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Politics and Society in Modern Europe

Compulsory course for the first year of undergraduate studies

First semester

Dr. Victor Rizescu

Lecturer
v_rizescu@yahoo.com
victor.rizescu@fspub.ro

Description: The course gives a broad survey of European history over the early modern
period and the XIXth century, while at the same time familiarizing the students with
several of the main scientific debates in the field. The competing interpretations,
theoretical models and conceptual apparatuses introduced in this way are meant to help
build an interdisciplinary bridge between the concerns of historical analysis and those of
political science, as well as to underline the continuing relevance of the return to the past
for better approaching contemporary issues. The sessions will be divided into lectures
and seminars, the last ones being held on the basis of a train of readings made available to
the whole class. A supplementary recommended bibliography is appended to the
syllabus.

Requirements and evaluation: In order to obtain the credits, the students are expected
to participate in the seminar discussions on the basis of the assigned readings. They will
also be required to write a number of short essays by drawing on various packages from
the same mandatory seminar bibliography.
The seminar/essays activity will make for 50% of the grade. The remaining 50% will
come from a final written exam on the basis of the information covered in the lectures
and a selection of the seminar readings.

COURSE SCHEDULE AND SEMINAR BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Lecture 1. General introduction. The mediaeval background to early modern
European history (I)

Lecture 2. The mediaeval background to early modern European history (II)

Seminar 1. Western ascendancy and the dynamics of capitalism (I)
Daniel Chirot, “The Rise of the West”, in American Sociological Review 50: 2, 1985, pp.
181-195.

Lecture 3. The Italian Wars and the European balance of powers

Seminar 2. Western ascendancy and the dynamics of capitalism (II)
N. Birnbaum, “Conflicting Interpretations of the Rise of Capitalism: Marx and Weber”,
in The British Journal of Sociology 4: 2, 1953, pp. 125-141.

Lecture 4. The Reformation and the Spanish ascendancy

Seminar 3. Western ascendancy and the dynamics of capitalism (III)
John H. Elliot, “The Decline of Spain”, in Past and Present 20, 1961, pp. 52-75.
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Lecture 5. From the Spanish decline to the French hegemony

Seminar 4. Revolution at the crossroads of historical paths (I)
R. R. Palmer, “The World Revolution of the West, 1763-1801”, in Political Science
Quarterly 69: 1, 1954, pp. 1-14.

Lecture 6. The Ottoman decline and the shifting political map of Eastern Europe
Seminar 5. Revolution at the crossroads of historical paths (II)
Isaac Deutscher, “The French Revolution and the Russian Revolution: Some Suggestive
Analogies”, in World Politics 4: 3, 1952, pp. 369-381.

Lecture 7. From the Spanish succession to the French Revolution

Seminar 6. Revolution at the crossroads of historical paths (III)
Michael Scott Christofferson, “An Antitotalitarian History of the French Revolution:
François Furet’s Penser la Révolution française in the Intellectual Politics of the
Late 1970’s”, in French Historical Studies 22: 4, 1999, pp. 557-611.

Lecture 8. The French Revolution, 1789-1799

Seminar 7. Social structures and institutions: divergent trajectories (I)
Richard Hellie, “The Structure of Russian Imperial History”, in History and Theory 44: 4,
2005, pp. 88-112.

Lecture 9. The revolutionary wars and the Napoleonic era, 1792-1815

Seminar 8. Social structures and institutions: divergent trajectories (II)
Chris Lorenz, “Beyond Good and Evil? The German Empire of 1871 and Modern
German Historiography”, in Journal of Contemporary History 30: 4, 1995, pp.
729-765.

Lecture 10. Revolution, counterrevolution and British world hegemony, 1815-1850

Seminar 9. Social structures and institutions: divergent trajectories (III)
Gale Stokes, “The Social Origins of East European Politics”, in East European Politics
and Societies 1: 1, 1986, pp. 30-74.

Lecture 11. The age of Italian and German unification, 1850-1871

Seminar 10. Cultural trends and ideologies: divergent trajectories (I)
Paschalis M. Kitromilides, “The Enlightenment East and West: a Comparative
Perspective on the Ideological Origins of the Balkan Political Traditions”, in
Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 10: 1, 1983, pp. 51-70.

Lecture 12. Eastern Europe over the long XIXth century

Seminar 11. Cultural trends and ideologies: divergent trajectories (II)
Ana Siljak, „Between East and West: Hegel and the Origins of the Russian Dilemma”, in
Journal of the History of Ideas 62: 2, 2001, pp. 335-358.

Lecture 13. Elite and mass politics over the long XIXth century
Seminar 12. Cultural trends and ideologies: divergent trajectories (III)
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Brian A. Porter, “The Social Nation and Its Futures: English Liberalism and Polish
Nationalism in Late Nineteenth-century Warsaw”, in The American Historical
Review 101: 5, 1996, pp. 1470-1492.

Lecture 14. Imperialism and international realignments, 1871-1914

Seminar 13. At the origins of XXth century radical politics
Zeev Sternhell, “The Anti-materialist Revision of Marxism as an Aspect of the Rise of
Fascist Ideology”, in Journal of Contemporary History 22: 3, 1987, pp. 379-400.

BASIC TEXTBOOK RECOMMENDED:

Berstein, Serge, Pierre Milza. Istoria Europei [1994], Iaşi, Institutul European, 1998,
vols. 2-4 (out of 5).

SUPPLEMENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY RECOMMENDED:

Anderson, Perry. Lineages of the Absolutist State. London, Verso, 1974.
***. Atlas de istorie mondială, ed. by Herman Kinder, Werner Hilgermann [1964], vols.
1-2. Bucureşti, RAO, 2001.
Bendix, Reinhard. Kings or People. Power and the Mandate to Rule. Berkeley, The
University of California Press, 1978.
Bloch, Marc. Societatea feudală [1938], vols. 1-2. Cluj, Dacia, 1996.
Braudel, Fernand. Gramatica civilizaţiilor [1963], vols. 1-2. Bucureşti, Meridiane, 1994.
Chaunu, Pierre. Civilizaţia Europei clasice [1966]. Bucureşti, Meridiane, 1989.
Chirot, Daniel. Social Change in the Modern Era. San Diego, Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich, 1986.
Chirot, Daniel, ed. Originile înapoierii în Europa de Est [1989]. Bucureşti, Corint, 2004.
***. Enciclopedie de istorie universală, ed. by Marco Drango et al. [1993]. Bucureşti,
ALL, 2003.
Fontana, Josep. Europa în faţa oglinzii [1994]. Iaşi, Polirom, 2003.
Geiss, Immanuel. Istoria lumii. Din preistorie până în anul 2000 [2000]. Bucureşti, ALL,
2003.
Hazard, Paul. Criza conştiinţei europene [1935]. Bucureşti, Univers, 1973.
----------. Gândirea europeană în secolul al XVIII-lea [1946]. Bucureşti, Univers, 1981.
Hobsbawm, Eric J. Era revoluţiei, 1789-1848 [1969]. Chişinău, Cartier, 2002.
----------. Era capitalului, 1848-1875 [1975]. Chişinău, Cartier, 2002.
----------. Era imperiului, 1875-1914 [1987]. Chişinău, Cartier, 2002.
Joll, James. Europe since 1870. London, Penguin Books, 1982 [1973, 1976].
Longworth, Philip. Crearea Europei de Est [1992]. Bucureşti, Curtea Veche, 2002.
McNeill, William H. Ascensiunea Occidentului [1963]. Chişinău, ARC, 2000.
Moore, Barington.. Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Boston, Beacon
Press, 1966.
Mosse, George L. The Culture of Western Europe. The Nineteenth and Twentieth
Centuries. An Introduction. Chicago, Rand McNally, 1961.
Mousnier, Roland. Monarhia absolută în Europa [1982]. Bucureşti, Corint, 2000.
Oţetea, Andrei. Renaşterea şi Reforma. Bucureşti, Ed. Ştiinţifică, 1968.
Pirenne, Henri. Mahomed şi Carol cel Mare [1937]. Bucureşti, Meridiane, 1996.
Schulze, Hagen. Stat şi naţiune în istoria europeană [1994]. Iaşi, Polirom, 2003.
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Thomson, David. Europe since Napoleon. London, Penguin Books, 1974 [1957, 1966].
Tilly, Charles. Revoluţiile europene, 1492-1992 [1993]. Iaşi, Polirom, 2002.
Weber, Eugen. A Modern History of Europe. New York, Norton, 1971.