Long 19th Century: European History from 1789 to 1917

(36 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)

Course No. 8190
Taught by Robert I. Weiner
Lafayette College
Ph.D., Rutgers University
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The Long 19th Century

The Legacy of the Past The Old Regime
The Age of Revolution, 1789 1848
The French Revolution
The Napoleonic Era, 1799 1815
The First Industrial Revolution, 1760 1850
The Era of Metternich, 1815 1848
The Revolutions of 1848
Europe, 1850 1871 An Overview
The Crimean War, 1853 1856
From Napoleon to Napoleon France, 1815 1852
Napoleon III An Evaluation
Italy on the Eve An Overview
Cavour and Napoleon III Unifying Italy
Germany on the Eve
Age of Bismarck Creating the German Empire
The British Way
The Russian Experience, 1789 1881
The Apogee of Europe, 1870 1914
The Industrialization of Europe
The Socialist Response
The Longest Hatred European Anti-Semitism
England, 1868 1914 Liberalism to Democracy
The Third Republic France, 1870 1914
Bismarckian and Wilhelminian Germany
Flawed States Austria-Hungary and Italy
Russia, Turkey, and the Balkans
Bismarck Dominates Europe, 1870 1890
The New Imperialism
The Diplomacy of Imperialism, 1890 1907
Europe in Crisis, 1908 1914 Outbreak of War
The Origins of World War I
The Great War A Military Overview
The Home Front During Total War
The Impact of World War I New World Disorder
Looking Back, Thinking Ahead

History at its most interesting is complex, a fascinating whirl of events, perso

nalities, and forces, and few periods of history offer us such captivating compl
exity as Europe's 19th "century" the often-broadly defined period from the French
Revolution to World War I that formed the foundation of the modern world.
How was that foundation built? And what did that transition to modernity mean fo
r peasants, workers, the middle class, aristocrats, women, and minorities?
Why did an era that began with the idealism of the French Revolution and the pow

er of the Industrial Revolution culminate in the chaos of World War I, considere

d by most historians to be the greatest tragedy of modern European history? Did
nationalism and imperialism inevitably lead in such a direction, or were there o
ther factors involved?
Even these questions, as important as they are, can only hint at the complexity
of this period, just as this course can really only put us on a path toward the
answers.
Understand a Turbulent Era
Dr. Robert I. Weiner assumes no prior knowledge of this era and no professional
vocabulary, "just interest, curiosity, and hopefully, passion."
Disclaimers notwithstanding, these lectures indeed offer the opportunity for any
one with an interest in history to take an enormous stride toward understanding
the whys of this turbulent and important era, and not just the whats.
Professor Weiner, a five-time recipient of Lafayette's Student Government Superi
or Teaching Award during his 35 years of teaching history at Lafayette College,
leads you on a spirited journey across an ever-changing European landscape, exam
ining the forces and personalities that reshaped the continent's physical border
s, diplomatic relationships, and balance of power.
He moves from the impact of both the French and Industrial Revolutions in the pe
riod from 1789-1848, into the so-called "unifications" of Italy and Germany in t
he 1850s and 1860s, followed by the spread of industrialism and nationalism into
the furthest reaches of Europe toward the end of the century.
By that time, the world had undergone profound changes:
* In Europe, the dominance of Great Britain and France had been eclipsed by
a rapidly modernizing Germany.
* Austria-Hungary was struggling to survive as a multi-national empire.
* Russia was facing stresses of inadequate modernization as other nations mo
ved ahead.
* The U.S. and Japan were beginning to play a role in an emerging world bala
nce of power.
* Almost all of Africa and much of Asia had been gobbled up in a final spasm
of imperialist expansions.
Moreover, the European great powers, organized in alliances and enmeshed in an a
rms race, were confronting increasingly dangerous international crises.
While more people in Europe were living better than ever before, Europe had beco
me a very dangerous place soon to erupt in a war more brutal than any the world ha
d ever seen.
Enjoy an Ambitious Look at a Much-Pondered Subject
In exploring the evolution of the environment that ultimately made World War I p
ossible, Professor Weiner has crafted a very ambitious course, covering a vast r
ange of material. He repeatedly steps back from "on-the-ground" events to clarif
y historical trends or patterns.
For example, he concentrates on political and diplomatic moves of the great powe
rs Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Italy while always d
iscussing them in the context of the deeper economic, social, and cultural force
s at work. He doesn't merely offer you a chess position from which the next move
is made; he lets you know how and why the various pieces have come to be arraye

d the way they are, and how they reflect the impact of some of history's most si
gnificant names:
* Napoleon Bonaparte, whose massive legacy, though uneven, includes spreadin
g the ideas of the French Revolution, such as freedom of religion and equality b
efore the law, everywhere his soldiers marched
* Napoleon III, whose mixed reviews include one historian's recognition that
he was "unique among dictators in ending his career with a government that prov
ided his country with more freedom than the government he started with"
* Klemens von Metternich, the shrewd Austrian foreign minister who spoke for
conservative, monarchical Europe during the last three decades of the Age of Re
volution
* Otto von Bismarck, the German chancellor who was architect of both Germany
's unification and a system of alliances that ultimately led to her downfall
* Kaiser Wilhelm II, the brash young kaiser with a "special knack" for polit
ical and diplomatic gaffes
* Alfred Dreyfus, the Jewish French Army captain unjustly accused of espiona
ge and whose ordeal inspired modern Zionism
* Karl Marx, the German intellectual whose ideas about a radical new philoso
phy found fertile ground on a continent where industrial modernization was creat
ing new disruptions and resentments
* Count Camillo di Cavour, the brilliant Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia
whose tragic early death left imperfect the unified Italy he helped to create
* William Gladstone, the moralist humanitarian and Prime Minister who helped
democratize Great Britain.
An Unflinching Look at Some of History's Major Players
These historical figures join with many others in a presentation that is unfaili
ngly interesting and provocative, with Professor Weiner often quite frank, altho
ugh fair, in his assessment of individuals and their decisions.
This course can easily be divided into four major teaching segments.
After a short orientation to the Ancien Regime which offers a basis of compariso
n to the dramatically different world that was to come, Dr. Weiner's organizatio
nal plan begins with the period from 1789 to 1848 that has come to be known as t
he Age of Revolution.
Professor Weiner's second major section covers the period from the repression of
the 1848 Revolutions until the unification of Germany in 1870-1871.
Professor Weiner
k at the ways in
1914. This power
s throughout the

begins the third major section of the course with a general loo
which European power was at its zenith in the period from 1870was felt on economic, military, political, and diplomatic level
world.

The final segment of the course covers the developments in European diplomacy th
at led to World War I, as well as the war's dramatic impact.
As the course and Europe move closer to the catastrophe of World War I, Professor We
iner narrows the focus again. He presents several case studies of the great powe
rs in the decades leading up to the conflict, including Great Britain, France, G
ermany, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and, as he describes it, "the cauldr
on that was Russia, Turkey, and the Balkans."
World War I's Devastating Impact
World War I was punctuated by a series of battles of industrial slaughter, such
as Verdun, the Somme, the Nivelle Offensive, and the final German thrusts in the

West in the of spring 1918. More than nine million combatants perished, includi
ng more than half of the French men who were between the ages of 20 and 32 when
the war began in 1914.
Concluding lectures examine not only the major events of the Great War but also
the its impact on contemporaries and the following generation, setting the stage
for World War II.
Although Lenin, Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler were neither inevitable nor likely
candidates for national leadership in pre-war Europe, they were rooted in their
national cultures, children of their age, and Dr. Weiner attempts to answer the
question, what had gone wrong?
Should I buy Audio or Video?
This course works well in all formats. The DVD and videotape versions feature mo
re than 300 pictures and illustrations in addition to various maps and on-screen
text.