Readings
Available for purchase at the UO Bookstore:
Frank B. Tipton, A History of Modern Germany Since 1815 (hereafter HMG)
Peter Fritzsche, Germans Into Nazis
Peter Schneider, The Wall Jumper
On reserve at Knight Library, in addition to the three books above:
Omer Bartov, Germany's War and the Holocaust
Konrad Jarausch and Michael Geyer, Shattered Past: Reconstructing German Histories
plus other readings available online or on the course's Canvas website.
See the individual weeks below for assignments.
Course Schedule
Week 1: Introduction: The Germanies and National Unification (September 25, 27, 29)
1: Introduction to the Course: A Brief History of the German Problem
2: The Politics of Unification
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 1, "Introduction: From Generation to Generation," Ch. 4, "The Age of Realism"
Week 2: German Empire I: Bismarck’s Empire, 1871-1890 (October 2, 4, 6)
1: The Founders’ Boom, Identity Problems, and the Prospects for Democracy
2: Religious, Class, and Ethnic Clashes: Catholics, Workers, and Poles
Friday, October 7: discussion of Bismarck on the "Polish question," download reading and discussion Qs
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 5, "An Anxious Generation, 1871-1890"
Otto von Bismarck, “On the Polish Question” (download the pdf file)
Week 3: German Empire II: Wilhelm’s Empire, 1890-1914 (October 9, 11, 13)
1: The New Mass Politics and the Rise of Labor and of Antisemitism
2: A Place in the Sun: Germany and Empire
Friday, October 14: discussion of one socialism reading and the Claß reading, download the reading and discussion questions for socialism and for Claß
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 6, "Neoclassical Façade and Modernist Revolt, 1890-1914," Ch. 7, "Politics, Governance, and Diplomacy"
The “Erfurt Program” (1891); Bernstein, "The Preconditions of Socialism" (1899); and Luxemburg, “Socialist Reform or Revolution?" (1899) (online; download the pdf files)
Heinrich Claß, “If I Were Kaiser…” (online; download the pdf files)
Week 4: Germany and the First World War, 1914-1918 (October 16, 18, 20)
1: The Question of German Responsibility and Military History of the War
2: Remaking Society on the Home Front
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 8, “The First World War”
Peter Fritzsche, Germans Into Nazis, Introduction and “July, 1914”
download reading questions for Fritzsche, Intro and July, 1914
Week 5: The Weimar Republic, 1918-1933: Germany’s First Democratic Republic (October 23, 25. 27)
1: Revolution, Counterrevolution, and Crisis, 1919-1923
2: From Stabilization to Overthrow, 1924-1933
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 9, "An Expressionist Age," Ch. 10, "The Politics of Feeling and the Search for Stability"
Fritzsche, Germans Into Nazis, “November, 1918” and "January, 1933"
download reading questions for Fritzsche, November, 1918
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27: MIDTERM EXAM
Week 6: The Nazi Regime in Power (October 30, November 1, 3)
1: The Nazis’ “National Uprising” and Consolidation of Power
2: How the Nazi Regime Actually Worked
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 11, "A 'German Style': The Nazi Generation"
Fritzsche, Germans Into Nazis, “January, 1933” and "May, 1933"
download reading questions for Fritzsche, January 1933
Week 7: Nazi Regime II: War and the Holocaust (November 6, 8, 10)
1: The Radicalization of Foreign Policy and Racial Policy
2: The War, the Holocaust, and Their Victims
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 12, "Nazi Politics: The Road to War and the Holocaust"
Omer Bartov, "Savage War: German Warfare and Moral Choices in World War II," in Germany's War and the Holocaust
download reading questions for Bartov, "Savage War"
Week 8: Postwar: Divided Germany, East and West, 1945-1973 (November 13, 15, 17)
1: “Zero Hour” and Division, 1945-1949
2: The Federal Republic and the ”Long Road West”
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 13, "Divided Germany in the Age of Economic Miracles"
Jarausch and Geyer, "Unsettling German Society: Mobility and Migration," in Shattered Past, 197-220
download the reading questions for Jarausch and Geyer, "Unsettling German Society: Mobility and Migration"
begin reading Schneider, The Wall Jumper
Week 9: From Two Germanies to One, 1973-1989 (November 20, 22)
1: “Stasiland?”: The German Democratic Republic in the East
2: The Road to Reunification
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 14, "A Postmodern Generation: West and East Germany after the Miracle, 1973-1989"
Schneider, The Wall Jumper
Week 10: Contemporary Germany: Since Reunification (November 27, 29, December 1)
1: Ossis and Wessis in the Berlin Republic
2: Key Issues for Germany in the Twenty-First Century
Readings:
Tipton, HMG, Ch. 15, "Neo-Realism: Reunification and Reunited Germany"
Jarausch and Geyer, "A Struggle for Unity: Redefining National Identities," in Shattered Past, 221-244
download the reading questions for Jarausch and Geyer, "The Struggle for Unity: Redefining National Identities"
FINAL EXAM: Tuesday, December 5, 10:15-12:15, in the classroom