Course info

This module examines a complex and fascinating phase of European history.  Though perhaps less well-known than the era of revolutions and nation-building that preceded it or the period of total war which followed, the period 1871-1914 arguably saw the birth of much of the modern world.  Industrialization and urbanization expanded from their old core in Britain across much of the rest of Europe, democratization and mass political parties transformed political life across the continent, the rational and ordered certainties of preceding decades were undermined by new developments in science and the arts, and an era of relative peace between the ‘great powers’ came to a cataclysmic end in 1914.  This module will investigate each of the major nations of Europe in turn before taking a broader view of transnational events and developments.  In doing so, it is hoped that students will gain a critical understanding of this transformative age in European history.