Estudia

1. The interwar period and the Second World War: a) Political, economic and social context; b) The rise of fascisms and ultranationalism; c) War developments and battle fronts.

2. The post-1945 international order, the new world superpowers, and the establishment of the “iron curtain’: a) The world situation in 1945; b) USA and Soviet Union: the new protagonists of world politics; c) The beginning of the Cold War (1946-1949), the formation of NATO and the Warsaw Pact; d) The Marshall Plan and its implementation; e) The beginning of the European integration process.

3. The collapse of the empires and the process of decolonisation: a) Decolonisation in India and Southeast Asia; b) Palestine and Israel; c) Mao Tse-Tung's China and the Korean scenario; d) The Third World and the Movement of non-aligned countries; e) The Cuban revolution.

4. The evolution of the two blocs of the Cold War and People's China from the 1950s to the mid-1970s: a) The USA: from Eisenhower to Johnson and the Vietnam War; b) The Soviet Union: from Stalin’s death to Brezhnev and the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968; c) The break between the USSR and China and the Chinese "Cultural Revolution"; d) The peak of detente and the end of the I Cold War.

5. A short-lived détente. The beginning of the Second Cold War: a) The rise of Carter and the crisis of détente (1976-1978); b) Iran and Afghanistan; c) Deng Xiaoping’s China.

6. The end of the Cold War: a) Neoliberalism and neoconservatism; b) Reagan’s policy and the USSR crisis (1980-1985); c) Gorbachev: the USSR reform and new détente (1985-88); d) The end of the USSR and the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe.

7. The 1990s-early 2000s. New equilibrium and new conflicts: a) Ethnic conflicts and war in Yugoslavia; b) Post-communist Russia and the USA world hegemony; c) Middle East as the new hotspot and the diffusion of Islamic fundamentalism; d) New developments in the European integration process.

8. Globalisation, the 2008 recession, and the current challenges to democracy: a) The third industrial revolution; b) Globalisation and the Great Recession; c) The rise of populisms and the new radical right; d) The Arab spring; e) Old tensions, new wars.

• Bozo, Frédéric, Rey, Marie-Pierre, Rother, Bernd and Ludlow, N. Piers (eds.) (2012). Visions of the End of the Cold War in Europe, 1945-1990. New York: Berghahn Books. Catàleg
• Fuentes Codera, Maximiliano and Rodrigo, Javier (2022). Ellos, los fascistas: la banalización del fascismo y la crisis de la democracia. Barcelona: Deusto. Catàleg
• Iordachi, Constantine (2009). Comparative Fascist Studies. New Perspectives. London: Bloomsbury. Catàleg
• Jensen, Jan and Osterhammel, Jurgen (2017). Decolonisation. A short story. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Mazower, Mark (1998). Dark continent: Europe’s Twenty Century. London: Allen Lane.
• Ther, Philipp (2019). The Outsiders. Refugees in Europe since 1492 . Princeton : Princeton University Press. Catàleg
• The Cambridge History of the Cold War (2010). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Catàleg
• The Cambridge History of the European Union (2024). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. Catàleg
• The Oxford Handbook of Postwar European History (2012). Oxford : Oxford University Press. Catàleg
• The Oxford Handbook of Populism (2017). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Catàleg
• Arendt, Hannah (2006). Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil. Penguin. Catàleg
• Black, Jeremy (2016). The Holocaust. History and Memory. Indiana University Press. Catàleg
• Blinkhorn, Martin (1990). Fascists and conservatives: the radical right and the establishment in twentieth-century Europe. Unwin Hyman. Catàleg
• Cheek, Timothy (2010). A critical introduction to Mao. Cambridge University Press. Catàleg
• Lukacs, John (2013). A short history of the XX century. Harvard University Press.
• Schoppa, Keith (2021). The Twentieth Century. A world history. Oxford University Press.

Activitats d'avaluació:

See the evaluation criteria.
Plagiarism in any form is a serious academic offence. It will automatically result in a grade of 0 for the course (final course grade) and will lead to the initiation of formal disciplinary proceedings.

Criteris específics de la nota «No Presentat»:
The student who does not complete all the requested assignments on time and/or in the forms established by the professor will be considered as “Absent”.

Avaluació única:
The student has the possibility to take a single final exam that will cover all the topics addressed throughout the course.

Requisits mínims per aprovar:
In order to pass the exam, a minimum overall mark of 5.0 is required. The minimum mark for the final written exam is 4.0.

Tutoring will take place in person (History Department, 4° floor, office no. 425) and, if not possible, through email and virtual platforms (by appointment).

Office hours:
Wednesday 10.00-13.00

In person, by email and Moodle.