A Concise History of Modern Europe: Liberty, Equality, Solidarity

by Mason, David S.

• ISBN13: 9781442205345
• ISBN10: 1442205342
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-12-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc

Summary

Highlighting the key events, ideas, and individuals that have shaped modern Europe, this fresh and lively book provides a succinct history of the continent from the Enlightenment to the present. Drawing on the enduring theme of revolution, David S. Mason explores the causes and consequences of revolution: political, economic, and scientific; the development of human rights; and issues of European identity and integration. He deliberately avoids a detailed chronology of every country and time period by emphasizing the most crucial events in shaping contemporary Europe. Fourteen focused chapters address such topical issues as the Enlightenment; the French Revolution and Napoleon; the Industrial Revolution; the theories and impact of Marx and Darwin; the revolutions of 1848, 1917, and 1989; the unifications of Germany and Italy; European imperialism; the two World Wars; the Cold War and decolonization; and the evolution and expansion of the European Union. Any reader needing a broad overview of the sweep of European history since 1789 will find this book, published in a first edition under the title Revolutionary Europe, an engaging and cohesive narrative.

Author Biography

David S. Mason is professor emeritus at Butler University.

Table of Contents

List of Boxes, Illustration, and Maps	p. xi
Preface to the Second Edition	p. xv
Preface to and Acknowledgments for the First Edition	p. xvii
Introduction: Change and Tradition in Europe	p. 1
Timeline of European History	p. 7
The Old Regime and the Enlightenment	p. 13
The Old Regime in France	p. 13
The Enlightenment	p. 17
The Impact of the Enlightenment	p. 21
The French Revolution and Napoleon	p. 23
1789: The Revolution Begins	p. 25
The Radical Republic and the Terror	p. 28
Napoleon and Europe	p. 29
The Industrial Revolution and the Birth of Capitalism	p. 37
Causes of the Industrial Revolution	p. 38
Socioeconomic Consequences of Industrialization	p. 42
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution	p. 44
1848: The People's Spring	p. 47
Europe after 1815: Reaction	p. 48
Liberalism and Nationalism in the Early Nineteenth Century	p. 49
Precursors to 1848: The 1830 Revolution in France	p. 51
The Revolutions of 1848	p. 52
Revolt Spreads through Europe	p. 54
Repression and Reaction	p. 55
Consequences and Legacy of 1848	p. 56
Marx, Marxism, and Socialism	p. 59
Karl Marx	p. 60
The Communist Manifesto	p. 60
Marxist Theory	p. 64
The Idea of Communism	p. 67
The Legacy of Marxism	p. 68
Darwinism and Social Darwinism	p. 71
Charles Darwin	p. 72
The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection	p. 73
Darwinism and Religion	p. 75
Social Darwinism	p. 77
Social Darwinism and European History	p. 78
The Influence of Darwinism	p. 80
The Unifications of Italy and Germany	p. 83
Nationalism and the Nation-State	p. 83
Prelude to Unification: The Crimean War	p. 85
Mazzini, Cavour, and the Unification of Italy	p. 86
Bismarck and the Unification of Germany	p. 88
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary	p. 91
Implications of Nationalism and Unification	p. 92
The Age of Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa	p. 93
European Expansionism before the Nineteenth Century	p. 94
The Motivations for Imperialism	p. 94
The Scramble for Africa	p. 96
The Colonization of Asia	p. 98
Patterns of Colonial Rule	p. 99
The Legacy and Consequences of European Imperialism	p. 100
World War I	p. 103
Europe on the Eve of War	p. 103
The Tinderbox: Nationalism in the Balkans	p. 105
The Spark: The Assassination	p. 106
The Escalation	p. 107
The War	p. 107
Versailles, The Peace Settlements, and the League of Nations	p. 111
Consequences of the War	p. 113
The Russian Revolution and Communism	p. 115
Tsarist Russia	p. 116
Hints of Change and Reform	p. 117
1905: Prelude to Revolution	p. 119
Marxism and Leninism	p. 120
World War I and the Two Revolutions	p. 122
Civil War, NEP, and Consolidation	p. 124
Stalin and Totalitarianism	p. 126
The Legacy and Meaning of the Russian Revolution	p. 129
World War II and the Holocaust	p. 131
Europe between the World Wars	p. 132
The Rise of Militarism and Fascism	p. 133
Hitler's Aggression	p. 136
The War	p. 138
The Holocaust	p. 139
The Consequences of World War II	p. 140
Europe Divided, the Cold War, and Decolonization	p. 145
The Division of Europe	p. 146
The Onset of the Cold War	p. 148
Decolonization	p. 152
Postwar Western Europe	p. 155
Eastern Europe after the War	p. 157
Conclusions: From Cold War to Perestroika	p. 159
1989: The Collapse of Communism and End of the Cold War	p. 161
Before 1989: Soviet Hegemony and the Brezhnev Doctrine	p. 162
Gorbachev and Perestroika	p. 165
The Revolutions of 1989	p. 166
The Disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia	p. 171
Transition from Communism to Market Democracy	p. 174
Conclusions: The Impact of 1989	p. 175
The European Union: Europe United and Free?	p. 179
Origins of the Common Market	p. 179
From Common Market to EU	p. 182
Expansion to Eastern Europe	p. 185
The European Superpower?	p. 187
What Is Europe?	p. 189
Conclusion: Europe in the Twenty-first Century	p. 193
Notes	p. 197
Glossary	p. 203
Suggestions for Additional Reading	p. 213
Index	p. 219
About the Author	p. 229
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