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East Central & Southeastern Europe in the Twentieth Century

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East Central & Southeastern Europe in the Twentieth Century HIST 226 (Fall 2017) MWF 8:30-9:30, Stuart Biology S1/3 East Central & Southeastern Europe in the Twentieth Century Instructor: James Krapfl for a Office: 631 Leacock Sikorski’s aw 1942 proposal ł tion of nations Phone: 514-398-4400 ext. 00197 a adys E-mail: james.krapfl AT mcgill.ca ł W Office hours: MW 9:45-11:00, and by appointment Polish Prime Minister in exile Polish Prime Minister in WWII confeder - Teaching assistant: Jessica Rose post between Germany and the Soviet Union. between Germany Office: 632 Leacock (New York:Hippocrene Books, 1987). las E-mail: jessica.rose AT mail.mcgill.ca t Office hours: TBA This course provides an introduction to the turbulent twentieth- century history of what used to be called “Eastern” Europe. It A Historical A Poland: was a diverse region where over twenty languages were spoken and seven major religions practiced, where today there lie thirteen to twenty-six independent countries (depending how one counts). During the twentieth century it was a testing ground for IwoC.Pogonowski, social engineers and a battleground between conflicting empires and ideologies. It was a land where one could be a citizen, in the course of a single lifetime, of as many as six different states without ever leaving home. As the site of so much meeting, commingling, and strife, this part of Europe promises rich rewards to students of the human condition who are patient and persistent enough to sort through the tangled webs of its history. READING MATERIALS One required textbook is available from Paragraphe Bookstore, 2220 McGill College Ave.: • R. J. Crampton. Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century—and After, 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 1997. A second required textbook is back-ordered, but should be available from Paragraphe in late September: • Heda Margolius Kovály. Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968. Teaneck, N.J.: Holmes & Meier, 1997. A required coursepack is available from the McGill Bookstore, 3544 Ave. du Parc. Additional required readings (in the public domain) will be made available on “MyCourses” as the semester progresses. These are indicated in the course schedule (below) with asterisks. The textbooks and coursepack have also been requested for 3-hour reserve in McLennan Library. Dept. of History | McGill University | 855, rue Sherbrooke O. | Montréal (Québec) H3A 2T7 | Canada COURSE REQUIREMENTS In order to complete the course successfully, students must carry out the following assignments: Take-home map assignment 5% 2 essays or 1 research paper 40% Midterm exam 15% Final exam 30% Conference participation 10% In general, students must write two short essays (4-5 pp.) in response to questions that will be circulated in advance; each essay will be worth 20% of the final grade. With the instructor’s permission, advanced or especially prepared students may opt instead to write a single research paper (8-10 pp.) on a topic to be determined in consultation with the instructor. Students desir- ing to write a research paper must request permission and propose a topic by Sept. 27. If the university’s administrative bureaucracy facilitates it, the midterm exam will be held the evening of Oct. 23. (This should be known by the end of September.) Otherwise, the exam will be take-home and due on Oct. 23, with students having the preceding weekend to work on it. Ten conferences are scheduled for the semester, and attendance is required. Unexcused absence from three conferences will be grounds for failing the course. The instructor and teaching assistant, who will alternately facilitate the conferences, may choose to include additional assignments (e.g. preparing answers to study questions) in calculating the conference participa- tion grade. COURSE SCHEDULE Week 1 Wed., Sept. 6: Introduction “Berlin” Fri., Sept. 8: The Twilight of Empires Europe Reading: Crampton, pp. viii-xiii, 1-6 (12 pp.) *The Treaty of Berlin (4 pp.) Czesław Miłosz, “Ancestry,” pp. 19-35 (17 pp.) *Mark Twain, “Stirring Times in Austria” (11 pp.) Week 2 Mon., Sept. 11: Nationalism, Terrorism, and the Balkan Wars Reading: “The Kosovo Maiden” (7 pp.) IMRO, “Instructions Concerning the Formation of Secret Bands” (7 pp.) *“Denunciation by Austria-Hungary of Article XXV of the Treaty of Berlin” (3 pp.) “Sarajevo” Wed., Sept. 13: The First World War Europe Reading: *“The Assassination at Sarajevo, June 28, 1914” (5 pp.) *“The Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum to Serbia, July 23, 1914” (5 pp.) 2 *“The Serbian Response to the Austro-Hungarian Ultimatum, July 25, 1914” (4 pp.) *“The Servian Press on the Assassination” (4 pp.) Péter Hanák, “Vox Populi: Intercepted Letters in the First World War” (34 pp.) Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk, pp. 1-36, 219-40 (48 pp.) Fri., Sept. 15: The Revolutions of 1918 Reading: Crampton, pp. 6-27, 78-84, 95-97 (32 pp.) *“The Fourteen Points” (1 p.) *“The Formation of Yugoslavia—The Pact of Corfu” (5 pp.) *“Polish Independence” (3 pp.) *“The Coup d’État at Prague on October 28, 1918” (4 pp.) Week 3 “Versailles” Mon., Sept. 18: The Consolidation of New States Europe Reading: Crampton, pp. 30-38, 39-41, 57-60, 84-85, 107-108, 130-133 (23 pp.) *Excerpt from the Treaty of St. Germain (3 pp.) *Excerpt from the Treaty of Trianon (7 pp.) Wed., Sept. 20: Interwar Society Reading: Gyula Illyés, People of the Puszta, pp. 7-49 (42 pp.) Fri., Sept. 22: CONFERENCE on World War I and its consequences Week 4 Mon., Sept. 25: Interwar Hungary: The Kingdom without a King Reading: Crampton, pp. 85-93 (8 pp.) Gyula Illyés, People of the Puszta, pp. 122-138, 204-232, 261- 308 (91 pp.) Wed., Sept. 27: Balkan Monarchies Reading: Crampton, pp. 109-116, 119-129, 133-142, 144-151 (35 pp.) Deadline (5 p.m.) to request permission to write a research paper instead of the two essays Fri., Sept. 29: CONFERENCE on interwar society Map assignment due at beginning of conference Week 5 Mon., Oct. 2: Republican Poland and the Baltic States Reading: Crampton, pp. 41-56, 97-103 (21 pp.) *Aleksander Skrzyński, “American and Polish Democracy” (7 pp.) Józef Piłsudski, The Memories of a Polish Revolutionary and Soldier, pp. 10-16, 366-371 (13 pp.) Wed., Oct. 4: The Czechoslovak Republic Reading: Crampton, pp. 60-77 (18 pp.) Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, The Making of a State, pp. 409-496 (88 pp.) Fri., Oct. 6: CONFERENCE on interwar politics 3 Week 6 “Munich” Mon., Oct. 9: Thanksgiving Europe Wed., Oct. 11: Fascism in East Central & Southeastern Europe Reading: Crampton, pp. 152-176 (24 pp.) Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, “A Few Remarks on Democracy” (4 pp.) “Agreement Concluded at Munich on September 29, 1938” (2 pp.) Neville Chamberlain, “National Broadcast” (3 pp.) Neville Chamberlain, “A Halt to Aggression” (8 pp.) Fri., Oct. 13: The Second World War, Part I Reading: Crampton, pp. 93-94, 103-106, 117-118, 142-143, 178-209 (39 pp.) *Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (with the secret additional protocol) (3 pp.) *“The Manifesto of Freedom” (4 pp.) Week 7 Mon., Oct. 16: The Second World War, Part II First essay due by start of lecture Reading: Margolius Kovály, pp. 5-38 (34 pp.) Tadeusz Borowski, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” (21 pp.) “Yalta” Wed., Oct. 18: Ending the Second World War Europe Reading: Margolius Kovály, pp. 39-51 (12 pp.) Milovan Djilas, Conversations with Stalin, pp. 87-124 (38 pp.) Fri., Oct. 20: CONFERENCE on World War II Week 8 Mon., Oct. 23: The Establishment of Communist Regimes Reading: Crampton, pp. 211-239 (29 pp.) Margolius Kovály, pp. 52-74 (23 pp.) Czesław Miłosz, The Captive Mind, pp. 3-24 (22 pp.) Midterm Exam Wed., Oct. 25: Stalinism and Titoism Reading: Crampton, pp. 255-274 (20 pp.) Margolius Kovály, pp. 75-153 (79 pp.) Fri., Oct. 27: CONFERENCE on Stalinism Week 9 Mon., Oct. 30: From Stalin’s Death to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Reading: Crampton, pp. 275-303 (29 pp.) Margolius Kovály, pp. 154-177 (23 pp.) Sándor Kopácsi, “In the Name of the Working Class,” pp. 60- 206 (142 pp.) Wed., Nov. 1: The Berlin Wall and Post-Stalinist Consolidation Reading: Crampton, pp. 307-325 (19 pp.) 4 Fri., Nov. 3: CONFERENCE on the possibilities and limits of de-Stalinization Week 10 Mon., Nov. 6: Everyday Life in “Really Existing Socialism” Reading: Crampton, pp. 240-254 (15 pp.) Slavenka Drakulić, “A Chat with My Censor,” “A Communist Eye, or What Did I See in New York?” and “How We Sur- vived Communism” (27 pp.) Milovan Djilas, The New Class, excerpts (6 pp.) Mihailo Marković, “The Praxis Group,” excerpts (6 pp.) Milovan Djilas, The Unperfect Society: Beyond the New Class, pp. 220-227 (8 pp.) Wed., Nov. 8: The Prague Spring and Its Aftermath Reading: Crampton, pp. 326-341 (16 pp.) Margolius Kovály, pp. 178-192 (14 pp.) The Action Program of the Communist Party of Czechoslo- vakia, excerpts (4 pp.) *Ludvík Vaculík, “Two Thousand Words” (8 pp.) *Jan Zajíc’s last letters (2 pp.) Fri., Nov. 10: CONFERENCE on varieties of socialism Week 11 Mon., Nov. 13: Jan Patočka, Charter 77, and KOR Reading: *Charter 77 (4 pp.) *Václav Havel, “The Power of the Powerless” (74 pp.) Wed., Nov. 15: Solidarity Reading: Crampton, pp. 345-376 (32 pp.) The Gdańsk Agreement (10 pp.) Fri., Nov. 17: CONFERENCE on “dissidence” and its impact Week 12 Mon., Nov. 20: Perestroika and Civil Society in the Eighties Reading: Crampton, pp. 379-389 (11 pp.) János Kis, Ferenc Kőszeg, & Ottilia Solt, “A New Social Contract” (4 pp.) “Sopron” Wed., Nov. 22: The Revolutions of 1989 Europe Reading: Crampton, pp.
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