This course explores the urban history of the European fin-de-siècle, examining three major urban centres in Russia, Germany and the Habsburg Empire where migration, technological advances, cultural innovation and political ferment combined to produce an atmosphere of intense change, excitement and anxiety. In doing so, we will trace some of the physical, social and political consequences of early 20th century modernity in comparative context.
The course firstly considers Moscow, Berlin and Vienna as imperial cities at the turn of the 20th century, exploring the dynamics of urban migration and the explosive physical expansion of these cities. We then turn to the expanding possibilities of the time, examining technological change, the cultural avant-garde, social mobility and growing political radicalism, set against concerns over the alienating effects of metropolitan life and the destabilising influence of rapid urban growth.
We conclude by considering the collapse of the old order following the First World War, and the impact this had on Moscow, Berlin and Vienna into the 1920s, examining economic and political pressures, the changing face of the city, and the rise of radical socio-cultural currents. The lectures in this course are supplemented by a range of primary sources, including architecture, newspaper excerpts and political extracts, discussion of which will be integrated into each class.
