IR 231 POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC HISTORY I

FALL 2016
LECTURER AND COURSE CONTACT :

Inan Rma, inan.ruma@bilgi.edu.tr

Ozan Kuyumcuoglu
ozan.kuyumcuoglu@bilgi.edu.tr

Office Hour: Monday 13.30-14.30, on appointment by e-mail.

Course Description: This course aims at presenting the main issues and concepts
of early modern history, that is to say 1789-1914. The course will examine European
politics and diplomacy until 1914 from a global perspective as well as the events that
marked the early modern period such as English, American, French and Industrial
Revolutions. Additionally, the course will analyze the economic and social problems
of the 19th century that marked the progress of human history until 2010. Finally, it
will discuss these events and concepts in order to provide an analytical and critical
understanding.
Learning Outcomes: At the end of the course, the students are expected to
1)

Develop an understanding of the key issues in the modern history so that they
will be able to follow the courses in the following years;

2)

Ascertain the elements of change and continuity in modern history so that

they can understand and analyse contemporary (world) politics within a historical
perspective;

3)

Approach analytically and critically to the achievements and problems of

modern human life.

Course Requirements:
Three Small Exams (two of them on subsection class): 60%
Midterm Exam.
: 20%
Final exam
: 20%
Participation (bonus)
: 10%
If a student misses an exam, she/he should immediately inform the instructor and
provide a doctors report in order to be considered for a make-up exam.
After each completed exam, students may view their exam papers to learn their
mistakes. Certainly, there is no negotiation on grades.
Exam paper viewing sessions will be arranged by appointment.
Required Textbook:
Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Revolution, London: Abacus, 2002.
David Thomson, Europe Since Napoleon, London: Penguin, 1990.
Muharrem Tnay, Siyasal Tarih, Ankara: mge Kitabevi,1995.

Academic Integrity
Students are required to comply with the norms of academic integrity as specified in
the pertinent academic regulations of the Istanbul Bilgi University.
Lectures and Sessionly Assignments
Session 1 (September 26, 2016)
Course Presentation and Introduction: Historical Evolution of Modern State and
Modernity
Hobsbawm 19-41. Tnay, 7-52.
Recommended Novel: Il Nome della Rosa (The Name of the Rose), Umberto Eco.
Session 2 (October 3): English Revolution
Separate readings in the on-line system.
Jill Lepore, The Rule of History Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, and the hold of time,
New Yorker, April 20, 2015.
John S. Morrill, Oliver Cromwell, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Recommended Novel: The Life and Death of King Richard III (1593), William Shakespeare.
Session 3 (October 10): Movie: Cromwell (K.Hughes).
Session 4 (October 17): American Revolution and USA in the long 19th century
Warren W. Hassler, Jr. American Civil War, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Richard N. Current (Ed.), Abraham Lincoln, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Soli zel, Bte Krizinin Arka Plan, 6 Ekim 2013.
Recommended Novel: The Red Badge of Courage (1895) (Cesaret Madalyas/Kanl
Madalya), Stephen Crane.
Session 5 (October 24): French Revolution
FIRST EXAM. Topic: Elements of Modern State, Cromwell and Lincoln.
Hobsbawm, 73-101. Tnay, 58-83.
David A. Bell, 5 myths about the French Revolution, The Washington Post, July 9 2015.
Recommended Novel: A Tale of two cities (ki ehrin Hikayesi), Charles Dickens
Session 6 (October 31): French Revolution (continued)
Session 7 (November 7): movie: Danton (Andrej Wajda)
Session 8 (November 12-20): No Course Session. Mid-Term Week. Kolay gelsin.
Session 9 (November 21): Restoration and Revolution: 1815-1830-1848
Thomson, 127-175. Hobsbawm, 359-372. Tnay 84-112.
Jacques Godechot, Napolon, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Recommended Novel: La Chartreuse de Parme (The Charterhouse of Parma; Parma
Manastr), Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle)

Session 10 (November 28): Industrial Revolution and 1848 Revolutions.

Hobsbawm 42-72. Tnay, 54-58.
Recommended Novel: Hard Times, Charles Dickens.

Session 11 (December 5) Crimean War, German and Italian Unifications, Modern

Nation-States, 1856THIRD EXAM. Topic: Industrial Revolution and 1848 Revolutions.
Thomson, 240-254, 289-329. Tnay 113-130.
Kenneth Barkin, Otto von Bismarck, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Umberto Marcelli (Ed.) Camillo Benso, count di Cavour, Encyclopedia Britannica.
John Foot, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Encyclopedia Britannica.
Recommended Novel: , Sevastopolskiye rasskazy (Sevastopol
Stories/Sivastopol Hikyeleri), Leo Tolstoy
Buddenbrooks (Buddenbrooklar - Bir Ailenin k) Thomas Mann
Session 12 (December 12) Age of Imperialism and 1914
FOURTH EXAM. Topic: Crimean War.
Thomson, 255-288.
John Hobson, Imperialism, A Study, 1902, Introductory chapter.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/hobson/1902/imperialism/
V.I. Lenin, Imperialism: Highest Stage of Capitalism, parts IX AND X.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1916/imp-hsc/
Recommended Novel: Heart of Darkness (1899) (Karanln Yrei) Joseph Conrad.
Session 13 (December 19) Asia in the long 19th century
Craig Lockard, SouthEast Asia in World History, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp.93-117.
China's century of humiliation [DVD] : a look at China's interaction with the West throughout
the nineteenth century / produced by Deep Waters Films.

Session 14 (December 26): Ottoman Empire in the long 19th century

Imperialism.
lber Ortayl, mparatorluun En Uzun Yzyl, stanbul: letiim, 2005, pp. 13-33, 263-275.
Tnay, 131-149.
L. Carl Brown, The Classical Eastern Question, 1774-1923 in International Politics and the
Middle East, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 21-76.
Recommended Novel: Araba Sevdas, Recaizade Mahmut Ekrem.
FINAL EXAM: Imperialism, Asia and Ottoman Empire.