Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Synopsis A history of German states, including Austria, from the foundation of the Weimar Republic in 1919 to German unification. The main focus will be on `the German question,' the position of the German states in the European state system and their effects on this system, and the changes in the internal structure of political, social and economic systems in German states from 1919 to the present. Certain basic questions are taken as themes of the subject - how should Germany be defined for the purposes of studying German history? Does a unified Germany destabilise the European state system? Why was it so difficult for a stable democracy to develop in Germany? Topics examined include the birth of the Weimar Republic; Austria's First Republic; origins of National Socialism; failure of the Weimar Republic; structure of the Third Reich; the Second World War and the Holocaust; postwar occupation; creation of the German Federal Republic; creation of the German Democratic Republic; relations between the German states in the postwar world; German unification.
Assessment Written (4000 words): 40% + Examination (2 hours): 50% + Class participation and attendance: 10%