ATS1610 Revolution and Empire in the modern world (Introduction to history A)

What defines the modern age? In this unit you will explore the period from the rise of Enlightenment thinking in 1750 through the establishment in 1945 of the post-WWII world order, examining an era punctuated by revolutionary upheaval and imperial expansion. The projection of imperial power around the globe is one hallmark, but we examine it in the context of multidirectional exchange and influence. You will interrogate the knotty question of how ideology, economy, technology, politics, and social relations produced and were products of revolution and empire. New ideas gained wide circulation thanks to the rise of mass literacy, communications, and population movements. Evolving ways of thinking about race, class, and gender shaped rapidly changing social and economic relations. You will consider a variety of illuminating case studies, which may include: revolutions in France, Russia, and China; Civil War in the United States; unification of Italy and of Germany; British industrialisation, imperialism, and settler colonialism; Japanese imperialism; World Wars I and II. These topics showcase the sweep of modern history’s major events and the forces that animated them.