History

In this course, Professor Mark White (Queen Mary University of London) explores the presidency of Harry Truman (1945-53). In the first module, we think about Truman’s rise to power and how he became President in April 1945. In the second, ...

In this course, Dr Mark Levene (Univerity of Southampton) explores the events surrounding the Ukrainian Famine of 1932-33 – an event also known as Holodomor. We begin in the first module by providing a broad introduction to the events ...

In this course, Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) thinks about the Great Terror, Stalin’s campaign of political repression between 1936-38 that left more than 750,000 dead. In the first module, we think about the sources available for studying ...

In this course, Professor Matthew Stibbe (Sheffield Hallam University) thinks about the experience of ordinary Germans in the First World War. We begin by thinking about the attitudes of Germans towards the declaration of war in 1914, focusing in ...

In this course, Professor Christopher Read (University of Warwick) examines the rise of Joseph Stalin from his birth in 1878 to the eve of the Second World War in 1938. We begin in the first module by thinking about his early life, including upbringing in ...

In this course, Dr Jonathan Smele (Queen Mary, University of London) explores the (so-called) Revolution of 1905. We begin in the first module by considering whether this was a revolution at all and – if so – whether we should see events as being ...

In this course, Professor Kevin McDermott (Sheffield Hallam University) explores the historical events leading up to and encompassing the Prague Spring, a period of political reform and liberalisation in Czechoslovakia in 1968. We begin by examining ...

In this course, Dr Miriam Dobson (University of Sheffield) explores Russia under the rule of Nikita Khrushchev, 1953-64. In the first module, we think about the usefulness of the concept of 'Khrushchev's Thaw' in describing the political climate in ...

In this course, Professor Kevin Ruane (Canterbury Christ Church University) discusses the Cold War in Asia. We begin by thinking about the atomic bombing of Japan in August 1945. Why did President Truman choose to use a weapon that he...

In this course Dr Andrew Cobbing (University of Nottingham) explores Japan in the 19th century. We begin by thinking about what Japan was like under the Tokugawa shogunate, focusing in particular on the main social, economic and cultural developments from...

In this course, Dr Mathias Haeussler (University of Cambridge) explores the origins of the Cold War in Europe. We begin by providing a broad introduction to the Cold War itself – what it was, as well as its long-lasting political,...

In this course, Professor David Stevenson (London School of Economics) explores international relations in Europe in the period 1914-39. We begin by thinking about the origins of the First World War and the extent to which each of the major...