Haitian Revolutions, which unleashed new ideas about liberty and sovereignty, and end with the fall of the Soviet Union. Along the way we encounter the industrial revolution and the global spread of capitalism; the birth of nationalism and its explosive consequences; the catastrophe of the First World War and the empires it destroyed; the rise of fascism and the second, even more devastating global conflict it produced; the great wave of decolonization that remade Africa, Asia, and the Middle East; and finally the collapse of communism. Throughout, this course engages both primary and secondary sources that challenge conventional narratives of European modernity, emphasizing how colonialism, race, and migration were foundational to the continent's political, social, and economic transformations. The transition from a world of empires to a world of nation-states was violent, imperfect, and incomplete. We will end the class by reflecting on the ways in which the imperial world order continues to cast its shadow on global politics.