HS/IR/PO 346 COLD WAR EUROPE: A HISTORY IES Abroad Rome

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course focuses on the main phases, features, and fractures of the history of Cold War Europe, both Eastern and Western Europe, from 1945 to 1992. Europe undoubtedly represented the heart of the Cold War and was the area where the confrontation between the Western and the Soviet bloc, the contest between ‘Communism’ and ‘capitalism’ and the clash between democratic and totalitarian values was more evident and dramatic. As the Cold War ‘exploded’ in Europe, cutting the continent in two separate geopolitical areas, western European nations had to face the Communist States in the East, define and strengthen their economies and institutions and work effectively within the framework of an American alliance, at times having to resist US hegemony. Finally, European countries certainly played a crucial role in bringing the conflict to an end. The course takes into consideration several levels of analysis: political developments, economic cycles, social changes, cultural and religious factors. The course also deals with European society after World War II; the beginning of the Cold War; the Reconstruction of Western Europe and Stalinism in the Eastern Bloc; the Economic Miracle and the process of decolonization; the affluent society and the rising of the political Left; the end of the Golden Age and the several uprisings in the Soviet Bloc; the main stages of the process of European unification; the fall of the Soviet Empire and the end of the Cold War; the origins of current multicultural Europe. The course also provides insight into the history of the special but complex relationship between Europe and the United States. Finally, it analyses the decidedly unanticipated transformation of Europe from a ‘geographical expression’ into a distinctively ‘European’ way of regulating political conflict, social intercourse, and inter- state relations; a model which also represented a global challenge to both the Soviet Union and the ‘American way of life’.

CREDITS: 3

CONTACT HOURS: 45

LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION: English

PREREQUISITIES: none

METHOD OF PRESENTATION: Lectures, seminar discussions, students’ presentations, use of multimedia resources (selected by the instructor), Moodle.

REQUIRED WORK AND FORM OF ASSESSMENT: • Course Participation – 10% • Midterm Exam – 30% • Research Paper – 20% • In-class Presentation – 10% • Final Exam – 30%

Grading Rubric for course participation A Excellent participation The student’s contributions reflect an active reading of the assigned bibliography. Skillfully synthesizes the main ideas of the readings and raises questions about the applications and implications of the material. Demonstrates, through questions and comments, that he or she has been capable of relating the main ideas in the readings to the other information discussed in the course, and with his or her own life experience. The student makes informed judgments about the readings and other ideas discussed in class, providing evidence and reasons. He/she respectfully states his/her reactions to other classmates’ opinions and is capable of contributing to the inquiry spiral with other questions. The student gets fully involved in the completion of the class activities.

B Very good participation The student’s contributions show that the assigned materials are usually read. Most of the time the main ideas are identified, even though sometimes it seems that applications and implications of the information read were not properly reflected upon. The student is able to construct over others’ contributions but sometimes seems to interrupt the shared construction to go on tangents. He/she is respectful of others’ ideas. Regularly involved in the activities but occasionally loses concentration or energy.

C Regular participation The participant evidences a regular reading of the bibliography but in a superficial way. He/she tries to construct over others’ ideas, but commonly provides comments that indicate lack of preparation of the material. Frequently, contributions are shallow or unarticulated with the discussion in hand.

F Insufficient participation Consistently, the participant reads in a shallow way or does not read at all. Does not participate in an informed way, and shows lack of interest in constructing over others’ ideas.

Midterm Exam Composed of essays

Final Exam Composed of essays

Research Paper 2,500 to 3,750 words on a topic/book chosen with the instructor

Presentation Students will create presentations on research paper topics and present in-class

LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the course, students will be able to: • Acquire a more complex knowledge of the Cold War • Critically analyze relevant factors shaping European society over the recent past and today • Identify the most relevant features of post-war European history • Understand post-war history both of the individual European countries and of the relations among them • Acquire a complex understanding of European history during the Cold War years, combining global history, European history, and the history of individual nations • Explain the current public debate on the most relevant European issues and on the most relevant difficulties Europeans are currently facing • Discover the roots of current multicultural Europe • Understand the origins of current relations between Europe and the United States, putting them into historical perspective • Compare the ‘European way’ with other case studies and other models.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. If a student misses more than two classes, 2 percentage points will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical emergencies or family emergencies. IES will only consider extreme emergency cases and will strictly adhere to this policy.

Please note: 4 percentage points will be deducted from the final grade in case of an absence on a scheduled Course-Related Trip.

CONTENT:

Week Content Assignments

Week 1 What is Cold War Europe? • Tony Judt, Postwar, ch. 1 (‘The Legacy of War’), 1. Overview of the course pp. 13-40 2. From war to Cold War • Richard Overy, Interwar, War, Postwar: Was There a Zero Hour in 1945?, in The Oxford Handbook of Postwar European History, edited by Dan Stone, ch. 2, pp. 60-78

Week 2 Dual Europe • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a 1. From allies to foes Contested Continent, ch. 1 (‘From War to Cold 2. Creating post-war Europe War’), pp. 11-32; and ch. 4 (‘Creating the West’) pp. 57-86

Week 3 Struggle for Europe • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a 1. Stalinism and the Soviet dominance in the Contested Continent, ch. 3 (’Stalinization’), pp. 33- East 55 2. An empire by invitation? The role of the • Tony Judt, Postwar, ch. 8 (‘The Politics of United States in European recovery Stability’), pp. 241-277

Week 4 The ‘Replica States’: Eastern Europe in the ‘50s and • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a ‘60s Contested Continent, ch. 5 (‘1956: Communism in 1. The Eastern Bloc between the ‘Really Existing Turmoil’), pp. 87-107; and ch. 7 (‘Really Existing Socialism’ and dramatic uprisings Socialism’), pp. 133-155 2. Experiencing communist totalitarianism: The Lives of Others

Week 5 West vs East • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a 1. Towards the Clash: The ‘German Question’, Contested Continent, Chapter 6 (‘The Berlin the Cuban Crisis, and the Nuclear Threat Crisis’), pp. 109-132 2. The Symbol of Italian Democracy during the Cold War Years: Visit to the Italian Parliament

Week 6 Midterm Exam 1. Midterm Review 2. Midterm Exam

Week 7 The European Golden Age • Tony Judt, Postwar, Chapter 10 (‘The Age of 1. Facing a New Europe: The Economic Miracle Affluence’); and Chapter 11 (‘The Social and the process of decolonization Democratic Hour') 2. The Affluent Society and the Rising of the Political Left in Western Europe

Week 8 ‘Not Like Us’: Europeans and America during Détente • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a 1. Resentful and Reluctant Allies? Europe and Contested Continent, Chapter 8 (‘The Reluctant the United States during the De Gaulle Era Ally’), pp. 157-178 2. Towards a Very Difficult Union • Robert H. Lieshout, The Politics of European Unification, in Themes in Modern European History, edited by Rosemary Wakeman, pp. 211- 233 - ON THE SHELF

Week 9 Crisis in Europe • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a 1. 1968 & 1973: Two ‘Terrible’ Years Contested Continent, Chapter 10 (‘The Resentful 2. Dealing with the Memory of Cold War Allies’), pp. 205-235 Europe: Meeting with Italian Students at • Tony Judt, Postwar, Chapter 12 (‘The Spectre of Università Roma Tre Revolution’); and Chapter 14 (‘Diminished Expectations’

Week 10 The Last Decade of the Cold War in Europe • Geir Lundestad, The European Role at the 1. The Battle of the Euromissiles: The Second Beginning and Particularly the End of the Cold Era of the Cold War in Europe War, in Olad Njolstad (ed.), The Last Decade of 2. An Alternative Path to Communism? The the Cold War in Europe, From Conflict Escalation Italian Communist Party and to Conflict Transformation, ch. 3, pp. 50-66 Eurocommunism. Visit to the Archives of the • Silvio Pons, The Rise and Fall of Eurocommunism, Italian Communist Party in The Cambridge History of the Cold War, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, vol III, ch. 3, pp. 45-65

Week 11 The Collapse of Communism and the End of the Cold • Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a War Contested Continent, Chapter 11 (‘1989: The 1. 1989: The Year of Revolutions Years of Revolutions’), pp. 237-267 2. The Fall of the Soviet Empire and the End of the Cold War

Week 12 Presentations of Research Papers and General Review

Week 13 Final Exam The Research Paper is due on the day of the Final Exam

COURSE-RELATED EXCURSIONS:

• The Symbol of Italian Democracy during the Cold War Years: Visit to the Italian Parliament • Inside the Cold War and its secrets: Visit to the Archives of the Italian Communist Party • Dealing with the Memory of Cold War Europe: Meeting with Italian Students at Università Roma Tre

REQUIRED READINGS:

• Mark Gilbert, Cold War Europe. The Politics of a Contested Continent, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, Chapters: 1 (‘From War to Cold War’); 3 (’Stalinization’); 4 (‘Creating the West’); 5 (‘1956: Communism in Turmoil’); 6 (‘The Berlin Crisis’); 7 (‘Really Existing Socialism’); 8 (‘The Reluctant Ally’); 10 (‘The Resentful Allies’); 11 (‘1989: The Years of Revolutions’); • Tony Judt, Postwar. A History of Europe since 1945, New York: The Penguin Press, 2005, Chapters: 1 (‘The Legacy of War’); 8 (‘The Politics of Stability’); 10 (‘The Age of Affluence’); 11 (‘The Social Democratic Hour'); 12 (‘The Spectre of Revolution’); 14 (‘Diminished Expectations’) • Robert H. Lieshout, The Politics of European Unification, in Themes in Modern European History, edited by Rosemary Wakeman, London; New York: Routledge, 2003, pp. 211-23; • Geir Lundestad, The European Role at the Beginning and Particularly the End of the Cold War, in Olad Njolstad (ed.), The Last Decade of the Cold War in Europe, From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation, London, Portland: Frank Cass, 2004, ch. 3, pp. 50-66; • Silvio Pons, The Rise and Fall of Eurocommunism, in The Cambridge History of the Cold War, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, vol III, ch. 3, pp. 45-65.

RECOMMENDED READINGS: • Black J., Europe since the Seventies, London: Reaktion, 2009; • Di Scala S., Europe’s Long Century: Society, Politics, and Culture, 1945-present, New York: Oxford University Press, 2013; • Eichengreen B., The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007; • Fowkes B., Eastern Europe 1945-1969: from Stalinism to Stagnation, Harlow, England; New York: Longman, 2000; • Fulbrook M (ed.), Europe since 1945, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2001; • Gaddis J.L., The Cold War. A New History, New York: Penguin Press, 2005; • Lundestad G., The United States and Western Europe since 1945. From “Empire” by Invitation to Transatlantic Drift, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003; • Maier Ch.S., Dissolution: The Crisis of Communism and the End of East Germany, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997; • Mazower M., Dark Continent: Europe’s Twentieth Century, London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 1998; • Nolan M., The Transatlantic Century. Europe and America, 1890-2010, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012; • Nuti L. (ed.), The Crisis of Detenté in Europe: from Helsinki to Gorbachev, 1975-1985, London; New York: Routledge, 2009; • Njolstad O. (ed.), The Last Decade of the Cold War in Europe, From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation, London, Portland: Frank Cass, 2004; • Sarotte M.E., 1989: the Struggle to Create post-Cold War Europe, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2009; • Stone D. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Postwar European History, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014; • The Cambridge History of the Cold War, edited by Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, 3 v., Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010; • Wakeman R. (ed.), Themes in Modern European History since 1945, London; New York: Routledge, 2003; • Zubok V.M., A Failed Empire: the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007.