HIEU 3352: Modern German History

Fall 2014, MW 10:00-10:50 am, Nau 211

Instructor: Manuela Achilles, ma6cq@virginia.edu

Section leader: Oscar Ax, oma2b@virginia.edu

Course Outline

There are few countries that demonstrate the Janus-face of Western modernity more dramatically than Germany. Unprecedented scientific, economic and cultural growth went hand in hand with radical social and political polarization. Democracy was possible; but so were dictatorship, war, and genocide. It was only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 that the so called German Question found its definite answer. Germany today is a prosperous, peaceful, and diverse country, firmly rooted in the European Union and a staunch ally of the United States. And yet, the shadows of the past linger on. Recent expressions of deep seated fears about Germany's power and ambitions range from the debate over the national soccer team's 'Gaucho' dance to invocations of a new German Question in the context of the current euro crisis.

This course explores the history of modern Germany from the founding of the German Reich in 1871 to the present. Among the themes that we will study are the repeated radical transformations of Germany’s political structures in the 20th century, the place of dictatorship, war and genocide in German history and memory, as well as the country’s shifting position within Europe and the world. We will also examine some of the major debates in German historiography, such as the idea that the Nazi Third Reich resulted from a flawed pattern of modernization that disconnected economic liberalism from political democracy. Throughout this course, we will pay particular attention to the ruptures and continuities in modern German history, and to the meanings of a traumatic past for the construction of German national identity.

Required Books (available for purchase at the UVa Bookstore)

• William W. Hagen, German History in Modern Times; ISBN: 0-521-17521-6
• Christopher Browning, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland; ISBN: 0-06-099506-8
• Anna Funder, Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall; ISBN: 0-06-207732-5
• Paul Hockenos, Joschka Fischer and the Making of the Berlin Republic; ISBN: 0-19-518183-2
• Tuvia Tenenbom, I Sleep in Hitler’s Room; ISBN: 0-9839399-0-X
• Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Brussels, the Gentle Monster, ISBN: 978-0-85742-023-7

Assignments and Grading

• 20% Attendance and Participation (lectures and sections)
• 20% Midterm
• 20% Essay #1
• 20% Essay #2 or Oral History Project
• 20% Final Exam

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