Twentieth Century East Central Europe

The geographical coverage of the course includes countries that, until 1989, belonged to the Soviet sphere of interest in Europe, and were members of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. Today, many of them are members of NATO and are, or are about to be, integrated with the European Union. This was the region that earned the dubious reputation of constituting “the Sick Heart of Europe” thanks to its 20th century record of violent inter-state and ethnopolitical conflicts and ambitious but most often frustrating modernization efforts. The history of the Communist era will figure prominently in our discussions, as will the region’s turbulent ethnopolitics and problems relating to economic and academic life under state socialism.

The course offers an introduction to East-Central Europe’s 20th century history.

Lectures, seminars and two exercises.