Western Civilization II Course Structure Copy

ABSOLUTISM and CONSTITUTIONALISM, 1648-1715: 7-9%

Absolutism emerges when a monarch exerts absolute power to rule by ‘divine right’. Constitutional governments are limited by law and all citizens are subject to those laws.

• The Dutch Republic
• The English Revolution
• France under Louis XIV
• Formation of Austria and Prussia
• The “westernization” of Russia

COMPETITION FOR EMPIRE and ECONOMIC EXPANSION: 4-6%

• Global economy of the eighteenth century
• Europe after Utrecht, 1713-1740
• Demographic change in the eighteenth century

THE SCIENTIFIC VIEW OF THE WORLD: 5-7%

The Scientific ‘Revolution’ is used to describe the emergence of modern science.

• Major figures of the scientific revolution
• New knowledge of man and society
• Political theory

PERIOD OF ENLIGHTENMENT: 7-9%

The Enlightenment (aka Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason) was an intellectual movement that dominated the world of ideas in Europe in the 18th century.

• Enlightenment thought
• Enlightened despotism
• Partition of Poland

REVOLUTION and NAPOLEONIC EUROPE: 10-13%

• The Revolution in France
• The Revolution and Europe
• The French Empire
• Congress of Vienna

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: 7-9%

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from the 1760-1840s.

• Agricultural and industrial revolution
• Causes of revolution
• Economic and social impact on working and middle class
• British reform movement

POLITICAL and CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS, 1815-1848: 6-8%

• Conservatism
• Liberalism
• Nationalism
• Socialism
• The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848

POLITICS and DIPLOMACY IN THE AGE OF NATIONALISM, 1850-1914: 8-10%

Nationalism is a concept involving a shared communal identification within a nation. The mid 19th century to the early part of the 20th saw a rise in nationalism across Europe.

• The unification of Italy and Germany
• Austria-Hungary
• Russia
• France
• Socialism and labor unions
• European diplomacy, 1871-1900

ECONOMY, CULTURE, and IMPERIALISM, 1850-1914: 7-9%

• Demography
• World economy of the nineteenth century
• Technological developments
• Science, philosophy, and the arts
• Imperialism in Africa and Asia

THE FIRST WORLD WAR and THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION: 10-12%

• The causes of the First World War
• The economic and social impact of the war
• The peace settlements
• The Revolution of 1917 and its effects

EUROPE BETWEEN THE WARS: 7-9%

• The Great Depression
• International politics, 1919-1939
• Stalin’s five-year plans and purges
• Italy and Germany between the wars
• Interwar cultural developments

THE SECOND WORLD WAR and CONTEMPORARY EUROPE: 8-10%

• The causes and course of the Second World War
• Postwar Europe
• Science, philosophy, the arts, and religion
• Social and political developments