Fall Semester 1998	Dr. Petya Nitzova
Class meets: Dale Hall Tower 419	Tel: 325-6346/325-6001
TR 7:00-8:15 p.m.	E-mail: pnitzova@ou.edu
102 Gould Hall	Office hours: Friday 8:15-9:15 a.m. and by appointment

OVERVIEW

The course analyzes on a comparative basis the processes of nation-building in Eastern Europe during a time-span from the French revolution until the outbreak of World War II. We will start by examining the attempts of the Habsburg, the Ottoman, and the Russian empires to deal with the national diversity of their vast domains. Against this background, we will study the national movements of Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Albanians, Bulgarians, Serbs and Croats. We will then focus on the causes, course and consequences of World War I, as the multi-national empires disappear from the map of Europe and the Eastern European nations establish sovereign nation-states. Our next topic will be the problems of governing the independent nation-states in East Central Europe. The course will end with a discussion of the domestic and international instability between the two world wars, the rise of fascism, and the outbreak of World War II.
 

REQUIRED MATERIALS

The following required books are available for purchase at the university bookstore:

Robert Bideleux and Jan Jeffries. A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change ( Routledge,1997)

Richard and Ben Crampton. Atlas of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (Routledge, 1996)

Barbara Jelavich. History of the Balkans: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Cambridge University Press, 1983)
 

Recommended:

• Jaroslav Hasek. The Good Soldier Sveik and His Fortunes in the World War.

COURSE FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS

Class meetings will be conducted in a lecture-discussion format with emphasis on discussion when appropriate to the topic and readings for that session. The readings for every meeting should therefore be read before class. All members of the class are expected to participate in class discussions, and from time to time, members of the class will be asked to assist with discussions, either individually or in small groups. You are REQUIRED TO ATTEND CLASS, frequent absences nearly always result in poor performance in the course.

The three exams will be closed-book examinations based on the required readings and the lecture material. The last exam will cover only the subject matter of the last third of the course. Every member of the class is expected to take the same exam at the same time as everyone else. In the interest of fairness, make-up exams will be given ONLY in case of a verified serious illness or the verified death of a spouse, parent, or sibling.

You will be given two take-home written assignments. The first one will be a short (eight pages) research paper on the course subject matter. The second one will be a five page essay based on critical assessment of Jaroslav Hasek’s masterpiece The Good Soldier Sveik and His Fortunes in the World War. Both written assignments are expected to be in correct English. The paper should demonstrate your ability to develop a clear line of discussion leading to sustainable conclusions. You will be expected to show familiarity with relevant literature and accurate command of information. Guidelines for these assignments will be distributed in class well before the due date. Your research paper is due in class on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7:00 p.m. Your essay is due in class on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7:00 p.m. Any delays after the due time will result in reducing your grade with a half letter grade per day of delay.

The weight of each of these components in the final grade will be as follows:

first exam 20%

second exam 20%

third exam 20%

research paper 15%

essay 10%

participation 15%

The participation grade is based on a combination of regular attendance and informed participation in class discussion. Final letter grades will be assigned according to a standard ten-point scale (A = 90 to 100; B = 80 to 89, etc.)

To be eligible for course credit, all three of the exams must be taken, and both the research paper and the essay completed and turned in. Failure to take any of the examinations or to turn in the research paper or the essay will result in failing the course. Incompletes will be given only upon request and for good cause. Incompletes will not be given if the student has missed so much of the course that it is in the practical sense impossible to make up the work. If an incomplete is given, the student will be asked to sign an agreement specifying the work to be completed and the date the work will be due. Anyone enrolled in the course who has attended after the first week and wishes to withdraw from the course must go through the normal withdrawal procedure to be eligible for a "W".

Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her potential should contact me personally as soon as possible so that we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunity. University rules against plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct will be honored and enforced (See the OU Student Code). The general rules about plagiarism refer also to material found on the internet.

LECTURE TOPICS AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: Introduction, pp. 8-25

From Atlas: physical features, main ethnic groups, main religious groups, pp. 1-6.

FILM: Prague – Budapest (Travels in Europe)

"Dracula’s Castles"
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Jelavich: Introduction, pp. 1-36

From Bideleux/Jeffries: East Central Europe prior to the Habsburg ascendancy (part II, pp. 109-261)
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Jelavich: "Balkan Christians under Ottoman Rule", pp. 39-72

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The rise of the Ottoman Empire", "The seeds of Ottoman decline" (chapter 2 and 3, pp. 62-96)
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Jelavich: "Balkan nationalities under Habsburg rule", pp. 127-134

From Bideleux/Jeffries: Introduction: "The importance of being Austria", "The Rise of the Habsburg Empire", pp. 265-293
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Jelavich: "The Reform Period: Maria Theresa and Joseph II", "The Reforms in Practice", and "Balkan People under Ottoman and Habsburg rule: a comparison", pp. 134-168

First Exam Thursday, Sept. 17
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "An Empire in crisis", and "The Empire strikes back" (chapter 9 and 10, pp. 214-331, pp. 332-342)

DOCUMENT: F. Palacky, "Letter to the German National Assembly" (text to be distributed)
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "Capitalism and the seeds of social revolution in Austria and Hungary"

(chapter 11, pp. 354-374)

FILM: "America’s Relations with Eastern Europe"
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The decay of the Ottoman empire and the emergence of Balkan ‘national’ states (chapter 4, pp. 97-108)

From Jelavich: pp. 171-214, 287-299, 335-376
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Atlas: the Balkans, 1900-08; the Macedonian Question, 1900-12; the First Balkan war, 1912-13; Territorial changes after the Balkan wars (pp. 14-21)

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The Road to War", pp. 375-396

FILM: The Great War (episode I: Explosion)
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "War and Dissolution", pp. 396-404

From Atlas: The First World War in Eastern Europe, pp. 24-33

Second Exam Tuesday, Oct. 20
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Atlas: The First World War and the Versailles Peace Settlement, pp. 22-23

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The aftermath of the First World War" (chapter 13, pp. 422-434)

FILM: "The Struggles for Poland"
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The 1930s depression and its consequences," "The Plight of the Peasantry," "The Failure of Democracy" (chapters 14, 15, 16, pp. 435-466)

Research paper due in class on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 7:00 p.m.
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Atlas: The inter-war years, pp. 39-65, 74-85, pp. 102-134
 
 

READING ASSIGNMENT:

From Bideleux/Jeffries: "The Lure of Fascism," and "Fascism and the Communists’ new road to power in Europe" (chapter 17 and 18, pp. 467-516)

From Atlas: The Partition of Czechoslovakia, 1938-9; pp. 66-7

FILM: "Mein Kampf"
 
 

Discussion

Essay due in class on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 7:00 p.m.

No class on Thursday. Happy Thanksgiving!
 
 

Discussion

Third Exam Thursday, Dec. 4