Mia
Probst
1st year class notes : Global History
Overview
1. Lecture 1: why study history in an international politics degree?
2. Lecture 2 : the rise and fall of European empires in a global context
3. Lecture 3 : Europeans far behind
4. Lecture 4 : land vs sea empires
5. Lecture 5 : the great divergence debate
6. Lecture 6 : “the origins of capitalism” debate
7. Lecture 7 : the myth of the great military revolution
8. Lecture 8 : the crucial role of mercantile companies
9. Lecture 9 : civilization, race and international order
10. Lecture 10 : case study: the French and Haitian revolutions
11. Lecture 11 : 1870-1914: high imperialism
12. Lecture 12 : 1914-1945: wind of change?
13. Lecture 13 : Bandung, the tricontinental and the NIEO
,lecture 1 (07/02): why study global history in an international politics degree?
I. Introduction
a. “The End of Sykes-Picot”
●
sykes picot: agreement between france & UK to spilt the middle east among
themselves
⇒ISIS narrative: try to be the heirs of anti-imperialist
wrong narrative → the borders not decided during the picot agreement
BUT even false narrative can make groups appealing
●popular historical argument: “why the real history of the peace of westphalia in 17th
century Europe offers a model for bringing stability to the middle east”
“why an old framework could work”
possible issues:
- diverse societies
- international human rights laws
- eco interdépendance
- nationalism → difficult to apply a model that did not take it into account
b. Purpose of course
⇒ history for today
⇒ critical thinking towards historical references
II. Frequently Asked Questions
a.
b. Approaches to history in IR: a spectrum
closet of facts (esp middle way approaches shopping list (esp
neorealism) (constructivism…) postructuralism)
-past = just lots of - use history in some - past = list of minot
facts to test theories detail (not just closet events/accidents that
about the present facts) have huge impact
- history as a - try to establish - no discernable
monochrome flatland patterns (not just patterns in history -
- always the same random list) always different
⇒ emphasis on continuity; ⇒ focus on continuities & ⇒ emphasis on
true once then true always discontinuities discontinuities (luck &
arbitrary)
,III. What are the essential conceptual tools for studying history?
a. History
the general study of the past
a nonfictional account of the past
a craft (=/= science, art)
history aspires to
- discover order and structure in the chaos and messiness of the past (patterns…)
- construct order and structure by creating a narrative of an argument, based on
verifiable evidence => subjective historians come in (what is important, why it matters
ect…)
historian develops specific argument, which he believes is accurate on the basis of the
existing evidence
- why and how did events happen?
- what caused ena vent?
- which individual play important roles?
- what is the meaning og the events studies, in terms of the past and of the present?
why they matter?
b. Metahistory
metahistory: emphasizes patterns and regularities, great drivers of development, larger
meaning of history
→ about big ideas
popular in C19 bad rep in C20, now making comeback
key term associated w it = the longue durée (Braudel) → take long view of history to identify
long term trends/patterns and distinguish the contingent from the permanent
c. Anti-history
antihistory: the idea that when we speak of history, fiction and nonfiction are identical.
⇒ relevant in the age of fak news and “post truth”
ew: holocaust never happened, obama not born in the us
closely related concept: relativism
relativism: there is no truth out there and all narratives are equal
extreme relativists turn to what they find the most useful fictions for their own purposes
bottom line: anti history is fiction & speculation
, IV. What is Global History?
a. Big history vs. global history
● big history
○ also called universal history and sometimes world history
○ concerned w history of the world since big bang
○ integrates natural sciences (cosmology, geology, biology)
● global history
○ =/= big history
○ the story of the connections within the global human community
○ look beyond single country/region how things developed as a connecting
whole
need a global calendar?
- to integrate diff parts of the connected whole, need shared timelines/calendar
- 1st attempt: Biruni’s The chronology of ancient nations in C11, based on astronomy
- homogenization of time/creation oof “time as we know it” happens much later,
1870-1950
- GH even + recent
b. Global history and IR
global history → the story of connections within the global hulan community
crucial GH insight for IR: the human world comprises a multiplicity of co existing society
→= the fact of the “international”
c. Five implications of multiplicity
1. co existence = developing bc interaction w others
2. différences
3. interaction
4. combination
5. dialectical change = profound change from one to another => used differently
in practice => go beyond europe & us
V. Some logistical considerations
a. Logistics I: General
b. Logistics II: Examination
Probst
1st year class notes : Global History
Overview
1. Lecture 1: why study history in an international politics degree?
2. Lecture 2 : the rise and fall of European empires in a global context
3. Lecture 3 : Europeans far behind
4. Lecture 4 : land vs sea empires
5. Lecture 5 : the great divergence debate
6. Lecture 6 : “the origins of capitalism” debate
7. Lecture 7 : the myth of the great military revolution
8. Lecture 8 : the crucial role of mercantile companies
9. Lecture 9 : civilization, race and international order
10. Lecture 10 : case study: the French and Haitian revolutions
11. Lecture 11 : 1870-1914: high imperialism
12. Lecture 12 : 1914-1945: wind of change?
13. Lecture 13 : Bandung, the tricontinental and the NIEO
,lecture 1 (07/02): why study global history in an international politics degree?
I. Introduction
a. “The End of Sykes-Picot”
●
sykes picot: agreement between france & UK to spilt the middle east among
themselves
⇒ISIS narrative: try to be the heirs of anti-imperialist
wrong narrative → the borders not decided during the picot agreement
BUT even false narrative can make groups appealing
●popular historical argument: “why the real history of the peace of westphalia in 17th
century Europe offers a model for bringing stability to the middle east”
“why an old framework could work”
possible issues:
- diverse societies
- international human rights laws
- eco interdépendance
- nationalism → difficult to apply a model that did not take it into account
b. Purpose of course
⇒ history for today
⇒ critical thinking towards historical references
II. Frequently Asked Questions
a.
b. Approaches to history in IR: a spectrum
closet of facts (esp middle way approaches shopping list (esp
neorealism) (constructivism…) postructuralism)
-past = just lots of - use history in some - past = list of minot
facts to test theories detail (not just closet events/accidents that
about the present facts) have huge impact
- history as a - try to establish - no discernable
monochrome flatland patterns (not just patterns in history -
- always the same random list) always different
⇒ emphasis on continuity; ⇒ focus on continuities & ⇒ emphasis on
true once then true always discontinuities discontinuities (luck &
arbitrary)
,III. What are the essential conceptual tools for studying history?
a. History
the general study of the past
a nonfictional account of the past
a craft (=/= science, art)
history aspires to
- discover order and structure in the chaos and messiness of the past (patterns…)
- construct order and structure by creating a narrative of an argument, based on
verifiable evidence => subjective historians come in (what is important, why it matters
ect…)
historian develops specific argument, which he believes is accurate on the basis of the
existing evidence
- why and how did events happen?
- what caused ena vent?
- which individual play important roles?
- what is the meaning og the events studies, in terms of the past and of the present?
why they matter?
b. Metahistory
metahistory: emphasizes patterns and regularities, great drivers of development, larger
meaning of history
→ about big ideas
popular in C19 bad rep in C20, now making comeback
key term associated w it = the longue durée (Braudel) → take long view of history to identify
long term trends/patterns and distinguish the contingent from the permanent
c. Anti-history
antihistory: the idea that when we speak of history, fiction and nonfiction are identical.
⇒ relevant in the age of fak news and “post truth”
ew: holocaust never happened, obama not born in the us
closely related concept: relativism
relativism: there is no truth out there and all narratives are equal
extreme relativists turn to what they find the most useful fictions for their own purposes
bottom line: anti history is fiction & speculation
, IV. What is Global History?
a. Big history vs. global history
● big history
○ also called universal history and sometimes world history
○ concerned w history of the world since big bang
○ integrates natural sciences (cosmology, geology, biology)
● global history
○ =/= big history
○ the story of the connections within the global human community
○ look beyond single country/region how things developed as a connecting
whole
need a global calendar?
- to integrate diff parts of the connected whole, need shared timelines/calendar
- 1st attempt: Biruni’s The chronology of ancient nations in C11, based on astronomy
- homogenization of time/creation oof “time as we know it” happens much later,
1870-1950
- GH even + recent
b. Global history and IR
global history → the story of connections within the global hulan community
crucial GH insight for IR: the human world comprises a multiplicity of co existing society
→= the fact of the “international”
c. Five implications of multiplicity
1. co existence = developing bc interaction w others
2. différences
3. interaction
4. combination
5. dialectical change = profound change from one to another => used differently
in practice => go beyond europe & us
V. Some logistical considerations
a. Logistics I: General
b. Logistics II: Examination
