A Companion to Modern European History: 1871–1945

This book is intended for all students of modern European history. It aims to be both an essential reference for undergraduates working on their own, and to form a valuable basis for courses in the subject. The book′s sixteen thematic chapters – each written by a leading scholar in the field – cover social and economic change, as well as the rise and fall of all the major political movements and the immense changes generated by war and international diplomacy across Europe in this period. Designed to act as a bridge between introductory surveys and the mass of specialized literature, the book offers both analysis and information. Throughout, the reader is introduced to the range of competing interpretations of themes and events in the period, and is encouraged to develop a critical framework for study. The chapters are supported by concise biographies of all the major figures, an up–to–date guide to further reading, a chronology of the main events, and numerous maps and tables. A Companion to Modern European History includes chapters on: population trends the intenational economy leisure and society the rise of European feminism revolutionary movements European imperialism

Tables, Figures, Appendices.

Maps.

Contributors.

Introduction.

Part I: Society and the State.

1. Population: Patterns and Processes. (Michael Drake).

2. Prosperity and Depression: The International Economy. (Sidney Pollard).

3. The State and the Development of Social Welfare. (Rodney Lowe).

4. Leisure and Society in Europe, 1871–1945. (Lynn Abrams).

Part II: Political Movements and Ideologies.

5. Conservatism and Nationalism. (E. J. Feuchtwanger).

6. The Dilemmas of Liberalism. (Eugenio Biagini).

7. Socialist Parties and Policies. (Duncan Tanner).

8. The Rise of European Feminism. (Martin Pugh).

9. Revolutionary Europe. (James D. White).

10. European Fascism. (Richard Thurlow).

Part III: Diplomacy, Defence and War.

11. European Diplomacy, 1871–1914. (Keith Wilson).

12. European Imperialism, 1871–1945. (David Omissi).

13. The First World War as Total War. (Gerard J. DeGroot).

14. Warfare and National Defence. (David French).

15. Appeasement. (P. M. H. Bell).

16. The Second World War. (A. W. Purdue).

Chronology.

Biographies.

Guide to Further Reading.

Index.

Martin Pugh is Research Professor in History at Liverpool John Moores University. His previous books include Electoral Reform in War and Peace (1978), The Tories and the People (1985), Women and the Women′s Movement in Britain (1992), The March of the Women: a revisionist analysis of the women′s suffrage movement (2000), and The Making of Modern British Politics (3rd Edition 2001, Blackwell).