1st meeting, 1.10.2014

Introduction

2nd meeting, 8.10.2014

Overview I.: Central and Eastern Europe between the Wars

Reading: Joseph Rothschild: East Central Europe between the Two World Wars, Seattle, London: University of Washington Press 1974, pp. 3-25.

Topics: Central and Eastern Europe as a historical region; The emergence of the post-war order; main trends in politics, economy and society; inter-state relations; Germany and the Soviet Union and their influence on the development in Central and Eastern Europe; Ethnic relations and conflict; ruling classes and "their" societies; styles of government; democracy and authoritarianism

3rd meeting, 15.10.2014

Overview II: Economy and society in Central and Eastern Europe between the wars

Topics: Main trends in economic and social developments; Modernization and its (partial) success; The remnants of noble society; The peasants and the problem of land reforms; The working class; The end of liberalism in economic policy; Statist ("etatist") trends in economic policy and "organized capitalism"; The world economic crisis of the 1930’s

Reading: Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A History of Eastern Europe. Crisis and Change, London, New York: Routledge 1998, pp. 426-434, pp. 435-442 & pp. 443-453.

4th meeting, 22.10.2014

Democracy in interwar Central and Eastern Europe I.: Political and party systems, pressure groups and political culture

Topics: Constitutions, political systems and party systems - structures and performance; political (mass) mobilization and universal franchise; "the mass"; political currents from "left" to "right"; pressure groups and their influence on politics; political culture - notion and development; the performance of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1920’s; the weakness of the political systems and the way towards authoritarian rule

Reading: Mark R. Thompson: Building Nations and Crafting Democracies - Competing Legitimacies in Interwar Europe, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Authoritarianism and Democracy in Europe, 1919-39. Comparative Analyses, Basingstoke: Macmillan 2002, pp. 20-38.

5th meeting, 29.10.2014

Intellectuals and intellectual currents in interwar Central and Eastern Europe

Topics: Intellectuals and the production of political doctrines; The role of intellectuals in politics; Criticism of Democracy; Intellectual currents in interwar Central and Eastern Europe: leftist, right-wing, conservative, clerical, völkisch ideas; The wartime experience and the First World War as a topic in art (Futurism, ...); Anti-liberal and organicist thinking about the state; Christian corporatist ideas and the encyclical "Quadragesimo anno"; The call for a "Führer"; Important political and economic thinkers between the wars: Carl Schmitt, Georg Lukács, Ernst Bloch, Othmar Spann, ...

Reading: Jan-Werner Müller: Contesting Democracy. Political Ideas in Twentieth-Century Europe, New Haven, London: Yale University Press 2011, pp. 50-90.

6th meeting, 5.11.2014

An enemy from the "left": Soviet Communism and left-wing movements in Central and Eastern Europe

Topics: What is communism?; The "October Revolution" in Russia and the first years of Bolshevik rule; Stages of development of Soviet Communism: From "war communism" through "New Economic Policy" to Stalinism; Characteristics of Soviet Economic Policy; The development of Society under communist rule; Mass events and the legitimization of Communist rule; Early interpretations of Soviet Communism; the early Soviet Union in travel reports and contemporary critique; Communism in self-testimonies; Communism as a "political religion"?; Communism and communist movements in Central and Eastern Europe: their role and influence in politics; Soviet foreign policy: Between spreading revolution and "Socialism in one country"; The role of the Comintern; Communism and violence

Reading: Ivan T. Berend: Decades of Crisis. Central and Eastern Europe before World War II, Berkeley: University of California Press 1998, pp. 203-223.

7th meeting, 12.11.2014

An enemy from the "right": Italian Fascism and right-wing movements in Central and Eastern Europe

Topics: What is Fascism?; The "March on Rome" and Mussolini’s rule; Stages of Fascist rule in Italy; Economic and Social Policy in Fascist Italy; Corporatism: the notion and its practice in Fascist Italy; Mass events and the legitimization of Fascist rule; Early interpretations of Fascism; Fascist Italy in travel reports; Fascism in self-testimonies; Fascism as a "political religion"?; Fascist movements in Central and Eastern Europe: their role and influence in politics; Fascist foreign policy; Fascism and violence; Georges Sorel & Giovanni Gentile and Fascism; Antonio Gramsci and his critique of Fascism

Reading: Marco Tarchi: The Role of Fascist Movements, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Authoritarianism and Democracy in Europe, 1919-39. Comparative Analyses, Basingstoke: Macmillan 2002, pp. 101-128.

There will be no meetings on 19^th and 26^th November due to conference talks of the course instructor

8th meeting, 3.12.2014

Democracy in interwar Central and Eastern Europe II.: Modes of conflict resolution and stabilizing democracy (social policy, corporatism, …)

Topics: The performance of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, cases: Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany; The performance of parliaments as basic arena of pursuing and settling political conflict; Social policy as a way of moderating economic and social conflict; The rise of corporatism and alternative ways of settling conflict - and circumventing the parliaments; The rise of "technocratic" rule

Reading: Allan Zink: Organized Interests and Their Patterns of Interaction, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Authoritarianism and Democracy in Europe, 1919-39. Comparative Analyses, Basingstoke: Macmillan 2002, pp. 77-100.

9th meeting, 10.12.2014

Democracy without democrats: The rise of National Socialism and Communism in Germany... and: Hitler’s totalitarian rule in Germany

Topics: The heritage of the First World War; The condition and performance of Weimar democracy; Economic and social cleavages in interwar Germany; Criticism of Weimar democracy; Mass mobilization on the "right" and on the "left"; The rise of National Socialism in Germany; The rise of Communism in Germany; Biography: Adolf Hitler - political ideas and performance until 1933; Hitler’s rule in Germany and the destruction of democratic institutions; The legitimization of Hitler’s rule (charisma, Führertum, ...); The inscenization of Hitler’s rule (mass events, ...); Hitler’s elite - biographical approaches; National Socialism as "Biocracy" (the notion of Volksgemeinschaft, anti-Semitism from exclusion to mass murder); The role of violence in Hitler’s regime

Reading: Folko Arends, Gerhard Kümmel: Germany: From Double Crisis to National Socialism, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Conditions of Democracy in Europe 1919-39. Systematic Case Studies, Basingstoke u. a.: Routledge 2000, pp. 184-212.

10th meeting, 17.12.2014

Authoritarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe between the wars

Topics: Varieties of authoritarian rule in Central and Eastern Europe: cases (Poland; Hungary; Romania; Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia; Austria); Ideology and legitimization strategies of authoritarian rulers (Corporatism, Church, anti-Semitism, ...); Economic and social policy of the "small" dictators; Biographical approaches to authoritarian rule (Piłsudski, Horthy, King Carol, ...)

Reading: Jerzy Holzer: Poland: From Post-War Crisis to Authoritarianism, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Conditions of Democracy in Europe 1919-39. Systematic Case Studies, Basingstoke u. a.: Routledge 2000, pp. 335-353;

Robert Bideleux, Ian Jeffries: A History of Eastern Europe. Crisis and Change, London, New York: Routledge 1998, pp. 458-466.

11th meeting, 7.1.2015

Comparison: Why did democracy fail in most states but persist in Czechoslovakia?; Closing discussion: What is to be learned from the failure of democracy in interwar Europe?

Topics: Attempt at comparison: Reasons for the failure of democracy and the rise of anti-liberal regimes; Closing discussion

Reading: John Bradley: Czechoslovakia: External Crisis and Internal Compromise, in: Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Jeremy Mitchell (eds.): Conditions of Democracy in Europe 1919-39. Systematic Case Studies, Basingstoke u. a.: Routledge 2000, pp. 85-105.