Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide the knowledge of the crucial phases of the history of the contemporary world for the period 1914-1989. Particular attention is dedicated to the study of the political, cultural and social relations that characterized the relationship between Europe and the most developed areas of the world in the last century, taking into account both the changes introduced by the processes of globalization of the economy and the changes that took place in terms of international relations. At the end of the course the student must be able to: a) know the most relevant periodizations and events related to the indicated historical period, b) critically confront the fundamental problems of global history, c) use the different historiographic interpretations in an appropriate manner.

Program

Syllabus

The course will be organized according to the following thematic blocks:
- The Great War, the post-war period in Italy and in Europe,
- Italian fascism,
- The origins and development of National Socialism,
- Stalin's Soviet Union, - World War II,
- The birth of republican Italy,
- Post-war balances and the start of the cold war,
- Europe and the United States after 1945
- Decolonization and the new geopolitical map of the world,
- The 1960s: détente, revolutions and new dictatorships, protests,
- The crisis of American economic hegemony and the collapse of the USSR,
- Europe and the world after 1989,
- The global world.

Literature

1. the textbook:

T. Detti-G. Gozzini, Storia contemporanea, II, Il Novecento, Pearson, 2017.

2. a book chosen from the following:

E. Traverso, A ferro e a fuoco. La guerra civile europea (1914-1945), Il Mulino, 2008.
G. Crainz, Il paese reale. Dall’assassinio di Moro all’Italia di oggi, Donzelli, 2012 (con esclusione del capitolo VI).
T. Detti-G. Gozzini, L’età del disordine. Storia del mondo attuale 1968-2017, Laterza, 2018.

Students not attending Non-attending students will have to add the following volume to the above texts:

R. Overy, Crisi tra le due guerre mondiali 1919-1939, Il Mulino, 1998.
Teaching mode

The course includes the alternation between the lectures of the teacher, the vision of films and video materials, moments of discussion.

Examination Methods

Examination procedure

1. Assessment methods: structured written exam in open and closed questions.
2. Objectives: to verify the ability to display concepts using appropriate historical terminology, the ability to link events and to place them adequately within the individual national contexts and the
3. Contents: the questions will focus on the topics covered during the course and developed in the volumes indicated in the bibliography.
4. Assessment methods: score expressed in thirtieths, resulting from the sum of the points assigned to each of the questions.

Other informations

The required prerequisites are: general knowledge of the European history of the period 1900-1961, obtainable from the reading of any manual.

Erasmus students (and students hosted with other international mobility programs) who attend classes, can choose between written and oral exam. They can also use books in foreign languages (English, French and Spanish).

For more details: contact the teacher during office hours.