This innovative survey of European history from the middle of the nineteenth century to the outbreak of the First World War tells the story of an era of outward tranquillity that was also a period of economic growth, social transformation, political contention and scientific, and artistic innovation. During these years, the foundations of our present urban-industrial society were laid, the five Great Powers vied in peaceful and violent fashion for dominance in Europe and throughout the world, and the darker forces that were to dominate the twentieth century - violent nationalism, totalitarianism, racism, ethnic cleansing - began to make themselves felt.
Jonathan Sperber sets out developments in this period across the entire European continent, from the Atlantic to the Urals, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. To help students of European history grasp the main dynamics of the period, he divides the book into three overlapping sections covering the periods from 1850-75, 1871-95 and 1890-1914. In each period he identifies developments and tendencies that were common in varying degrees to the whole of Europe, while also pointing the unique qualities of specific regions and individual countries. Throughout, his argument is supported by illustrative material: tables, charts, case studies and other explanatory features, and there is a detailed bibliography to help students to explore further in those areas that interest them.
Author(s): Jonathan Sperber
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: xx+402
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Brief Contents
Table of Contents
List of figures, tables and boxes
List of maps
Publisher’s Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part 1:
The age of progress, 1850–1875
1.
Overview of the age of progress
The shape of an era
The main events
2.
Population and the economy
Creating economic growth
Agriculture, crafts and commerce in an industrial world
Prosperity and population
3.
Social structures and social institutions
Urban Life
Property, gender and an industrial society
A world of associations
4.
The arts and sciences
Expanding the cultural universe
Science on the advance
Progress and positivism in the human sciences
Revealed religion facing an age of progress
The arts under the banner of realism
5.
The politics of the people
An era of reform
The reign of the notables
Liberalism and nationalism
Old political tendencies in a new environment
6.
The politics of the Powers
Eurocentric diplomacy
Foreign policy and public opinion
The changing nature and importance of warfare
7.
The dynamics of power
The age of reaction, 1850–59
Politics in movement, 1859–71
Notes to Part 1
Part 2:
The age of uncertainty, 1871–1895
8.
Overview of the age of uncertainty
The shape of an era
The main events
9.
Population and the economy
Industry in ‘profitless prosperity’
Agriculture in crisis
Crafts, commerce and finance in depressed circumstances
Population movements: old trends and new
10.
Social structures and social institutions
Urbanization as routine
Extension and expansion of voluntary associations
Expansion, extension and tentative transformation of
public education
11.
The arts and sciences
A more ambivalent forward march of science
The social sciences reoriented and realigned
Progress and its discontents
The arts in transition
12.
The politics of the people
High point and crisis of liberalism
Forms of opposition to liberalism
Radicalism divided and transformed
Nationalism, racism and anti-Semitism
13.
The politics of the Powers
Bismarck’s alliance system
The return of the Eastern Question
Rise of the ‘new imperialism’
14.
The dynamics of power
Political strife and international tensions in the 1870s
A conservative turn in the 1880s
An uncertain beginning of the 1890s
Notes to Part 2
Part 3:
The age of classical modernism, 1890–1914
15.
Overview of the age of classical modernism
The shape of an era
The main events
16.
Population and the economy
A second industrial revolution
Shifting centres of industry
Agriculture, crafts, finance and commerce
Rapid population movements
17.
Social structures and social institutions
Society in the age of the second industrial revolution
The presence of the city
High point and transformation of voluntary associations
Intimations of a consumer society
18.
The arts and sciences
A new world of science
Social science between reason and the irrational
The rise of artistic modernism
19.
The politics of the people
Structures of mass politics
Issues of mass politics
Realignments and confrontations of mass politics
20.
The politics of the Powers
Growing opposition to European overseas expansion
The Eastern Question yet again
A hostile realignment of the Great Powers
Arms races
Foreign policy and domestic politics
21.
The dynamics of power
Holding the line in the 1890s
Large changes at the turn of the century
A plethora of conflicts: the decade before the outbreak of
the First World War
Notes to Part 3
Conclusion
Introduction
Economic and social progress
The arts and sciences transformed
The rise of mass and (mostly) legal politics
The pentarchy in peace and war
Continuities and breaks
Bibliography
Index
