Annotation
The history of Europe in the first half of the 20th century was shaped by violence of an unprecedented dimension, with the two world wars as its culmination. War damage, economic crises, inflation, unemployment, forced migration and expropriation led to radical regroupments among the societies of Europe during the interwar years.
Individual and collective identities were challenged, and the questioning of all values led to revolutions, counter- revolutions, class struggle and civil war.
The course will deal with the interwar period as the stony path of European societies from the agrarian to the industrial society and the search for reconciliation with modernity. Several paths were taken during this search:
Most societies chose some kind of dictatorial regime. The course will cover continuities and discontinuities, as well as crises not only on the level of politics, society, economy and culture, but also on the level of everyday life. The regional focus will be placed on Central, East Central and Eastern Europe.