WORLD POLITICS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: A HISTORY
Political Science 214 & 324
Syllabus--Autumn 1999
Charles Lipson

Course: 1:30-2:50 Monday, Wednesday
Prof. Lipson's office is Pick 418b
Professor Lipson’s office hours: Tuesday 3-4
E-mail: clipson@midway.uchicago.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The course provides a survey of major wars, the development of states' military and financial capacity, the course of imperial expansion and retreat, diplomatic alignments and alliances, arrangements for international trade and investment, as well as efforts to create international institutions. In short, it surveys the history of modern inter-state relations in the nineteenth century.

This course covers the period from the Congress of Vienna (at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars) through the origins of World War I. It covers key elements of international history needed for further study of international politics and IR theory. The course extensively uses multimedia presentations to show maps, historical events, and national leaders, as well as some political cartoons from the period. Besides diplomatic relations among the Great Powers, the course examines long-term trends in economic development and military force. Specific topics include the settlement after the Napoleonic Wars, World War I, European imperialism, the industrial revolution and its impact on international affairs.

This course is intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the social sciences, particularly those working on international relations. Its goal is to provide historical grounding for theorizing about international relations. There is no prerequisite for this course. This is one of three related courses on the history of international politics, each of which can be taken independently:

To cover so much material, even in a survey fashion, requires intensive reading. This is a heavy reading course, and, I hope, an equally rewarding one. Please note that it is an introductory survey course and not a research course. Students with a strong background in modern history should take other, more advanced courses that encourage detailed inquiry and independent research.

BASIC COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
There are two course requirements, in addition to the list of assigned readings.

1. timeline/dictionary: chronology of events in one selected period, plus an annotated list of people, places, and events related to your chronology (approximately 15 events, 15 dictionary items)

2. major paper: review of historical writings about one major period, country, or event

Pick one time period or issue and create (a) a timeline of major events and (b) a dictionary of key people and events for that same period, with brief descriptions. If possible, please put the exact day of any event you list. The timeline and dictionary may be done as small group projects, with friends in the class if you wish.

For your major paper, please pick one time period or topic and then consider how different historians look at that period. If you wish, the major paper may cover the same period (or subject) as the timeline + dictionary, or it may cover a different period or topic. Please note that this is not an original research paper. It is an essay discussing key debates among historians on a major international issue, such as the origin of a specific war or the breakdown of an alliance. It should be an informed, critical review of the historical literature on a selected time period or topic. In effect, you will serve as an informed "referee" of a debate among historians on a topic that interests you.

The major paper should be done individually. Before writing your major essay, please write a one-page precis and get approval of the topic from Mr. Lipson or your teaching assistant.

All papers should reflect the time period of the course. Depending on the topic you select, you may wish to begin or end your timeline or major paper outside the nineteenth century. But the main focus should be on the 19th century, the period covered by the class itself.

There are no examinations in this class.

GOALS OF THIS COURSE:
1. Provide a concise, general history of international and diplomatic events and sequences, especially those bearing on Great Power relationships;

2. Draw connections, where possible, between the historical materials and analytic questions of interest to IR theorists;

3. Incorporate international economic issues, which are too often slighted in political and diplomatic histories. They should be included for two reasons.

a. They are often a central object of state policy, especially since states were charged with political responsibility for the performance of their economies.

b. They are a source of countries' rise to great power status. Germany became a great power not only because the Prussian military was so efficient or because Bismarck unified it under Prussian leadership, but also because northern Germany was the largest and most dynamic industrial power of the late 19th century. Spain disappeared as a Great Power because of its economic decline.

ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS:
Books are available at University of Chicago Bookstore and the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore.

All materials are on reserve in Harper. Articles are catalogued under special "Y" call numbers. A list of reserve readings for all courses, including this one, are available on the World Wide Web under the University's Library site for Harper Reserve

Undergraduates normally enroll in PS 214.

Graduate students enroll in PS 324.

Students have weekly discussion sections, which will be assigned in Week 2.

All students take the course for letter grades unless Prof. Lipson gives them advance written permission to do otherwise.

Students have weekly discussion sections, which will be assigned in Week 2.

WHEN ARE THE PAPERS DUE?
Dictionary and Timeline are due after at your section meeting in Week 7.

Major paper is due on Tuesday of exam week.

All papers must have a title and must include your name, phone, and e-mail address. Please staple.

Extensions: In unusual or difficult circumstances, students may request an extension for the major paper. The request must be in writing (by letter or e-mail) and should give specific reasons why the extension is needed. All requests are subject to approval by Mr. Lipson. If any special extension is granted, then the paper must be turned in by Friday, 4 p.m., on the first week of the winter quarter.

REQUIRED BOOKS
The readings rely on three books. You should purchase all three.

MAIN TOPICS AND REQUIRED READINGS
1. Overview: Nineteenth Century

2. Congress of Vienna: The Settlement after the Napoleonic Wars
Norman Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, 1814-1914, Chapters 1-2

3. The Concert of Europe at Work
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapter 4

4. Free Trade and Industrialization from 1800-1873
Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World, 3rd ed.; Chapters 7-11
OPTIONAL READING: David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, pp. 186-309

5. The Failed Revolts of 1848
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapter 6

6. The "Eastern Question" and the Crimean War
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapters 3, 5, 6

7. German Growth and Unification, 1848-71
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapter 11

8. Informal Imperialism
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapter 12
Rondo Cameron, A Concise Economic History of the World, pp. 313-23
OPTIONAL READING: Landes, Wealth and Poverty of Nations, pp. 310-441

9. Imperialism and the Scramble for Territory
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17

10. The Bismarckian Alliance System and its Collapse, 1871-94
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapters 12, 13, 18

11. Economic Growth in the late 19th Century (1873 to 1914)
Cameron, A Concise Economic History, Chapter 12
OPTIONAL READING: Landes, Wealth and Poverty of Nations, pp. 442-464
12. Military Technology 19th century
Larry H. Addington, The Patterns of War Since the Eighteenth Century, Chapters 2,3

13. The Origins of World War I (1894-1914)
Rich, Great Power Diplomacy, Chapters 20-26

COURSE REQUIREMENTS EXPLAINED IN MORE DETAIL:

1. Chronology (or timeline) of key events in one historical period. This might be the Concert of Europe in the first half of the 19th century, from the Napoleonic Wars to Crimean War; or the expansion of European Empires in the second half of the 19th century; or a number of others. Pick a period or theme that interests you. If you are uncertain what constitutes an appropriate time period, please consult Professor Lipson or your teaching assistant. Because of this course's focus, the paper, dictionary, or timeline may not concentrate on the period after 1914. Some post-1914 material may be included to complete a paper or timeline that concentrates on the period of the course.

What a timeline should do: A timeline should list the major events in proper sequence, with dates given for each. It should provide a few essential details to clarify the event; the dictionary entry should offer more detail. Timelines should have around 15 events; dictionaries should also have around 15 entries. Here, for example, is the beginning of a timeline:

Sample Timeline: French Expansion in the Age of Richelieu and Louis XIV

1589-1610 Henry IV (ruled 1589-1610), founder of the Bourbon dynasty, he was Henry of Navarre
Duke of Sully served as his great finance minister

1598 Edict of Nantes (13 April 1598) issued by Henry IV. Henry, a Protestant who converted to Catholicism to become king, grants religious toleration to French Huguenots

1610 Henry IV assassinated by a Catholic fanatic, François Ravaillac (14 May 1610).
Marie de' Médicis served as regent, governing France for her ten-year-old son, King Louis XIII; she dismissed Sully, arranged Louis XIII's marriage to the Spanish princess, Anne of Austria (daughter of Philip III of Spain)

1610-43 Louis XIII (king, 1610-43; ruled 1614-43). Louis XIII was declared of age in 1614, but was always a weak figure, controlled by others.

1622 Edict of Nantes is reconfirmed by the Treaty of Montpelier (18 October 1622); the treaty leaves La Rochelle and Montauban to the Huguenots.

1624-42 Cardinal Richelieu (Armand-Jean du Plessis, the Cardinal-Duke of Richelieu) as chief minister of France, under Louis XIII; later, he trained Cardinal (Jules) Mazarin as his protege

Related to the timeline, you should produce a brief dictionary covering 15 or more key events and people during the same period covered by the chronology. Dictionary entries should range between 10 and 50 words, providing brief definitions and discussions for each entry. Dictionary entries should provide key dates and briefly explain the significance of major events, people, and places.

What should dictionary lists include? Let me give some examples. A list covering the first half of the nineteenth century would certainly include the "Congress of Vienna," "Holy Alliance," "Quadruple Alliance," "Metternich," "Castlereagh," "Talleyrand," "Napoleon," and "Revolutions of 1848," among others. Of course, you have to make choices about what you wish to include. You might (or might not) include the repeal of the English "Corn Laws" in 1846, which marked the advent of free trade in England by eliminating tariffs on imported wheat. Some entries, like the Revolutions of 1848, might be longer and should list the major countries where outbreaks took place. On the other hand, it is a dictionary entry, not a monograph, so please be concise. When individuals are mentioned, the entry should include their full name, years of birth and death, and years in high office, e.g., Lord [Edward Bwian] Boofer, 1834-1910; Foreign Minister 1862-64, 1866-67.

You can, if you wish, produce a chronology and dictionary covering a theme, rather than a time period. For example, you might cover "major issues in international trade" (listing the biggest treaties, disputes, etc.) or "developments in applied military technology" or "the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire" or "the Weltpolitik of Wilhelm II." If you wish, these themes might cover a longer period, say, 1800 to 1914 (or longer, in cases like the breakdown of Ottoman Empire) or a much shorter period, like the two decades of Wilhelm II's reign.

PLEASE NOTE: The chronology and dictionary may be either "group projects" or "individual projects." That is, 2-5 students may organize themselves to produce the timeline and dictionary. This is an excellent opportunity for group learning. By the same token, you are free to do the projects individually if you choose. If some students do decide to work as a group, then their dictionaries and timelines should be somewhat more extensive than individual assignments. The group should not only divide the work, they should review each other's efforts and produce a genuine joint product. Each group project receives a single grade, which applies equally to all participants. The grades for the timeline + dictionary will constitute about 30 percent of your course grade. The remaining 70% comes from the historiographic essay, which you must write individually.

2. Write a historiographic essay, approximately 12-15 pages, double-spaced. This essay should be done individually, not in groups. It may cover any time period or theme in the course. It need not cover the same time period as the chronology and dictionary (although it can, if you wish).

The historiographic essay should examine a major topic and analyze the debates among historians, as well as giving your own considered view. It must cover at least three major books or articles, and will likely include more than that. The essay is not intended as original research. Its main point is to review (critically) the perspectives of major historians on some important theme or historical period. For example, you might choose to write about the origins of a major war, such as the Franco-Prussian War or World War II in the Pacific. Or you might choose to write about the rise of free trade in the 19th century, or the rise of protectionism in the 1930s. Or you might choose to write about the continuities (or discontinuities) of British foreign policy (or French, or German, or Russian, etc.). You might want to discuss how economic growth affected Great Power relationships--as that is understood by major historians writing on the subject. Your job is not so much to explain the specific phenomenon but to describe and analyze the major schools of thought on the subject, their strengths and weaknesses, and the direction of recent historical research. In short, you should provide an informed, critical guide to the literature.

Most topics in this course are the subjects of vigorous historical debate. You may choose your own topic from among them. Why, for instance, did Europe divide Africa into formal colonies in the late 19th century after centuries of informal imperialism? Historians differ on the basic reasons for this change. Similarly, you might consider the decline of imperialism in the 20th century. You might select a topic covering the whole time period of the course, such as the incorporation of military technology into warfare. There are certainly different historical schools dealing with the "military revolution."

Before writing your historiographic essay, please write a one-page precis and get approval of the topic from Mr. Lipson or your teaching assistant. The precis should list the topic of the essay, briefly outline some of the major historical debates on it, and then list some key books and articles to be included. The clearer your precis, the better chance we have to advise you. Remember: the time period should be between 1800 and 1914 (even though the course lectures may not go as far as the start of the Great War).

Assigned projects might well require students to share books. If that proves difficult, please let us know so we can put these books on reserve for everyone to use. All required and listed supplementary books are on reserve.

SUPPLEMENTARY READINGS AND SPECIALIZED READINGS FOR PAPER TOPICS
Since the course requires papers, you will need to do more detailed readings to explore your paper topics. To aid your search for the best readings, please feel free to ask your section leaders or me for suggestions. I have also listed a few background readings for those who want to deepen their understanding of the particular periods or topics. Of course, the list of useful readings is far longer than I can include here. Again, please feel free to ask for suggestions regarding topics that specially interest you.

Among the most useful books as general background for the course are:

Edward Whiting Fox, The Emergence of the Modern World (Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell, 1991).
D102.F690 Gen Harp

£ J. M. Roberts, A History of Europe (New York: Allen Lane, 1996). D20.R645 1997 Harp

Both Fox and Roberts provide a useful background and general setting for the events discussed in this class. The Fox book essentially begins with the French Revolution (he has a little material on the earlier period) and goes up through the Cold War. Roberts covers a longer period and in greater depth. Both are well-written, intelligent books that require no prior knowledge of the subjects; both are focused on Europe.

Other useful supplementary books are:

REQUIRED BOOKS FOR COURSE
All are paperbacks. Available at U. of C. Bookstore, Seminary Coop and Harper Library Reserve.