HY248
Britain in the World: British Foreign Policy in the Twentieth Century
The twentieth century completely reconfigured global politics. These reconfigurations also transformed Britain’s international standing. This course examines the often-overlapping shifts behind this transformation – imperial decline, economic crises, world wars, Cold War, European integration.
Using a foreign policy lens, it examines how successful Britain was in navigating global challenges; how it adapted its strategies and alliances as a result; and how the foreign policymaking process altogether evolved, from being mainly the domain of ambassadors to increasingly being shaped by individual prime ministers. In answering these questions, the course has three main aims.
First, to offer students an overview of the international history of modern Britain; second, to establish a firm basis for further studies in foreign policy and/or British politics; third, to provide the conceptual tools necessary for understanding current political discourses. Topics include Edwardian foreign policy; Britain and the Mandates system; the influence of anti-communism; foreign policy responses to decolonization; the formation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Margaret Thatcher’s foreign policy, including the Falklands War and the negotiations for Hong Kong’s handover; the Good Friday Agreement; and the Blair Doctrine.
By the end of the course, students will therefore be able to critically assess the key policy decisions behind the individual events studied; analyse these decisions in order to discern broader trends in British policymaking; evaluate the relationships and dynamics that shaped Britain’s global standing; as well as analyse how historical thinking about British foreign policy has evolved as new evidence came to light.
HY249
War, Social Conflict and Nation Building: The History of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in the Twentieth Century
For centuries, Eastern and Southeastern Europe constituted borderlands of four competing European empires. The twentieth century finally ushered in self-determination and independence, but tragically, subsequent efforts at nation-state building were beset by political and ideological divisions, social unrest, conflicts, wars and genocide.
This course aims to engage students with the complex history of these borderlands, from vassalage under four Empires in nineteenth century Europe to full independence towards the end of the twentieth century, and the lasting legacies. It highlights the extent to which until relatively recently, national, ethnic, cultural and political subjugation were as prevalent in Europe, as in the extra-European world. Through the study of the history of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, this course focuses on phenomena firmly imbedded in modern history.
The syllabus will address a number of themes: firstly, the impact and legacies of imperial rule. Secondly, the importance of rival ideologies: the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and subsequent creation of the USSR had a profound impact on authoritarian elites in these predominantly agrarian societies, further limiting political liberalization. Thirdly, the significance of the turbulent inter-war period: the causes and consequences of economic crises, the collapse of democratic institutions, the emergence of fascist and anti-Semitic movements, and responses to German and Italian aggression in World War II. Fourthly, Cold War dynamics after the Second World War will be discussed in considerable detail, together with the establishment, development and collapse of Soviet domination of the region.
The course will explore these themes through the comparative histories of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece and the Baltic States. Final lectures will concentrate on the transition from communism to democratic regimes following the end of the Cold War, and the impact of the post-Cold War international system on the region, including the break-up of Yugoslavia and the wars in the Balkans in the 1990s.