HIS 319LEC—The Interwar Crisis, 1919-1939

This is an advanced level undergraduate survey of World history between World War I and World War II. Students will be introduced to interwar history as the great period of crisis in contemporary history. This concept will be considered from diverse perspectives, including the changing dynamics of international relations, rapid social and cultural transformations, and the radical new politics ushered in by World War I and its aftermath. The course will focus on the major conflicts of the period, particularly those resulting from World War I and leading to World War II. Considerable attention will be given to the formation of the Soviet Union; the formation of the modern Middle East; the revolutionary civil wars in Spain, China, and elsewhere; the crisis of liberal democracies; and the rise of an age of dictatorship across much of the globe. EUR