HI4329 Perpetuating Peace? Internationalism and the League of Nations Idea, 1900-33
Course Organiser: Dr Thomas Irish
Duration: Hilary term
Contact hours: 2 hours per week
Weighting: 10 ECTS
Assessment: 20% essay, 80% examination
The world became increasingly inter-connected in the early twentieth century This module explores the international connections of cultural, technological and scientific change. It examines how many contemporaries saw internationalism, especially in the cultural sphere, as a guarantor of peace in an era of growing international tensions; how these ideas evolved in the early 1900s; and how they were undermined in 1914 with the outbreak of the First World War. New ideas emerged from this cataclysm which led to the formation of the League of Nations. Despite its mission to ensure world peace it failed. The module encourages students to think critically about terms such as nationalism, internationalism, and the relationship between them; how war and peace have been understood and justified; and the importance of culture in international history.
The aim of this module is to analyse key developments in the history of the internationalism in the early twentieth century, through the study of primary and secondary sources
Bibliographical advice will be provided in the module handbook
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- Analyse developments in the history of internationalism, and in international connections in cultural, technological and scientific change in the early twentieth century
- Identify and search for relevant secondary literature
- Engage with relevant theoretical and critical approaches to the history of internationalism in the early twentieth century
- Apply different techniques of evaluation and interpretation to relevant primary sources
- Critique relevant historiography in the light of primary sources
- Present and discuss analysis of questions relating to the history of internationalism, the importance of culture in international history
- Analyse the impact in the early twentieth century of different ways of understanding and promoting internationalism.