Europe’s Featherweight Democracies
History 104 / April 3, 2013

I. New ideas for Old Europe: Wilson vs. Lenin
          A. Wilson's vision for the postwar order (the Fourteen Points)
                   1. Transforming the style of international diplomacy
                   2. The elusive goal of "self-determination"
          B. The collapse of empires and the spread of democracy
          C. Is communism contagious?
II. Problems of post-war adjustment
          A. Commemorating the dead
          B. The emergence of the welfare state
                   1. The lingering human costs of war
                   2. Pro-natalism and public health
                   3. Public housing projects
          C. The advent of structural unemployment
                   1. New, American forms of management come to Europe
                   2. The “General Strike” in Britain, 1926
          D. Political splintering
                   1. Workers' movements divided
                   2. Interest-group politics split the middle classes
                   3. Ethnic politics (esp. in Eastern Europe)
          E. Two basic patterns
                   1. Weak governments & revolving-door cabinets
                   2. Authoritarian dictatorships replace parliamentary rule
III. The Weimar Republic in Germany
          A. The Treaty of Versailles – an exercise in retribution
          B. Disputes over reparatoins, 1919-1923
          C. Fleeting stability, 1924-1929