Political Violence in Twentieth-Century Europe

This comprehensive history examines the varied manifestations of political violence in Europe's extremely violent twentieth century.

Donald Bloxham (Edited by), Robert Gerwarth (Edited by)

9780521182041, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 March 2011

270 pages
22.6 x 15 x 1.5 cm, 0.37 kg

'So much has been written about the European cataclysm between 1914 and 1945 that essential questions about the origins, evolution and ongoing nature of state (and sometimes anti-state violence) on the twentieth-century continent have often been lost to view. By means of a broader chronology, wider geographical remit and system-centred approach, the team of leading historians who have come together to produce this volume, offer not simply a cogent, incisive and thought-provoking reassessment but actually a new paradigm for the study of modern European violence in a global context.' Mark Levene, University of Southampton

This is a comprehensive history of political violence during Europe's incredibly violent twentieth century. Leading scholars examine the causes and dynamics of war, revolution, counterrevolution, genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and state repression. They locate these manifestations of political violence within their full transnational and comparative contexts and within broader trends in European history from the beginning of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth-century, through the two world wars, to the Yugoslav Wars and the rise of fundamentalist terrorism. The book spans a 'greater Europe' stretching from Ireland and Iberia to the Baltic, the Caucasus, Turkey and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It sheds new light on the extent to which political violence in twentieth-century Europe was inseparable from the generation of new forms of state power and their projection into other societies, be they distant territories of imperial conquest or ones much closer to home.

Introduction Donald Bloxham and Robert Gerwarth
1. Europe in the world Donald Bloxham, Martin Conway, Robert Gerwarth, A. Dirk Moses and Klaus Weinhauer
2. War James McMillan
3. Genocide and ethnic cleansing Donald Bloxham and A. Dirk Moses
4. Revolution and counterrevolution Martin Conway and Robert Gerwarth
5. Terrorism and the state Heinz-Gerhard Haupt and Klaus Weinhauer.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]