GLOBAL HISTORY, 15th – 20th c.

The course addresses major themes and issues within Global History from the 15^th century up to 1970s. It starts from the European expansion to the other continents that until then had followed their own path of development. With the help of tools of historical geography we explore important subjects such as: the formation of the European empires in America, Asia and Africa; the political and economic transformations in Asia (Eurasia, Middle and Far East) from the 15^th to the 19^th century; the decolonization and  the formation of national states in the American Continent from mid 18^th to mid 19^th century; the decline and dissolution of Empires after the two World Wars; the American world hegemony after WWII; the construction of the concept of “Third World”; the decolonization process in Asia and Africa in the period 1940-1970.

Upon successful completion of the course, the students will have:

1. Acquired basic knowledge about the most important events, periods and transformations in modern and contemporary global history.
2. Understood the global interconnectedness of major historical processes.
3. Developed the ability to make connections between historical time and place.
4. Got familiar with the study and analysis of historical maps.

Week #1: Introduction. Eurasia from the 14^th to the 15^th century.

Week #2: Asia in the 15^th and 16^th centuries (I): the establishment and expansion of the Islamic empires of the Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals.

Week #3: Asia in the 15^th and 16^th centuries (II): the Ming China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.

Week #4: The Age of European overseas exploration (15^th and 16^th centuries).

Week #5: Empires in Eurasia, 17^th-18^th centuries.

Week #6: The Great Divergence: the economic penetration and territorial expansion of European powers in Asia, 17^th-19^th centuries.

Week #7: The Atlantic empires: The formation and evolution of European empires in the American Continent (16^th - 18^th centuries).

Week #8: The first decolonization in the American continent: the American Revolution of 1776.

Week #9:The construction of the national state of USA, 1783-1877.

Week #10: The revolutions for the independence and the national construction in Latin America, 1810-1870.

Week #11: The high point of colonialism and imperialist expansion, 1880-1942.

Week #12: The Inter-American relations since the Monroe Doctrine. The American world hegemony after WWII. The Development Doctrine. The Inter-American system in the Cold War period.

Week #13: The process of decolonization in Asia and Africa.

John Μ. Roberts, Παγκόσμια ιστορία, τ. Β΄, Αθήνα, Οδυσσέας, 2002. William H. McNeill, Η άνοδος της Δύσης, Αθήνα, Παρασκήνιο, 2007. Richard Overy (επιμ.), Άτλας της παγκόσμιας ιστορίας, Η Καθημερινή, 2007. Λάμπρος Α. Φλιτούρης, Αποικιακές αυτοκρατορίες. Η εξάπλωση της Ευρώπης στο κόσμο, 16^ος-20ός αι., Αθήνα, Ασίνη, 2015. J. Osterhammel - N. Petersson, Ιστορία της Παγκοσμιοποίησης, Αθήνα, Αιώρα, 2013. Fernand Braudel, Η γραμματική των πολιτισμών, Αθήνα, ΜΙΕΤ, 2002. Geoffrey Blainey, Συνοπτική ιστορία του κόσμου, Αθήνα, Φυτράκη, 2004. Εric Hobsbawm, H εποχή των αυτοκρα­τοριών 1875-1914, ΜΙΕΤ, 2012. Anthony Pagden, Λαοί και αυτοκρατορίες. Οι ευρωπαίοι και ο υπόλοιπος κόσμος από την αρχαιότητα ως σήμερα, Αθήνα, Πατάκη, 2008, κεφ. 3-11. John Darwin, Μετά τον Ταμερλάνο. Η άνοδος και πτώση των παγκόσμιων αυτοκρατοριών, 1400-2000, Αθήνα, Πατάκη, 2021.

Lectures accompanied by historical maps and photographic material. Class discussion with the combined use of e-class platform.

Extensive use of the e-class platform: complementary material, chat, exercises. 

Written exam.