Syllabus
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 19th and 26th 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.
Annotation
When the Central and East European Empires broke down as a result oft he First World War and new "national" states emerged in their place, it seemed that democratic sys-tems would be established all over the region. The emerging states received democratic constitutions and their economy was based on liberal market principles, while social policy of different kinds was intended to balance differences in wealth and income and to integrate the poorer strata into the democratic systems. Two decades later, however, all Central and East European States had - with the prominent exception of Czechoslo-vakia - more or less authoritarian regimes, ranging from moderate authoritarianism in Poland and Hungary through the Presidential dictatorships in the Baltic states to Hitler’s and Stalin’s "totalitarian" regimes in Germany and the Soviet Union, they had state inter-ference in the economy and - in some instances - far-reaching social programs intended to legitimize the regimes.
In the seminar we will examine the conditions of democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe between the world wars - Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hun-gary and the Baltic states. We will start with an introductory survey of the region and its political, social and economic structures and the predominant cleavages, shaping the political landscape. Then we will examine the constitutional and political systems of the Central and Eastern European states and their practical performance. In the next step we will ask, from which sides democracy came under attack (communist, fascist and right-wing movements), how they acted, from where they borrowed their ideas and which implications all this had for international relations. Then we will take a closer look at economic and social measures aimed at legitimizing the democratic regimes and finally we will ask, what were the reasons for the success of democracy’s enemies or why democracy persisted.