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The end of the Cold War and of Eastern European communism in 1989-1991 did not mean the loss of global interest in developments in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. On the contrary, the recent history of these countries, the period of their post-communist transition to political democracy and a market economy, has been marked with new instabilities, crises and wars which have had serious implications for global trends. This course is designed to provide a broad background to an understanding of the political, socio-economic, and cultural developments in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe as an essential prerequisite to understanding the modern world.
The end of the Cold War and of Eastern European communism in 1989-1991 did not mean the loss of Eastern Europe’s global importance. On the contrary, the recent history of countries in Central and Eastern Europe which had fallen under Soviet domination and communist rule after the Second World War has been marked with new instabilities, crises and wars, which have had serious implications for global trends as well. This course is designed to provide a broad background to an understanding of the political, socio-economic and cultural developments in the countries of former communist Eastern Europe as an essential prerequisite to understanding the modern world. In addition to the primary focus on the internal evolution of Central and Eastern European communist states from the end of the Second World War to the early 1990s, significant attention will be paid to the most important events and themes of the pre-war history of this part of the world.
This course will enable students to become familiar with the major issues of the history of communism in East-Central and Eastern Europe as well as the reasons for both the Soviet conquest of the related countries and for the collapse of Soviet domination and communist rule in these countries. The course also examines the reasons for success or failure in post-communist political and economic transitions in particular groups of post-communist states and encourages students to make an original and independent investigation on related topics. In particular, through their work in this course, students are expected to be able to:understand and describe the geopolitical conditions in which the countries of East-Central and Eastern Europe fell under Soviet domination and communist rule after the Second World War,understand, describe and critically analyse the nature and main characteristics of communist rule in the countries of East-Central and Eastern Europe during the period 1945-1989/91develop an awareness of theoretical debates relating to the themes and topics examined,define and analyse the main socio-economic and political causes of the collapse of communist rule in East-Central and Eastern Europe during the period 1989-1991design and carry out an original independent investigation of the specific conditions which led to the overthrow of communist rule and the beginnings of post-communist political and economic transition in one or more countries of former Eastern Europecritically analyse and present the results of their original investigation in writing and orally in student-led seminars.
This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attributes specified below:
Critically competent in a core academic discipline of their award
Students know and can critically evaluate and, where applicable, apply this knowledge to topics/issues within their majoring subject.
Employable, innovative and enterprising
Students will develop key skills and attributes sought by employers that can be used in a range of applications.
Globally aware
Students will comprehend the influence of global conditions on their discipline and will be competent in engaging with global and multi-cultural contexts.
Any 30 points at 200 level from EURA or HIST, orany 60 points at 200 level from the Schedule V of the BA.
EURA226, EURO 226, EURO 326, HIST269, HIST329
HIST329
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Milenko Petrovic
Crampton, R.J; Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century ; Routledge, 1997.
Bideleux, R. and Jeffries, I. A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change, Routledge, London and New York, Sec. Ed., 2007 (Chapters 34-35 are required; Chapters 23-33 and 36-37 are recommended) - available in the Restricted Loans Department at the Central Library.Batt, Judy, “Introduction: Defining Central and Eastern Europe” in Batt, Judy, and Paul G. Lewis (Eds.), Developments in Central and Eastern European Politics 4, Duke University Press, Durham 2007, Chapter 1.Additional and optional readings are listed in the Course Outline (available for enrolled students on LEARN).
Library portalAKO|LEARN
Domestic fee $1,687.00
International fee $7,900.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Language, Social and Political Sciences .