23440 - International History

Course contents

The aim of the course is to provide the students with a general and as far as possible exhaustive framework of the main developments in international politics in the contemporary age. Special attention will be paid to the great systemic shifts. We will start from the origins of the process of formation of an international political system based on the Nation State, and then move on to the late-nineteen and early to mid-20th century imperial and hegemonic trends, to then analyse the clash between the two 'ideological empires' as far as the decline of bipolarism and the triumph of multipolar globalisation. In dealing with this evolution we will not just deal with a traditional approach, focused solely on diplomatic history, but will try as far as possible, to integrate the planes of domestic politics and those of international politics, with those of the economic and international evolution of the international system. In particular the second part of the course will focus on the attempt to govern international relations after the long European civil war (1914-1945). So an important part of the lessons will be devoted to the experiments of the League of the Nations, of the United Nations and of the European Communities, from CECA, till the birth of “euro” and the progressive enlargements to the recent “long crisis” economic, social and of governance, also after the British referendum of June 2016. All that in a historical and political perspective.

The subdivision and the contents are, of course, indicative and can undergo small changes depending on the needs of the lecturer and the class itself. Each week will consist of six hours of lectures.

First module - 5 weeks (30 hours)

The Westphalia model, the revolutionary era and the impact of the Napoleonic empire

The Congress of Vienna and the search for the 'European concerto'

Europe between Bismarckian status quo and pax Britannica, the shock of the imperialisms: from the turn of century crisis to the First World War

Versailles and the (failed) quest for a New World Order

The Hitlerian revisionist challenge and the European 30 years War

Second module - 5 weeks (30 hours)

Post Second World War international order

The two empires and the origins of bipolarism: containment and Cold War in Europe

The turning point of Korea and that of Suez, the process of European Integration

The Long Sixties in the 'first detente', decolonialisation and Cold War

The long 1970s and the crisis of Western economic and political model

Decline and death of bipolarism, German Reunification and the collapse of the USSR

A unipolar or multipolar world?

The European Integration between past, present and future: from Rome Treaty (1957) to British referendum of June 2016

Readings/Bibliography

Readings/Bibliography (for students attending classes)

Obligatory books:

G. Formigoni, Storia della politica internazionale nell'eta' contemporanea, Il Mulino, 2006, pp. 15-276

A. Varsori, Storia internazionale. Dal 1919 a oggi, Il Mulino, 2015

One to choose among:

1. L. Mascilli Migliorini, Metternich. L'artefice dell'Europa nata dal Congresso di Vienna, Salerno Editrice, 2014+J.-P. Bled, Bismarck, Salerno Editrice, 2012
2. P. Pombeni (a cura di), I cinque anni che sconvolsero il mondo. La Prima guerra mondiale (1914-1918), Studium, 2015+E. Rogan, La Grande Guerra nel Medio Oriente. La caduta degli Ottomani 1914-1920, Bompiani, 2016
3. F. Bozo-A. Rodder-M.E. Sarotte (edited by), German Reunification. A Multinational History, Routledge, 2017+F. Bozo, French Foreign Policy Since 1945, Berghahn Books, 2016
4. D. Pasquinucci, Uniti al voto? Storia delle elezioni europee 1948-2009, Franco Angeli, 2013 + D. Pasquinucci-L. Verzichelli (a cura di), Contro l'Europa? I diversi scetticismi verso l'integrazione europea, Il Mulino, 2016
5. F. Triola, L’alleato naturale. I rapporti tra Italia e Germania Occidentale dopo la seconda guerra mondiale (1945-1955), Le Monnier, 2017 + L. Fasanaro, La DDR e l’Italia. Politica, commercio e ideologia nell’Europa del cambiamento (1973-1985), Carocci, 2016
6. S. Lorenzini, Una strana guerra fredda. Lo sviluppo e le relazioni Nord-Sud, Il Mulino, 2017 + S. Cruciani-M. Ridolfi (a cura di), L’Unione Europea e il mediterraneo, Franco Angeli, 2017
7. V. Lomellini (a cura di), Il mondo della guerra fredda e l’Italia degli anni di piombo, Le Monnier, 2017 + L. Di Fabio, Due democrazie, una sorveglianza comune. Italia e RFT nella lotta al terrorismo interno e internazionale (1967-1986), Le Monnier, 2018
8. S. McMeekin, Il crollo dell’Impero ottomano. La guerra, la rivoluzione e la nascita del moderno Medio Oriente. 1908-1923, Einaudi, 2017+M. Guidi, Ataturk Addio, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017
9. S. McMeekin, The Russian Revolution, Basic Books, 2017 + C. Merridale, Lenin sul treno, Utet, 2017
10. O. Figes, Crimea. L’ultima crociata, Einaudi, 2015 + C. Maier, Leviatano 2.0, Torino, Einaudi, 2016
11. V. E. Parsi, Titanic. Il naufragio dell’ordine liberale, Il Mulino, 2017+A. Varsori, Le relazioni internazionali dopo la guerra fredda, 1989-2017, Il Mulino, 2018
12. G. Bentivoglio-A. Varsori, Realtà e immagine della politica estera italiana. Dal centro-sinistra al pentapartito, Franco Angeli, 2017 + U. Tulli, Un Parlamento per l’Europa. Il Parlamento europeo e la battaglia per la sua elezione (1948-1979), Le Monnier, 2018

 

Readings/Bibliography (for non-attending students)

Obligatory books:

G. Formigoni, Storia della politica internazionale nell'eta' contemporanea, Il Mulino, 2006

A. Varsori, Storia internazionale. Dal 1919 a oggi, Il Mulino, 2015

Two to choose among:

1. L. Mascilli Migliorini, Metternich. L'artefice dell'Europa nata dal Congresso di Vienna, Salerno Editrice, 2014+J.-P. Bled, Bismarck, Salerno Editrice, 2012
2. P. Pombeni (a cura di), I cinque anni che sconvolsero il mondo. La Prima guerra mondiale (1914-1918), Studium, 2015+E. Rogan, La Grande Guerra nel Medio Oriente. La caduta degli Ottomani 1914-1920, Bompiani, 2016
3. F. Bozo-A. Rodder-M.E. Sarotte (edited by), German Reunification. A Multinational History, Routledge, 2017+F. Bozo, French Foreign Policy Since 1945, Berghahn Books, 2016
4. D. Pasquinucci, Uniti al voto? Storia delle elezioni europee 1948-2009, Franco Angeli, 2013 + D. Pasquinucci-L. Verzichelli (a cura di), Contro l'Europa? I diversi scetticismi verso l'integrazione europea, Il Mulino, 2016
5. F. Triola, L’alleato naturale. I rapporti tra Italia e Germania Occidentale dopo la seconda guerra mondiale (1945-1955), Le Monnier, 2017 + L. Fasanaro, La DDR e l’Italia. Politica, commercio e ideologia nell’Europa del cambiamento (1973-1985), Carocci, 2016
6. S. Lorenzini, Una strana guerra fredda. Lo sviluppo e le relazioni Nord-Sud, Il Mulino, 2017 + S. Cruciani-M. Ridolfi (a cura di), L’Unione Europea e il mediterraneo, Franco Angeli, 2017
7. V. Lomellini (a cura di), Il mondo della guerra fredda e l’Italia degli anni di piombo, Le Monnier, 2017 + L. Di Fabio, Due democrazie, una sorveglianza comune. Italia e RFT nella lotta al terrorismo interno e internazionale (1967-1986), Le Monnier, 2018
8. S. McMeekin, Il crollo dell’Impero ottomano. La guerra, la rivoluzione e la nascita del moderno Medio Oriente. 1908-1923, Einaudi, 2017+M. Guidi, Ataturk Addio, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2017
9. S. McMeekin, The Russian Revolution, Basic Books, 2017 + C. Merridale, Lenin sul treno, Utet, 2017
10. O. Figes, Crimea. L’ultima crociata, Einaudi, 2015 + C. Maier, Leviatano 2.0, Torino, Einaudi, 2016
11. V. E. Parsi, Titanic. Il naufragio dell’ordine liberale, Il Mulino, 2017+A. Varsori, Le relazioni internazionali dopo la guerra fredda, 1989-2017, Il Mulino, 2018
12. G. Bentivoglio-A. Varsori, Realtà e immagine della politica estera italiana. Dal centro-sinistra al pentapartito, Franco Angeli, 2017 + U. Tulli, Un Parlamento per l’Europa. Il Parlamento europeo e la battaglia per la sua elezione (1948-1979), Le Monnier, 2018

 

Teaching methods

The course will consist of 30 lectures each lasting about 2 hours. Readings and slides (power point) will be presented at the lessons as a teaching aid to the lectures.

Assessment methods

The students attending classes will take two written tests (one per module) each lasting two hours. At the end of the lesson and the two written tests, the students must then pass an oral test that will again focus on the topics dealt with in class (if deemed necessary by the lecturer) and on the monograph chosen by the student. The student can take the oral test only after having passed the two written tests. In the event of a fail in one of the two tests, the oral will focus specifically on the part to be made up, after which the monograph will be tested. In the event of a double fail in the two written tests the student can take the exam only in the module for the non-attending student.

The non-attending student will have to prepare the two obligatory books as specified above. The learning test will consist in a written exam on these two books with short questions to be answered in 45 minutes. Once the written test has been marked, if a pass has been reached, the student will talk an oral test on the two monographs to be chosen from the short-list.

Teaching tools

Computer-based teaching tools (power point) will be used along with audiovisuals to accompany the teaching.

Office hours

See the website of Michele Marchi