Learning Outcomes
After completing the course, students will:
(1) obtain background knowledge essential for the understanding of the historical evolution of international phenomena,
(2) be able to make sense of current realities, to the extent that History establishes an essential link with the Past,
(3) acquire the necessary background for dealing with other fields of International Studies, such as International Relations, International Law, and International Institutions,
(4) obtain an an indispensable prerequisite if they wish to embark on a career in the diplomatic service, journalism or education,
(5) be better equipped to critically tackle the multitude of information to which he/she is daily exposed though the electronic media and other sources,
(6) develop learning capabilities necessary for advanced studies which require a high degree of autonomous study and research.
Course Content (Syllabus)
Diplomatic History or, alternatively, History of International Relations, as it is also known, examines the Past mainly through the prism of relations among states and other actors in world politics. Although it stresses foreign policy, it also examines internal developments which have influenced the external behaviour of states and have jeopardised international peace and stability. Diplomatic History is taught as a prerequisite to a proper understanding of International Law and International Relations in so far as it provides the background to legal intercourse between states and other international actors as well as a meaningful context for theorising on the nature of international relations.
The course offers an introduction to diplomacy, the European states system, principles and conditions, such as sovereignty and the balance of power, respectively, on which this system rested until World War II. Further, it analyses the evolution of the European states system with emphasis on the policies of Great Powers and the relations between them, from the 19th century Concert of Europe to the decline and breakdown of the system and its succession by a bipolar world. Landmark subjects include the system of Alliances (1871-1914), World War I and the Russian Revolutions, the Peace Treaties and the League of Nations, minority issues, the policies of the interwar totalitarian regimes, the policy of appeasement and World War II.
Keywords
states system, nation states, sovereignty, foreign policy, diplomacy, balance of power, hegemony, collective security
Course Bibliography (Eudoxus)
"Ιωάννης Δ. Στεφανίδης, Ισορροπία των δυνάμεων και ηγεμονική πρόκληση: Το ευρωπαϊκό σύστημα κρατών, 1871-1945, Θεσσαλονίκη: Εκδόσεις Πανεπιστημίου Μακεδονίας, 2006, ΙSBN: 960-8396-31-Χ, 273 σελίδες
Kωδικός βιβλίου στον ΕΥΔΟΞΟ: 4617"
Additional bibliography for study
Berridge, G.R., Diplomacy: Theory and Practice (1994)
Bull, H., The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics (19952)
Dockrill, M.-McKercher, B. (επιμ.), Diplomacy and World Power (1996)
Droz, J., Histoire diplomatique de 1648 a 1919 (1972)
Grenville, J.A.S., A History of the World from the 20th to the 21st Century (20052)
Hobsbawm, E., Η εποχή των άκρων: Ο σύντομος εικοστός αιώνας 1914-1991 (1995)
Κολιόπουλος, Ι.Σ., Νεώτερη ευρωπαϊκή ιστορία 1789-1945: Από τη Γαλλική Επανάσταση μέχρι τον Β΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο (1993)
Renouvin, P.-Duroselle, J.B., Introduction à l’histoire des relations internationales (Paris 1970)
Thomson, D., Europe since Napoleon (1966)