MODULE SPECIFICATION

Code: UPHPHB-30-2 Version: 3

Title: Themes in the Social and Political History of Fascism, Europe, 1890-1945

Level: 2 UWE credit rating: 30 ECTS credit rating: 15

Module type: Standard

Owning Faculty: Social Sciences and Humanities Field: History

Faculty Committee approval: QSC, Chair’s Action Date: 16^th July 2009

Approved for Delivery by:

(indicate name of affiliated institution if module will only be delivered by them)

Valid from: September 2009 Discontinued from:

Contributes towards: Awards up to BA(Hons)

Pre-requisites: None

Co-requisites: None

Entry requirements:

(if the module is offered as CPD or stand alone, indicate the entry requirements)

Excluded combinations: None

Learning outcomes:

By the end of the module students should be able to:

1. demonstrate familiarity with a considerable amount of historical material on several European countries in the period 1890-1945 and that they have learned to assimilate it in a comparative form. In so doing they will have developed some understanding of ‘radical nation-statism’ and the social and political background to European conflict and world war in the first half of this century (assessed through all components and elements of assessment);

2. use written (historical and literary) and visual sources to survey the desolate landscape of fascism particularly in its social and cultural forms; they will also have begun to test various historical models of fascism (assessed through all components and elements of assessment);

3. demonstrate a broad understanding of the various and at times contested definitions of fascism, how fascists came to power, what fascists did when they were in power, and how Europe tried to resist their onward march. In the process of this study, students should be able to resolve for themselves the relationship between traditional conservative forces and ideas, populist right-wing authoritarianism - still a force in contemporary Europe - and the Hitlerian racial state. (assessed through all components and elements of assessment).

Syllabus outline:

This module begins with the ideas of conservative nationalist and revolutionary syndicalist movements during the fin de siècle and analyses similarities and differences with the later Fascist / Nazi movements. It makes similar comparisons by looking at the social support of these parties, groups and movements. The catastrophe of the First World War is then analysed in relation to the fortunes of political extremism. The experience of the trenches and the concept of demobilisation, in the broadest sense, are key to this section of the course. The main focus of the course will then be the relationship between state and society in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: how did these movements grow and take power? What did they do with power once achieved?

The module also takes in comparative explorations of France and Spain. Necessarily, the module explores economic, political and cultural crisis in Europe, as well as racism, political violence, war and genocide. Fascism’s enemies, such as racial minorities and left-wing political dissidents, will be a major focus of analysis.

Teaching and learning methods:

This module is taught primarily through weekly lectures and seminars. The theme of each lecture will be developed and discussed the following week in seminars. Attendance at both lectures and seminars is strictly recorded.

The purpose of the lectures is two-fold:

(i) to convey a chronology and basic detail about each topic;

(ii) to introduce the main ways this basic material has been ordered, argued over and understood by historians.

The purpose of seminars is

(i) to consolidate the information absorbed in the lectures. Documents will frequently be used.

(ii) to discuss and evaluate various historians’ understanding of the events considered.

Prior reading of set articles will be mandatory. (Reading should be guided by the questions posed in the handbook as introductions to many of the seminars). Seminar groups will be large. Students may therefore often be working in small groups (usually of 4-5 students) during seminar classes. Everyone will be expected to participate verbally at these classes. Preparation will be facilitated by information in the course handbook.

Indicative Reading List:

Richard Bessel (ed),	Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: Comparisons and Contrasts, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).
R.J.B. Bosworth	The Italian Dictatorship, (London: Arnold, 1998).
Alexander de Grand,	Italian Fascism. Its Origins and Development (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1982).
Alexander de Grand,	Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: the "fascist" style of rule, (London: Longman, 1995).
Roger Griffin (ed),	Fascism. A Reader. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).
Roger Griffin (ed),	International Fascism. Theories, Causes and the New Consensus, (London: Arnold, 1998).
Ian Kershaw,	The Nazi Dictatorship (4th edition,London: Arnold, 2000).
Jeremy Noakes (ed),	Nazism: A Documentary Reader, 4 volumes, (University of Exeter Press, 1974 - 1998).
Stanley Payne,	A History of Fascism, 1914-45 (London: University College London Press, 1995, 1997).
Detlev Peukert,	Inside Nazi Germany: Conformity, Opposition and Racism in Everyday Life, (London: Penguin Press, 1987, 1989).

Assessment

Weighting between components A and B (standard modules) A: 50% B: 50%

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay (2500 words) 25%

2. Essay (2500 words) 25%

Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam (3 hours) 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay (2500 words) 25%

2. Essay (2500 words) 25%

SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is required.

Specification confirmed by …………………………………………………Date ……………………………

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)