https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/L_GABAGES131Knowledge Acquisition: Students will develop a foundational understanding of major political, social, and cultural developments in modern European history (c. 1800–1914) through lecture participation, seminar discussions, and reading with core primary and secondary texts.Knowledge Recall: Students will be assessed on their ability to accurately recall, contextualize, and explain key events, figures, and concepts—such as the French Revolution, nationalism, industrialization, imperialism—through written exams, quizzes, and structured presentations.Knowledge Relevance: Students will examine and debate the enduring legacies of modern European history, reflecting on how the long nineteenth century continue to inform present-day European political culture, identities, and institutions through class debates, presentations, and the written examination.Profound political, social, economic, and cultural transformations reshaped Europe between the French Revolution of 1789 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914—a period often referred to as the “long nineteenth century.” It was an era marked by revolution and reaction, the rise of the nation-state, the spread of liberalism and socialism, the expansion and contestation of empires, and the emergence of modern mass politics and culture. These decades witnessed not only dramatic shifts in power and ideology, but also enduring changes in the ways Europeans understood society, identity, and progress. Rather than following a purely chronological narrative, the course is organized thematically around key developments: the revolutionary legacy and the reconfiguration of political order; the industrial transformation of economies and societies; the making and unmaking of empires at home and abroad; the cultural construction of class, gender, race, and religion; and the increasing tensions between order and upheaval in the lead-up to global war. Students will be encouraged to critically evaluate both contemporary interpretations and retrospective analyses of the nineteenth century, while developing a nuanced understanding of the ways in which this formative period laid the groundwork for modern Europe and and the global forces that shaped its development during this transformative century. Particular emphasis will be placed on these transnational processes and comparative perspectives that challenge conventional national narratives.A mixture of lectures and seminars in which key texts will be presented and debated. Students should be prepared for each session by completing assigned readings and being prepared to explain their comprehension of the period and theme in question.Assignments consist of spoken structured presentations, knowledge quizzes which test recall from reading texts, and finally a closed-book examination. Lectures will be given in English whereas seminars will be in English for some groups and Dutch for other groups. Students on a Dutch track may complete all assignments in whichever language they choose where possible.We will use T.C.W. Blanning's The Ninteenth Century (OUP 2000) as the course textbook.BA HIS / BA GESWe assume a general familiarity with key events (i.e. the Congress of Vienna) but no detailed knowledge ahead of the course.Canvas is the key medium for dissemination of texts, sources, and other relevant materials for the course.