HIST 258 - Europe Since 1945

A survey of European history from the end of World War II to the present, emphasizing social and economic history and including both western Europe and the former socialist republics of eastern Europe. The course tests the hypothesis that Europe constitutes a social and political entity as well as a geographic one. Among the topics the course will cover are a comparison of European post-World War II reconstruction (East and West), Europe’s power decline in a global context, Europe as a tool and a participant in the Cold War, political trends and their roots in social and economic change, and the origins and European-wide implications of the collapse of the socialist states of eastern Europe. Alternate years. (4 Credits)