Course title | When Empires Ruled Eurasia: A comparative history of Ottoman Empire, Russian Tsardom, and Habsburg Monarchy (1500-1800) |
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Course code | KHI/EMPR |
Organizational form of instruction | Lecture + Seminary |
Level of course | Master |
Year of study | not specified |
Semester | Winter |
Number of ECTS credits | 5 |
Language of instruction | English |
Status of course | Compulsory-optional |
Form of instruction | Face-to-face |
Work placements | This is not an internship |
Recommended optional programme components | None |
Lecturer(s) |
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Course content |
unspecified
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Learning activities and teaching methods |
unspecified |
Learning outcomes |
What is this course about? The Ottoman, Russian, and Habsburg dynasties are often packed together as empires. This categorization needs a careful breakdown. The Ottomans first ruled a principality (or a sultanate) which became an empire in the true sense of the word in 1453 with the conquest of Constantinople. This empire existed until 1922, but it survived the 19th century partially because France and Britain wanted it to exist. Similarly, the Russian state began as a principality (or a duchy). It became a tsardom in 1547 when Ivan IV designed himself as 'tsar,' derived from the Latin 'ceasar,' thus 'emperor.' Russia officially became an empire in 1721 when Peter the Great decided that he was an emperor. The duchy and the early tsardom was ruled by the Rurikid dynasty which was succeeded by the Romanovs in 1613. The Austrian Habsburgs, however, never ruled an empire like that of the Ottomans or Russians, although Habsburg princes bore the title of emperor by virtue of the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which, in Voltaire's well-known formula, was "neither holy, nor roman, nor empire." The Habsburg Danubian polity was a composite monarchy created through dynastic marriages and alliances between politically and culturally disparate entities. The state was ruled from Vienna and it was unified in the personality of the Habsburg monarch, while other monarchical cities and nobles fiercely competed for grandeur with the capital and the ruler residing there. When the Austrian Empire was declared officially in 1806 after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, it was an empire only in name. While the unique historical trajectories of these three states have generated varying combinations of administrative structures, practices, ideas, and patterns, the challenges they wrestled with were remarkably similar. Geography offered many opportunities to all three courts during their existence but it also forced limitations on them. Each state had to efficiently govern warfare and foreign threat, fiscal policies, popular unrest and fluctuations, diseases, and legal complexities created by the uneasy togetherness of religious, ethnic, and cultural communities across a vast territory. The Ottomans were Sunni Muslims, the Rurikids and Romanovs were Orthodox Christians, and the Habsburgs were Roman Catholics. Unsurprisingly, the tripartite interplay between religion, ruling family and their courtiers, and subjects took significantly different shapes in each state and resulted in unique and sometimes undesirable outcomes especially for the minority religious groups in the three empires. However, at any given time during their histories, Istanbul, Moscow and St. Petersburg, and Vienna accommodated people of all backgrounds who lived together in urban settings shaped by distinct but impressive architectural styles. Eventually, the dissolution of all three states bequeathed sorrowful memories and, thus, mixed opinions about their histories to future generations. There are a lot of lessons in this rich history for twenty-first century Europeans. In this first half of the course, students will learn about the origins and formation of the three empires and the development of their central institutions, but we will mainly focus on their early modern histories between 1500 and 1800 and contacts between them. Some of the questions we will discuss in this first half of the course are: - How did the three states manage warfare and economy? - How similar and different was their approach to diplomacy? - In what ways were their treatment of their subjects similar and different? How inclusive and exclusive were they toward minority ethnic groups and non-orthodoxies? - What were the role of women in their courts? - How distinct or similar were their understanding of art and culture? What sort of exchanges occurred between them in these areas?
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Prerequisites |
unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria |
unspecified
Attendance is mandatory in this course. Students can have ONE unexcused absences during the semester. This is a necessary measure as class participation is the most important element in this course. For each additional unexcused absence, your end-of-semester average will be decreased by 5%. Starting with your second absence, please contact me if you have to skip a class due to a documented emergency. An examination in another course or a paper you have to submit for another class is not considered an emergency. Your grade in this course will be a combination of your participation in the weekly in-class discussions (60%) and the quality of your four-page book outlines (20% each; 40% total) Your first outline is due by the seventh week of the semester on October 29. The second outline is due on December 22. Important dates: (2nd week) January 24: You should inform me about which book you would like to read as your first reading. (7th week) October 29: First book outline is due. (A week after the end of the semester) December 22: Second book outline is due. |
Recommended literature |
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Study plans that include the course |
Faculty | Study plan (Version) | Category of Branch/Specialization | Recommended semester | |
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Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA24) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2023) | Category: Philosophy, theology | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2019) | Category: Philosophy, theology | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA21) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA21) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2023_N24) | Category: Philosophy, theology | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA23) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA22) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA19) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA20) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): History (2019) | Category: History courses | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA23) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA24) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA22) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): History (2019) | Category: History courses | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): History (2012) | Category: History courses | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): History (2019) | Category: History courses | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Arts | Study plan (Version): Euroculture (2023_S24) | Category: Philosophy, theology | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA20) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |
Faculty: Faculty of Education | Study plan (Version): Teaching History for Secondary Schools and Higher Primary Schools (NA19) | Category: Pedagogy, teacher training and social care | - | Recommended year of study:-, Recommended semester: Winter |