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TTC - Long 19th Century
TTC - Long 19th Century
d the way they are, and how they reflect the impact of some of history's most si
gnificant names:
* Napoleon Bonaparte, whose massive legacy, though uneven, includes spreadin
g the ideas of the French Revolution, such as freedom of religion and equality b
efore the law, everywhere his soldiers marched
* Napoleon III, whose mixed reviews include one historian's recognition that
he was "unique among dictators in ending his career with a government that prov
ided his country with more freedom than the government he started with"
* Klemens von Metternich, the shrewd Austrian foreign minister who spoke for
conservative, monarchical Europe during the last three decades of the Age of Re
volution
* Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor who was architect of both Germany
's unification and a system of alliances that ultimately led to her downfall
* Kaiser Wilhelm II, the brash young kaiser with a "special knack" for polit
ical and diplomatic gaffes
* Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish French Army captain unjustly accused of espiona
ge and whose ordeal inspired modern Zionism
* Karl Marx, the German intellectual whose ideas about a radical new philoso
phy found fertile ground on a continent where industrial modernization was creat
ing new disruptions and resentments
* Count Camillo di Cavour, the brilliant Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia
whose tragic early death left imperfect the unified Italy he helped to create
* William Gladstone, the moralist humanitarian and Prime Minister who helped
democratize Great Britain.
An Unflinching Look at Some of History's Major Players
These historical figures join with many others in a presentation that is unfaili
ngly interesting and provocative, with Professor Weiner often quite frank, altho
ugh fair, in his assessment of individuals and their decisions.
This course can easily be divided into four major teaching segments.
After a short orientation to the Ancien Regime which offers a basis of compariso
n to the dramatically different world that was to come, Dr. Weiner's organizatio
nal plan begins with the period from 1789 to 1848 that has come to be known as t
he Age of Revolution.
Professor Weiner's second major section covers the period from the repression of
the 1848 Revolutions until the unification of Germany in 1870-1871.
Professor Weiner
k at the ways in
1914. This power
s throughout the
begins the third major section of the course with a general loo
which European power was at its zenith in the period from 1870was felt on economic, military, political, and diplomatic level
world.
The final segment of the course covers the developments in European diplomacy th
at led to World War I, as well as the war's dramatic impact.
As the course and Europe move closer to the catastrophe of World War I, Professor We
iner narrows the focus again. He presents several case studies of the great powe
rs in the decades leading up to the conflict, including Great Britain, France, G
ermany, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and, as he describes it, "the cauldr
on that was Russia, Turkey, and the Balkans."
World War I's Devastating Impact
World War I was punctuated by a series of battles of industrial slaughter, such
as Verdun, the Somme, the Nivelle Offensive, and the final German thrusts in the
West in the of spring 1918. More than nine million combatants perished, includi
ng more than half of the French men who were between the ages of 20 and 32 when
the war began in 1914.
Concluding lectures examine not only the major events of the Great War but also
the its impact on contemporaries and the following generation, setting the stage
for World War II.
Although Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler were neither inevitable nor likely
candidates for national leadership in pre-war Europe, they were rooted in their
national cultures, children of their age, and Dr. Weiner attempts to answer the
question, what had gone wrong?
Should I buy Audio or Video?
This course works well in all formats. The DVD and videotape versions feature mo
re than 300 pictures and illustrations in addition to various maps and on-screen
text.