MODULE SPECIFICATION

Code: UPHPLH-30-3 Title: Arc of Crisis: Great Power Rivalries in the Near East, c1821 to 1991

Version: 3

Level: 3 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: 16th 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: Students will acquire

    1. A grounding in the historiography of the subject (assessed through all Components)

    2. An introduction to relevant primary sources and experience in the critical use of this material (assessed through Components B1-B3)

    3. A developed understanding of international diplomacy relating to the region and an understanding of the practice of diplomacy (assessed through all Components)

    4. More highly developed analytical powers (assessed through all Components)

    5. An awareness of the continuing significance of the period for understanding events in the Middle East today (assessed through all Components)

    6. Group-working skills (assessed through Component B3)

    7. Improved research and presentation skills (Assessed through Components B1-3)

Syllabus outline:

Greek Independence; The Eastern Question; The Crimean War; The Russo-Turkish War and the Congress of Berlin; The Bulgarian Crisis; The Anglo-Russian Convention; The Berlin-Baghdad Railway; The Bosnia Crisis 1908-9 and the Balkan Wars; The Balkans and the outbreak of World War I; the Middle East during World War I*; the Balfour Declaration and the creation of Israel; oil policies and diplomacy; the Eastern Mediterranean and the Origins of World War II; the Italian challenge to British supremacy; the Suez Crisis; the Arab-Israeli Wars; Communism and the Balkan states; the Iran-Iraq war; the First Gulf War.

* This period will be investigated in greater details through a complimentary special subject on Britain and the Great Powers in the Middle East and Central Asia 1914-1923

Teaching and learning methods:

    • Lectures on key themes/subjects

    • Seminars and workshops addressing case studies in detail through original sources

    • Debates

    • Group tasks leading to seminar presentations

    • Role play exercises

Indicative Reading List:

Anderson, M.S

The Eastern Question: The Great Powers and the Near East 1774-1923 (London, Arnold, 1970.)

Burgwyn, H

Italian Foreign Policy in the Interwar Period, 1918-1940, (London, Praeger, 1997.)

Gillard, D.R

Anglo-Russian Rivalry in Asia (London, Methuen, 1977)

Hurewitz, J.C

The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: A Documentary Record, 2 vols (London, 1975/9.)

Jelavich, B

Russia’s Balkan Entanglements 1806-1914 (Cambridge, CUP, 1991.)

Kolinsky, M

Britain’s War in the Middle East 1936-42 (Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1999.)

Kyle, K

Suez (New York, St Martin’s Press, 1991)

Macfie, A.L

The Eastern Question 1774-1923 (London, Longman, 1996.)

The End of the Ottoman Empire 1908-1923 (London, Longman, 1998.)

Ovendale, R

The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Wars (London, Longman, 1999.)

Miller, B. &

Kagan, K

‘The Great Powers and Regional Conflicts: Eastern Europe and the Balkans from the post-Napoleonic War Era to the post-Cold War Era’ International Studies Quarterly, 41.

Yapp, M

The Making of the Modern Near East 1792-1923, (London, Longman, 1987.)

The Near East since the First World War (London, Longman, 1991.)

Zurcher, E.J

Turkey: A Modern History (London, I.B. Tauris, 1997.)

Assessment

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

ATTEMPT 1

First Assessment Opportunity

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay (2500 words) 20%

2. Document analysis (2500 words) 20%

3. Seminar Exercise (1200 words) 10%

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

Component A

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Exam 50%

Component B

Description of each element Element weighting

1. Essay (2500 words) 25%

2. Document analysis (2500 words) 25%

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

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

(Associate Dean/Programme Director)

Back to top