Reading for this week:
•Bonnie Smith, Europe in the Contemporary World (ECW), Chapters 1, 2
•documents in ECW:
2.4 Pankhurst, "My Story" (1914)
2.5 Marinetti, "Manifesto of Futurism" (1909)
2.6 Kandinsky, "Concerning the Spiritual in Art" (1911)

THE SHAPE OF IMPERIAL EUROPE

INTRODUCTION: ON THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS
I. WHY DIDN’T THEY SEE IT COMING? THE HUNDRED YEARS’ PEACE, 1815-1914
II. A GRAND TOUR OF THE GREAT POWERS
III. LIBERAL VISIONS
IV. DISSATISFIED CHALLENGERS
V. NATIONALISM
VI. ANXIOUS LIBERALS AND REBELLIOUS ARTISTS

World War I (“The Great War”) 1914-1918
World War II 1939-1945
defeat of Napoleon (1814/15)
mid-19th century wars (1854-1871--national unification of Germany, Italy
revolutions of 1848

alliances:
Triple Entente (Great Britain - France – Russian Empire)
Triple Alliance (German Empire – Austro-Hungarian Empire - Italy)
Ottoman Empire

Europes "Great Powers" and European alliances on the eve of WWI:

The original can be found at:
http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figures/KISH_26_586.gif

"The inhabitant of London could order by telephone, sipping his morning tea in bed, the various products of the whole earth, in such quantity as he might see fit, and reasonably expect their early delivery upon his doorstep; he could at the same moment and by the same means adventure his wealth in the natural resources and new enterprises of any quarter of the world, and share, without exertion or even trouble, in their prospective fruits and advantages…But most important of all, he regarded this state of affairs as normal, certain, and permanent, and any deviation from it as aberrant, scandalous, and avoidable." [emphasis added]
--John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1920)

Africa in 1914: European colonies and spheres of influence:

The original can be found at:
http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figures/KISH_25_575.gif

The Great Powers
1. Great Britain 2. France 3. Germany 4. Austria-Hungary 5. Russia

liberalism
“classical,” or 18th-19th century liberalism
the twentieth century as the crisis of liberalism

•definition: the good of the individual is the highest good in society. Social and political arrangements should be made to promote that good and judged by their ability to do so.
underlying assumption: belief in the power of human reason to understand the world and promote the good of the individual and social progress

• consequences:
1. politics: limited government (civil liberties, constitutions, parliamentary government)
2. economics: laissez-faire capitalism (free, self-regulating market)
3. society and culture: education
4. knowledge: modern science as a progressive force

World colonial holdings, ca. 1900

The original can be found at:
http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figures/KISH_25_578.gif

Dissatisfied Challengers
•democrats
•socialists
•right-wing populists (proto-fascist)
•feminists: see Emmeline Pankhurst, "My Story" (1914) in Smith, Europe in the Contemporary World, Chapter 2
•emigrants

Nationalism

Two big questions about nationalism:
1. Why was nationalism such a powerful force in the first half of the twentieth century? What were its effects?
2. Why does nationalism seem to have declined in Europe since the middle of the century?

Modern Nationalism
1. nationality = belief in an identity, defined by culture (language, traditions, ethnicity) or by “race”
2. statehood = belief that a nationality has the right to political self-determination in a nation-state
3. territory = belief in the right of the nation state to control a territory that includes (all?) the members of the nationality
4. identification = intense personal identification with and loyalty to the national group and/or the nation-state (sacrifice/die/kill)
5. rivalry = does all this imply conflict among nation-states?

Nationalism as a disruptive force on the eve of World War I:
1. “Great Power” rivalries:
• France vs. Germany (revenge for 1871)
• Austria-Hungary vs. Russia (expansion into Balkans)
• Great Britain vs. Germany (control of seas, arms race)
2. Unsatisfied nationalities:
Irish
Poles
Czechs
Serbs
and many others

map: linguistic groups in Austria-Hungary:

The original can be found at:
http://wps.ablongman.com/wps/media/objects/262/268312/art/figures/KISH535.jpg

Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism
modernity as an "iron cage" devoid of meaning and values

Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams
psychoanalysis / the unconscious / sexuality

Italian Futurists / avant-garde artists
see F. T. Marinetti, "Manifesto of Futurism" (1909), in Smith, Europe in the Contemporary World, Chapter 2