Mary Neuburger

Through lecture and discussion this course will provide an in-depth exploration of the key events and developments of Southeastern Europe, the region commonly referred to as the Balkans, in the twentieth century.  After providing some of the basics on geography and pre-20th century developments, we will move on to a detailed investigation of this tumultuous century in a region that was wracked by war, revolution, ethnic conflict, the Holocaust, and 45 years of Communist regimes and Cold War tensions.  We will cover the territories of Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, and to a lesser extent Greece and Turkey. Key themes will be ethnic identity, nationalism, authoritarianism, resistance, gender and violence. The final chapter of the course will look at the fall of communism in the region and the outbreak of war in the former Yugoslavia.   

Required Texts:

Mark Mazower, The Balkans: A Short History.

John Lampe, Balkans into Southeastern Europe.

Katherine Verdery, What was Socialism and what comes Next

Slavenka Drakulic,  How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed. 

Zlatko Anguelov, Communism and the Remorse of an Innocent Victimizer.

Emir Sujagic, Postcards from the Grave.

Ismail Kadare,  The Successor.

Grading

Grading will be based on a take-home mid-term (30%); an end of quarter in-class exam (30%); a primary document assignment (20%); a map quiz (5%); 5 short quizzes on assigned readings (2% each – 10%); and participation (5%) – based on attendance.  

This graduate seminar will explore the history of modern Eastern Europe through the prism of national identity politics.  Through reading and discussion, students will be exposed to theoretical works on national identity and then explore concrete cases of the historical development of national identities in the region. We will then analyze patterns of conflict and coexistence in the region as they have been described and explained and debated in the existing literature.  In the northern tier of Eastern Europe the focal point will be on historical tensions between Germans and non-Germans, as well as the evolution of anti-Semitism and the local contours of the Holocaust.  For Southeastern Europe, the course will focus attention on Muslim minorities, Muslim-non-Muslim relations, but also the myriad national identities formed on the basis of language, religion, and historical experience.  The conflicts and disintegration of the former Yugoslavia will be a major theme. Students should come out with a well rounded knowledge of historical and to contemporary issues surrounding identity politics in the region. 

Select Required Texts

1. Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities.  Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism. 

2. Pieter Judson, Guardians of the Nation: Activists on the Language Frontiers of Imperial Austria. 

3. Keely Stauter-Halsted. The Nation in the Village: The Genesis of Peasant National Identity in Austrian Poland, 1848-1914 (2001).

4. Tara Zahra, Kidnapped Souls: National Indifference and the Battle for Children in the Bohemian Lands, 1900-1948.

5. Chad Bryant. Prague in Black: Nazi Rule and Czech Nationalism (2007). 

6. Rogers Brubaker, Nationalist Politics and Everyday Ethnicity in a Transylvanian Town.

7. Keith Brown. The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation.

8. Theodora Dragostinova, Between Two Motherlands: Nationality and Emigration among the Greeks of Bulgaria, 1900-1949.

9. Mark Mazower. Salonica: City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430-1950 (2006).

10. Mary Neuburger, The Orient Within: Muslim Minorities and the Negotiation of Nationhood in Modern Bulgaria. 

11. Maya Shatzmiller, ed. Islam and Bosnia: Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy in Multi-Ethnic States. 

12. Brad Blitz, ed. War and Change in the Balkans: Nationalism, Conflict and Cooperation. 

Through lecture and discussion this course will provide an in-depth exploration of the key events and developments of Southeastern Europe, the region commonly referred to as the Balkans, in the twentieth century.  After providing some of the basics on geography and pre-20th century developments, we will move on to a detailed investigation of this tumultuous century in a region that was wracked by war, revolution, ethnic conflict, the Holocaust, and Cold War tensions.  We will cover the territories of Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavia, and to a lesser extent Greece and Turkey. Key themes will be ethnic identity, nationalism, authoritarianism, resistance, and violence. The final chapter of the course will be the fall of communism in the region and the outbreak of war in Bosnia and Kosovo.   

Texts

Mark Mazower, The Balkans: A Short History.

Leon Trotsky, The War Correspondence of Leon Trotsky: The Balkan Wars 1912-13.

Slavenka Drakulic,  How We Survived Communism and Even Laughed. 

Kapka Kassabova, Street without a Name: Childhood and Other Misadventures in Bulgaria.

Tzvetan Todorov, Voices from the Gulag: Life and Death in Communist Bulgaria. 

Eric Stover, Witnesses: War Crimes and the Promise of Justice in the Hague.

Grading

Assignments will include a mid-term (25%), an end of quarter exam (25%), a book review (15%) and a short research assignment (30%).  Participation will be 5% of the grade.   

Topics in European History.

May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.