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

253 Pages·2018·6.303 MB·English

by  David S. Mason

A Concise History
of Modern Europe
Liberty, Equality, Solidarity
Fourth Edition
David S. Mason
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Executive Editor: Susan McEachern
Editorial Assistant: Katelyn Turner
Senior Marketing Manager: Kim Lyons
Credits and acknowledgments for material borrowed from other sources, and
reproduced with permission, appear on the appropriate page within the text.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB,
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2019 by The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval
systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer
who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available
ISBN 978-1-5381-1326-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-5381-1327-1 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-5381-1328-8 (ebook)
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For students of history who use the lessons of the past
to build a better future

Contents
Boxes, Illustrations, and Maps ix
Preface and Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Revolutionary Europe 1
Timeline of European History 7
1 The Old Regime and the Enlightenment 13
The Old Regime in France 13
The Enlightenment 17
The Impact of the Enlightenment 22
2 The French Revolution and Napoleon 23
1789: The Revolution Begins 25
The Radical Republic and the Terror 28
Napoleon and Europe 29
3 The Industrial Revolution and the Birth of Capitalism 37
Causes of the Industrial Revolution 38
Socioeconomic Consequences of Industrialization 42
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution 44
4 1848: The People’s Spring 47
Europe after 1815: Reaction 48
Liberalism and Nationalism in the Early Nineteenth Century 49
Precursors to 1848: The 1830 Revolution in France 51
v
vi Contents
The Revolutions of 1848 52
Revolt Spreads through Europe 54
Repression and Reaction 56
Consequences and Legacy of 1848 56
5 Marx, Marxism, and Socialism 59
Karl Marx 60
The Communist Manifesto 60
Marxist Theory 64
The Idea of Communism 67
The Legacy of Marxism 68
6 Darwinism and Social Darwinism 71
Charles Darwin 72
The Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection 73
Darwinism and Religion 74
Social Darwinism 76
Social Darwinism and European History 78
The Influence of Darwinism 79
7 The Unifications of Italy and Germany 83
Nationalism and the Nation-State 83
Prelude to Unification: The Crimean War 85
Mazzini, Cavour, and the Unification of Italy 86
Bismarck and the Unification of Germany 89
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary 91
Implications of Nationalism and Unification 91
8 The Age of Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa 93
European Expansionism before the Nineteenth Century 94
The Motivations for Imperialism 94
The Scramble for Africa 96
The Colonization of Asia 98
Patterns of Colonial Rule 100
The Legacy and Consequences of European Imperialism 100
9 World War I 103
Europe on the Eve of War 103
The Tinderbox: Nationalism in the Balkans 105
The Spark: The Assassination 106
The Escalation 107
The War 107
Versailles, the Peace Settlements, and the League of Nations 111
Consequences of the War 113
Contents vii
10 The Russian Revolution and Communism 115
Tsarist Russia 116
Hints of Change and Reform 117
1905: Prelude to Revolution 119
Marxism and Leninism 121
World War I and the Two Revolutions 122
Civil War, NEP, and Consolidation 124
Stalin and Totalitarianism 127
The Legacy and Meaning of the Russian Revolution 129
11 World War II and the Holocaust 131
Europe between the World Wars 132
The Rise of Militarism and Fascism 133
Hitler’s Aggression 136
The War 138
The Holocaust 141
The Consequences of World War II 142
12 Europe Divided, the Cold War, and Decolonization 145
The Division of Europe 146
The Onset of the Cold War 148
Decolonization 152
Postwar Western Europe 155
Eastern Europe after the War 157
Conclusions: From Cold War to Perestroika 159
13 1989: The Collapse of Communism and End of the Cold War 161
Before 1989: Soviet Hegemony and the Brezhnev Doctrine 162
Gorbachev and Perestroika 165
The Revolutions of 1989 167
The Disintegration of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia 170
Transition from Communism to Market Democracy 173
Conclusions: The Impact of 1989 175
14 The European Union: Europe United and Free? 177
Origins of the Common Market 177
From Common Market to EU 180
Expansion to Eastern Europe 183
The European Superpower? 185
Growing Pains 186
Breaking Point? Immigration Crisis and Brexit 188
What Is Europe? 191
viii Contents
Conclusion: Europe in the Twenty-First Century 195
Russia’s Place in Europe and the Crisis in Ukraine 197
Europe’s Evolving Relationship with the United States 199
Glossary 203
Notes 213
Suggestions for Additional Reading 219
Index 227
About the Author 237
Boxes, Illustrations, and Maps
BOXES
1.1 The Play That Sparked a Revolution: The Marriage of Figaro 20
2.1 Women on the Revolution 27
2.2 Charles Dickens on the Guillotine 29
2.3 The Napoleonic Code 31
2.4 The War of 1812 32
2.5 Beethoven and Napoleon 34
3.1 The Crystal Palace 41
3.2 Tennyson’s “Locksley Hall” 45
4.1 Adam Mickiewicz: Romantic Poet and Revolutionary 53
5.1 Robert Owen, Karl Marx, and Indiana 66
6.1 Darwin’s Finches and Pigeons 75
6.2 Sigmund Freud: Psychology and Civilization 81
7.1 Verdi and Italian Independence 85
7.2 Giuseppe Garibaldi: Italian Nationalist and
Romantic Revolutionary 88
9.1 A Sweet and Honorable Death 110
ix