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Module Catalogue

HI290-30 History of Germany, from Bismarck to the Berlin Republic

Department
History
Level
Undergraduate Level 2
Module leader
Colin Storer
Credit value
30
Module duration
21 weeks
Assessment
100% coursework
Study location
University of Warwick main campus, Coventry

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Introductory description

Germany is now widely seen as a peaceful, prosperous and stable democracy, at the heart of Europe politically and economically as well as geographically. But for much of its modern history the picture was very different. A comparative latecomer to statehood, in the 170 years of its existence as a nation-state Germany experienced a dramatic transformation from a maverick to a model state which took in war, dictatorship, occupation and division, as well as rapid industrial development (twice), a dynamic civil society and intense cultural and intellectual experimentation.

Module web page

Module aims

This 30 CATS optional second year undergraduate module examines the history of Germany from Unification in 1871 to the Berlin Republic of Angela Merkel. Students will consider the political, social and cultural history of modern Germany from a variety of historical perspectives in order to understand why in Germany the past is so important to an understanding of the present. We will look at the rise and fall of political ideas and regimes, economic developments, issues of citizenship and ethnicity, attitudes towards gender and sexuality, and how all these affected the lives of ordinary Germans. Along the way, students will have the opportunity to conduct their own research and write a piece of Germany's history.

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Autumn Term

  1. Introduction and Themes
  2. Bismarck and Germany
  3. Wilhelmine Germany
  4. Foreign Policy and Empire
  5. Total War, 1914-1918
  6. Reading Week
  7. Doomed Experiment or Militant Democracy? Politics in the Weimar Republic
  8. Modernity and its Discontents: Society and Culture in the Weimar Republic
  9. Weimar and the Wider World
  10. The Rise of Extremism and the Collapse of Weimar Democracy

Spring Term

  1. Gleichschaltung: The Making of the Third Reich
  2. Creating the Volksgemeinschaft: Domestic Policy in the Third Reich
  3. War and Genocide
  4. Defeat, Occupation, and Division
  5. West Germany: The 'Miracle Years', 1949-63
  6. Reading Week
  7. East Germany: The Antifascist state?
  8. From the Frankfurt Trial to Reunification: West Germany, 1963-89
  9. Development and Decline in the GDR, 1961-89
  10. 1989, Reunification, and the Berlin Republic

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

  • Act with limited supervision and direction within defined guidelines, accepting responsibility for achieving deadlines.
  • Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the trajectory of modern German history.
  • Communicate ideas and findings, adapting to a range of situations, audiences and degrees of complexity.
  • Generate ideas through the analysis of a broad range of primary source material relating to modern German history.
  • Analyse and evaluate the contributions made by existing scholarship.

Indicative reading list

http://readinglists.warwick.ac.uk/modules/hi290.html

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

See learning outcomes.

Transferable skills

See learning outcomes.

Study time

Type Required
Lectures 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Seminars 20 sessions of 1 hour (7%)
Tutorials 2 sessions of 1 hour (1%)
Other activity 2 hours (1%)
Private study 256 hours (85%)
Total 300 hours

Private study description

History modules require students to undertake extensive independent research and reading to prepare for seminars and assessments. As a rough guide, students will be expected to read and prepare to comment on three substantial texts (articles or book chapters) for each seminar taking approximately 3 hours. Each assessment requires independent research, reading around 6-10 texts and writing and presenting the outcomes of this preparation in an essay, review, presentation or other related task.

Other activity description

Revision seminar

Costs

No further costs have been identified for this module.

You do not need to pass all assessment components to pass the module.

Students can register for this module without taking any assessment.

Assessment group A2
Weighting Study time Eligible for self-certification
Assessment component
Seminar contribution 10% No
Reassessment component
1000 word reflective essay in lieu of Seminar Contribution Yes (extension)
Assessment component
1500 word essay or equivalent 10% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
3000 word essay or equivalent 40% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Assessment component
3000 word essay or equivalent 40% Yes (extension)
Reassessment component is the same
Feedback on assessment

Written feedback on essay and exam cover sheets; student/tutor dialogues in one-to-one tutorials.

Anti-requisite modules

If you take this module, you cannot also take:

  • HI2J7-15 The Weimar Republic, 1918-1933

Courses

This module is Optional for:

  • Year 2 of UENA-VQ32 Undergraduate English and History
  • Year 2 of UFRA-R1VA Undergraduate French and History
  • Year 2 of ULNA-R4V1 Undergraduate Hispanic Studies and History
  • UHIA-V100 Undergraduate History
    • Year 2 of V100 History
    • Year 2 of V100 History
  • UPDA-Y306 Undergraduate History (Part-Time)
    • Year 2 of Y306 History (Part Time)
    • Year 2 of Y306 History (Part Time)
  • Year 2 of UHIA-V102 Undergraduate History (Renaissance and Modern History Stream)
  • Year 2 of UIPA-V1L8 Undergraduate History and Global Sustainable Development
  • UITA-R3V2 Undergraduate History and Italian
    • Year 2 of R3V2 History and Italian
    • Year 3 of R3V2 History and Italian
  • Year 2 of UHIA-V1V5 Undergraduate History and Philosophy
  • Year 2 of UHIA-V1V7 Undergraduate History and Philosophy (with a term in Venice)
  • UHIA-VM11 Undergraduate History and Politics
    • Year 2 of VM11 History and Politics
    • Year 2 of VM11 History and Politics
    • Year 2 of VM11 History and Politics
  • Year 2 of UHIA-VM13 Undergraduate History and Politics (with a term in Venice)
  • Year 2 of UHIA-VL13 Undergraduate History and Sociology
  • Year 2 of UHIA-VL15 Undergraduate History and Sociology (with a term in Venice)
  • UVCA-LA99 Undergraduate Liberal Arts
    • Year 2 of LA99 Liberal Arts
    • Year 2 of LA92 Liberal Arts with Classics
    • Year 2 of LA73 Liberal Arts with Design Studies
    • Year 2 of LA83 Liberal Arts with Economics
    • Year 2 of LA82 Liberal Arts with Education
    • Year 2 of LA95 Liberal Arts with English
    • Year 2 of LA81 Liberal Arts with Film and Television Studies
    • Year 2 of LA80 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development
    • Year 2 of LA93 Liberal Arts with Global Sustainable Development
    • Year 2 of LA97 Liberal Arts with History
    • Year 2 of LA71 Liberal Arts with Law
    • Year 2 of LA91 Liberal Arts with Life Sciences
    • Year 2 of LA75 Liberal Arts with Modern Lanaguages and Cultures
    • Year 2 of LA96 Liberal Arts with Philosophy
    • Year 2 of LA94 Liberal Arts with Theatre and Performance Studies