Course Description

Welcome! This site is for students, parents, teachers and anyone else interested in the tenth-grade World History 2 Course at Santa Fe Prep.

The overall course covers the history of the world from roughly 1500 to the present. The first quarter opens with the time when Asia was the center of world affairs, then traces European encounters with Asia and the Americas, and the complex interactions and consequences of the so-called "Columbian Exchange" between Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. The first quarter ends with a survey of the European Renaissance and Reformation, in both its local and global dimensions. The second quarter will focus on the rise of absolute monarchies and new ideas and practices, especially with the scientific revolution and Enlightenment. The second quarter ends with assessments of the legacies of the French Revolution, Napoleon and the emergence of the British Empire. The third quarter starts with the implications of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars in the wake of the Congress of Vienna, i.e., the discourse on rights, reaction, revolution and reform, the rise of new ideologies, in particular, Classical Liberalism, nationalism, and romanticism, and conservative reactions to the changes wrought by the American and French Revolutions. The course then examines the rise of industrialization and social change in 19th-century Europe, and the emergence of middle and working class cultures, followed by new iterations of liberalism and conservatism, the proliferation of more ideologies, e.g., socialism, communism, ultranationalism, social Darwinism, and antisemitism. Then the course examines the unification of the Italian and German nation states, and the creation of the modern welfare state. From there the course traces the rise of a new wave of Western imperialism, followed by the rest of the world's reactions to the rise of European empires and ideas, and in particular, the emergence of industrial Japan and their surprising victory over Russia. The third quarter ends with the outbreak of the First World War. The fourth and final quarter surveys the effects of the First World War, followed by the brief peak of classical liberal nation states and promises for peace, and the rapid rise of authoritarianism, in both communist and fascist variations, with a special focus on the rise of Nazism, the Nazi racial transformation of Germany and the Holocaust and Shoah of modern Europe. The fourth quarter concludes by looking at the causes and effects of the Second World War, the Cold War, the end of European empires in Asia and Africa, the emergence of the Modern Middle East and China, the end of the Cold War, history since 1989, all the way to the present, including current events.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Week 5: The Nation State, Nationalism, and Imperialism

January 28-February 1

*Leading questions: What is the nation? What is the nation state? What is imperialism? What role did nationalism play in the unification movements of Italy and Germany? What kind of nation state emerged in unified Germany and why? What were the causes and effects of European imperialism in the late 19th century? What are some of the different interpretations that some historians offer for the rise of modern European imperialism?

**Readings: Sherman, "The National State, Nationalism, and Imperialism: 1850-1914," in Western Civilization, 171-188, Roberts, "The European World Order," and "The Gathering Clouds: New Nations and German Ascendancy," in A Short History of the World, 359-372 & 394-397, and Pomeranz/Topik, "Making Modern Markets," in The World that Trade Created, 205-207.
For further background readings:
2. See German History in Documents: Forging an Empire (1866-1890).
3. For a basic background, see: Schools History.org (UK): German Unification.

***Key Terms and Persons: Nation, Nation State, Nationalism, German and Italian unification, Ernest Renan, Otto von Bismarck, Realpolitik, State Socialism, Giuseppe Mazzini, "The Duties of Man," The "Black Shirts," Heinrich von Treitschke, "Militant Nationalism," Imperialism, Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden," "The Scramble for Africa," and The "Standard Treaty"

****Projects: IR/BR: Submit book review, final draft.

Day 1:
In-class: Reading quiz# 3
Secondary source: Read the introduction to Sherman, Chapter 13, pp. 171-172; introduce and discuss the question: What is the nation? 
Primary source: Begin to read and discuss excerpts from Ernest Renan's "What Is A Nation?" (in-class handout).

Homework:  
Primary source: Read Guiseppe Mazzini, "The Duties of Man," and Heinrich von Treitschke, "Militant Nationalism," in: Sherman, pp. 174-176; see also Roberts, "The Gathering Clouds: New Nations and German Ascendancy," in A Short History of the World, 394-397
Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): What are the origins and potential appeals of Italian and German unification.

Day 2: 
In-class: Discuss the basis and appeal of Mazzini's nationalism; review the brief history of Italian and German unification; discuss the basis, appeal and potential of Treitschke's nationalism; introduce and discuss the question: What is the nation state? Introduce the history of German unification, Otto von Bismarck, the creation of the German social welfare state, and the problems of Polish unification.

Homework: 
Primary source: Read Otto von Bismarck, "Speeches on Pragmatism and State Socialism," in Sherman, pp. 172-174.
Visual source: Jacek Malczewski, "Melancholia," in: Sherman, p.179.
Secondary source: David Blackbourn, "German Unification," p. 185. 
Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): What are the origins and justifications of Bismarck's conception of the "nation state" and Germany's socialist policies? What, according to Blackbourn, were the international conditions for Germany's unification?

Day 3:
In-class: Discuss the  "Question" of German unification; see also the problems of Polish unification; introduce imperialism and begin to discuss the origins and effects of late 19th-century European imperialism; see also the "Scramble for Africa".
Primary source: Rudyard Kipling, "The White Man's Burden," in: Sherman, pp. 177-178.
Visual sources:George Harcourt, "Imperialism Glorified," "American Imperialism in Asia: Independence Day 1899," and "Imperialism in Africa," in: Sherman, pp. 180-184;
Roberts, "The European World Order," in A Short History of the World, 359-372.

Homework: 
NOTE: students may turn in their book review drafts on Monday, February 4; contact instructor individually for extensions due to extenuating circumstances.
Primary sources: Friedrich Fabri,"Does Germany Need Colonies," and Royal Niger Company, "Controlling Africa: The Standard Treaty," in: Sherman, pp. 176-177 and 178.
Secondary sources: Eric J. Hobsbawn, "The Age of Empire," Carlton J. H. Hayes, "Imperialism as a Nationalistic Phenomenon," Daniel J. Headrick, "The Tools of Empire," and Margaret Strobel, "Gender and Empire," in: Sherman, pp. 186-188.
Answer: prepare written responses to the accompanying questions as the basis for discussion (may be collected): what are some of the different interpretations that historians have offered for the phenomena of modern imperialism, e.g., economics, nationalism and/or other cultural values and attitudes, technology and even gender? What do you think?

Day 4: Discuss the origins and effects of modern European imperialism; see also the rise of US and Japanese imperialism; review materials for reading quiz #4 on Friday, February 8. 

Homework: Book review reading and drafting process; book review drafts are due on Monday, February 4, and prepare for reading quiz on Friday, February 8. 
  
 
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