HIS 2531 The Age of Revolution
The collapse of the Old Regime; France, from Revolution to Empire; the European revolution;
Napoleon and the reconstruction of Europe; the end of the Napoleonic era. Students may not
take HIS 2531 in conjunction with or after completion of HIS 2530.
Course Goals and Learning Outcomes
Goal I.
Understand the development of European history in the years between
the French revolution and the end of the Napoleonic era as seen
through European politics, culture, and society.
1.1 Identify and summarize key events in European history of the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries with respect to their local,
national, and international contexts.
1.2 Compare and contrast long-term processes and dynamics of change in
European societies during the Age of Revolution.
1.3 Understand the diversity of experience of the European Age of Revolution
with regards to politics, culture, and society.
Goal II.
Demonstrate critical and analytical skills required for effective reading
and interpretation of the documents and texts used in historical
analysis.
2.1 Critically evaluate information and sources.
2.2 Situate primary sources in their historical context.
2.3 Articulate an intellectually coherent interpretation of historical events
and processes, grounded in documents and texts under study.
Goal III.
Conduct sound research, demonstrating proficiency in information
literacy and the basic tools of historical research.
3.1 Design research objectives appropriate to various assignments.
3.2 Locate needed information from a variety of sources.
3.3 Critically evaluate information and sources.
Goal IV.
Demonstrate and effective communication style in a variety of written
formats and in the style appropriate to the discipline of history.
4.1 Formulate an intellectually coherent argument, claim or hypothesis,
relevant to an assignment.
4.2 Use multiple, reliable sources, correctly cited to support their claims.
4.3 Express thoughts competently and perhaps elegantly in standard, written
English.
Units of Instruction
I.
The Eye of Revolution (2 weeks)
A. The Doctrines of the Physiocrats
B. Enlightened Despotism in Germany and Russia
C. Enlightened Despotism in the Lesser States
D. Economics and Social Change in Britain
II.
The Crisis of the French Monarchy (2 weeks)
A. Politics and Government
B. Social and Economic Conditions
C. The Criticisms of the Philosophes
D. The Twilight of the Monarchy, 1774 - 89
E. From Estates General to Constituent Assembly
III.
From Monarchy to Republic in France (2 weeks)
A. The Constitutional Regime
B. The Girondins and the War
C. The Jacobins and the Reign of Terror
D. The Thermidorian Reaction
E. Europe and the French Revolution
IV.
From Republic to Empire in France (2 weeks)
A. The Directory
B. Bonaparte and the Conquest of Europe
C. The Consulate
D. Stabilization at Home and Abroad
E. Bonaparte becomes Napolean I
V.
Napole0nic Europe: War and Society (3 weeks)
A. The Renewal of War, 1803 – 1805
B. The Defeat of the Third Coalition, 1805 – 1807
C. The Continental System and Its Consequences
D. The Pinnacle of Empire: France
E. The Pinnacle of Empire: The Continent
VI.
The End of Napoleon and the New Age in Europe (2 weeks)
A. The Beginning of the End: Spain and Russia
B.
C.
D.
E.
The Overthrow of the Napoleonic Empire
The Reconstructions of Europe, 1814 – 1815
The Revolution Survives the Restoration
The Origins of the Contemporary World
Selected Bibliography
Abbot, HR. The Age of Revolution, 1775 - 1815. London: Grantley, 1985.
Alexander, RS. Bonapartism and Revolutionary Tradition in France: The Fedares of 1815.
Allen, WJ. Britain and the Revolutionary Crisis of the Eighteenth Century. London: Randall, 1984.
Connelly, Owen. Blundering to Glory: Napolean’s Military Campaigns. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly
Resources, 1987.
Dickinson, HT. British Radicalism and the French Revolution, 1789 – 1815. New York: Blackwell,
1985.
Doyle, William. Origins of the French Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Ehrman, J. The Younger Pitt: The Reluctant Transition. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983.
Ellis, Geoffrey. The Napoleanic Empire. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press International,
1991.
Elliot, M. Partners in Revolution: The United Irishmen and France. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1983.
Feher, Ferenc. The Frozen Revolution: An Essay on Jacobism. New York: Cambridge University
Press, 1987.
Kennedy, Emet. A Cultural History of the French Revolution. New Haven: Yale University Press,
1989.
Popkin, Jeremy D. News and Politics in the Age of Revolution. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,
1989.
Singer, Brian CJ. Society, Theory and the French Revolution: Studies in the Revolutionary Imagery.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1986.
Soboul, Albert. Les Sans-culottes. The Popular Movement and Revolutionary Government, 1793 –
1794. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Williams, Rosalind. Dream Worlds: Mass Consumption in Late Nineteenth Century France.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.