Historical Backround Of The World Today: A Synopsis

BY THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF DUKE UNIVERSITY HISTORICAL BACKGROUND of the World Today RINEHART & COMPANY, INCORPORATED HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE WORLD TODAY A Synopsis BY THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT OF DUKE UNIVERSITY HISTORICAL BACKGROUND of the World Today EDITED BY HAROLD T. PARKER and THEODORE ROPP RINEHART & COMPANY, INCORPORATED 1947 Copyright, 1947, by William B. Hamilton Printed in the United States of America by A PPEAL P RINTING C O ., I NC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE This book is a synopsis of the introductory course in history at Duke University. The profound changes which have shaken our society in this gen­ eration seemed to the staff at Duke to demand a fresh point of view in teaching “The Historical Background of the World Today.” A new orientation has become especially necessary for students in the United States. Furthermore, it is particularly the last three or four decades that challenge the interest and the intelligence of the student. To treat of this period properly, or to draw its background in due perspective, it is not enough to add a few chapters to the orthodox textbook in European (or American) history. Accordingly, we have re-examined both subject matter and emphasis from the vantage point of the topics or themes we thought most impor­ tant in the present world. A survey course for one year cannot touch on everything. The themes we have chosen are The rise of the national states and the conflict between liberty and authority within them; The problems of peace and war among these states; The economic practices and theories of modern times, especially the changing face of capitalism and the challenges to it; And the faiths men live and die by, not by any means confined to faiths ordinarily called religious. Underlying the treatment of these four themes is the pregnant premise of The expansion of Europe, whose institutions, technologies, and faiths have been exported to all corners of the globe, where they have awakened mutual reactions. The following, who teach in the two undergraduate liberal arts colleges of Duke University (Trinity College and the coordinate Woman’s College), have written the synopsis: Frances Aconib, John S. Curtiss, Arthur B. Ferguson, William B. Hamilton, W. T. Laprade, Alan K. Manchester, Ernest W. Nelson, Harold T. Parker, Dorothy M. Quynn, Theodore Kopp, and Richard L. Watson. It represents a meeting of minds through a year and a half of vigorous discussion and criticism. Since some of the topics sketched for one class hour obviously cannot be covered in that length of time without an unnecessary shock to the academic psyche of the teacher whose favorite topic is being thus outraged, we have left unscheduled ten or twelve hours in each of the v normal college semesters. This breathing space the instructor may use to express his personality, to introduce different topics, or simply to catch up with his colleagues. Those topics that carry two numbers deserve, in our opinion, at least two lectures. The course as here sketched is designed to fit 110 particular text­ book. Rather, any text or book of readings can be pruned and stretched to lit the synopsis, which in any event is the central guide for the student to both lectures and text. The course at Duke is accompanied by assignments designed to teach the student how to study history critically. In the first semester he reads at least three books and writes a critical review of them. In the second, he performs an exercise, preferably a library paper, designed to elicit critical thought, the art of interpreting scattered and perhaps conflicting data, and the ability to set down in plain English what he finds out. WILLIAM B. HAMILTON Supervisor of Freshman Instruction Durham, North Carolina August, 1947 vi LIST OF