HIST 237 - Germany, 1918-1990

1 unit(s)

This course covers German history from the end of World War I to the 1990 unification that ended the post–World War II split of German society into East and West. Aside from familiarizing you with a narrative of German political, social, and cultural history, the readings also explore some of the so-called “peculiarities” of German history. Did Bismarck’s unification from above and the pseudo-constitutional character of the Second Reich create a political culture that set the country on a Sonderweg (special path) of modernization ending in the catastrophe of Auschwitz? Why did Weimar, Germany’s first experiment with democracy, fail, and why is Bonn not Weimar? Finally, what road will the new Germany take within Europe and the world?

Not offered in 2014/15.