This course explores the First and Second World Wars, the defining conflicts of the twentieth century, as global events that reshaped societies, empires, international politics, and the very notion of humanity. Spanning from the causes of the First World War to the legacies of dropping atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this course explores the political, moral, and ideological forces that gave rise to total war and examines how these conflicts transformed human lives in Europe, Japan, the Pacific, and the United States. We will investigate the wars within the context of imperial rivalry, nationalism, and industrial militarization. But throughout we will also be attuned to their unprecedented human toll, including genocide, and their lasting destabilizing impact. We will conclude by exploring the legal processes and commemorative efforts that aimed at promoting reconciliation, lasting peace, and global political order in the postwar period.
3-5 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit
This course explores the First and Second World Wars, the defining conflicts of the twentieth century, as global events that reshaped societies, empires, international politics, and the very notion of humanity. Spanning from the causes of the First World War to the legacies of dropping atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this course explores the political, moral, and ideological forces that gave rise to total war and examines how these conflicts transformed human lives in Europe, Japan, the Pacific, and the United States. We will investigate the wars within the context of imperial rivalry, nationalism, and industrial militarization. But throughout we will also be attuned to their unprecedented human toll, including genocide, and their lasting destabilizing impact. We will conclude by exploring the legal processes and commemorative efforts that aimed at promoting reconciliation, lasting peace, and global political order in the postwar period.
Offered in Winter 2027 at Stanford University.