Gwybodaeth Modiwlau
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 18 Hours. 18 x 1 hour) |
| Seminars / Tutorials | 5 Hours. (5 x 1 hour) |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Essay: 1 x 2,000 words | 30% |
| Semester Exam | 2 Hours | 70% |
| Supplementary Exam | Students may, subject to Faculty approval, have the opportunity to resit this module, normally during the supplementary examination period. For further clarification please contact the Teaching Programme Administrator in the Department of International Politics. |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
-the nature of the structural shifts in the balance of power, and their relationship to the two World Wars
-the reasons why the eventual Superpowers played a relatively marginal role during the inter-war period
-why a durable peace was not established after 1919
-the impact of ideologies (liberal capitalism, revolutionary socialism, nazism/fascism, nationalism and self-determination) on the theory and practice of international relations
-the importance for international relations of the experience of the 1930s both in shaping Keynesian-welfare states, and in developing new ideas about international economic management
-the final demise of empire in the face of ideological change, European weakness and colonial resistance
-the extent to which 1945 was itself a radical turning point, or merely a symptom of the profound changes that had already taken place across the preceding half century
Brief description
The module provides a frame of reference for understanding international relations in the twentieth century by exploring developments in the balance of power, ideas of international order, socio-economic change and tensions within the European empires up to 1945.
Aims
The aim of the module is to provide a structured intepretation of the first half of the twentieth century to enable students to relate it to developments after 1945. Many candidates will already have taken the International History courses, covering the period since 1945. This module develops the background to these by offering a frame of reference within which to locate the genesis of the international situation in 1945. Such a scheme will enable students to analyse the key thematic developments in the period to 1945, but will also enhance their ability to make connections between developments in twentieth-century international history as a whole.
Content
The module opens with an analysis of the shifts in the balance of power within Europe, as well as the emergence of new extra-European powers. This, in turn, is related to new ideas about the management of the international order, exemplified in the New Diplomacy at the end of World War I. It then explores the crisis of domestic order generated by the economic and social upheavals of industrialisation, culminating in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Finally, the module locates the final phase of the European empires, and the tensions developing within them, in the context of these other developments.
Transferable skills
10 ECTS credits
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 6