Phenomenon of Revolution in Western History

The term “revolution” belongs to the fundamental terms of the modern world. But what can actually be subsumed under the concept of revolution? The lecture will provide an introduction to social history which is one of the dynamically developing historical disciplines, and introduce students to the methods and procedures. Then the students will observe concrete historical phenomena which are specific to the western forms of revolution focusing on the 15th to 20th century as tools and manifestations of the total transformation of society. The course will also be dealing with the revolutionary cycle: revolution, counterrevolution, restoration. Then it will ask whether revolution is something specifically western or whether it can also be found outside the circle of civilization. The aim of the course is to provide a qualified view of this fundamental phenomenon of European and world history in the light of contemporary historiography.

Martin Malia: History´s Locomotives. Revolutions and the Making of the Modern World. Yale 2007.
Eric Hobsbawm: Evropäische Revolutionen 1789 bis 1848, Köln 2004.
Thomas Nipperday: Reformation, Revolution, Utopie. Göttingen 1997.
Jean-Pierre Rioux. La révolution industrielle 1780-1880. Paris 1991.
Jean Vidalenc: La Restauration (1814-1830). Paris 1968.
Hans Ulrich Wehler: Geschichte als Historische Sozialwissenschaft. Frankfurt a/M 1973.