A Companion to Modern European History

Its sixteen thematic chapters - each written by an expert in the field - cover social and economic developments, the rise and fall of all the major political movements as well as the immense changes generated by war and international diplomacy across Europe.

Tables, Figures and Appendices vii

Maps ix

Contributors x

Introduction xiii

Part I Society and the State 1

1 Population: Patterns and Processes 3
Drake

2 Prosperity and Depression: The International Economy 25
Sidney Pollard

3 The State and the Development of Social Welfare 45
Rodney Lowe

4 Leisure and Society in Europe, 1871–1945 70
Lynn Abrams

Part II Political Movements and Ideologies 89

5 Conservatism and Nationalism 93
E. J. Feuchtwanger

6 The Dilemmas of Liberalism 111
Eugenio Biagini

7 Socialist Parties and Policies 133
Duncan Tanner

8 The Rise of European Feminism 155
Martin Pugh

9 Revolutionary Europe 174
James D. White

10 European Fascism 194
Richard Thurlow

Part III Diplomacy, Defence and War 211

11 European Diplomacy, 1871‒1914 213
Keith Wilson

12 European Imperialism, 1871‒1945 236
David Omissi

13 The First World War as Total War 262
Gerard J. DeGroot

14 Warfare and National Defence 282
David French

15 Appeasement 300
P.M. II. Bell

16 The Second World War 322
A. W. Purdue

Chronology of Events 1870–1945 342

Biographies 350

Guide to Further Reading 369

Index 399

Martin Pugh is Research Professor in History at Liverpool John Moores University. His previous books include Electoral Reform in War and Peace (1978), The Tories and the People (1985), Women and the Women's Movement in Britain (1992), The March of the Women: a revisionist analysis of the women's suffrage movement (2000), and The Making of Modern British Politics (3rd Edition 2001, Blackwell).

This book is intended for all students of modern European history. It aims to be both an essential reference for undergraduates working on their own, and to form a valuable basis for courses in the subject. The book's sixteen thematic chapters - each written by a leading scholar in the field - cover social and economic change, as well as the rise and fall of all the major political movements and the immense changes generated by war and international diplomacy across Europe in this period.

Designed to act as a bridge between introductory surveys and the mass of specialized literature, the book offers both analysis and information. Throughout, the reader is introduced to the range of competing interpretations of themes and events in the period, and is encouraged to develop a critical framework for study. The chapters are supported by concise biographies of all the major figures, an up-to-date guide to further reading, a chronology of the main events, and numerous maps and tables.

A Companion to Modern European History includes chapters on:

• population trends
• the international economy
• leisure and society
• the rise of European feminism
• revolutionary movements
• European imperialism