University of Wisconsin, Madison

Spring 2004

 

Scandinavian Studies 432

 

History of Scandinavia since 1815

 

 

Instructor:                  Katariina Goeschl

Course Meetings:             Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1.20 to 2.10 pm,

201 Van Hise Hall.

Office Hours:             12 pm to 1 pm on Mondays and Fridays (and by appointment), 1310 Van Hise Hall.

Email:                         katariina.goschl-alumni@lse.ac.uk

 

 

This course aims to give students a brief overview of modern Scandinavian history from Napoleonic wars to present day. It is suitable for all students with an interest in Scandinavian civilization and/or Nordic history. It is not necessary to speak Scandinavian languages in order to participate in the course as all key readings are provided in English. However, there are some additional reading materials in Scandinavian languages in the course reader for those able to interpret these texts as well as some further readings in English. All students are expected to read the texts provided in English for each lecture, and students with language skills are kindly asked also to read the further readings in Scandinavian languages. All readings will be discussed in class in some detail.  

 

Although this is a general course that provides an overview of historical developments during the period under analysis, each session has a theme.  Class meetings consist of some lecture material, followed by class discussion on the day’s theme on the basis of course readings. In class, we will also try to relate developments in Scandinavia to the wider framework of European and world history.  In addition to political and economic history, we will also explore aspects of social and cultural history. For example, we will examine how some well-known pieces of literature by Nordic authors relate to developments in nineteenth and twentieth century Scandinavia.

 

Written work for the course includes a mid-term exam that will cover the first part of the course, followed by a final exam in May.  Additionally, students are asked to write one longer paper on a topic of their choice.  Detailed instructions with suggested topics will be provided during the first two weeks of the course. Marking will be along the following lines:

 

Mid-term exam                                     30 %

Final exam                                                        30 %

Long essay/book review                          40 %

 

Although class participation will not be part of formal assessment, students are asked to note that regular attendance and active class participation is a prerequisite for the successful completion of the course.  Students are also kindly asked to familiarize themselves with University regulations regarding appropriate academic behavior, plagiarism and cheating.

 

I am available to discuss course assignments and any issues that relate to the course during office hours and by appointment.

 

 

Required Texts:

 

Byron J. Nordstrom, Scandinavia since 1500, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press 2000).

 

H. Arnold Barton, Sweden and Visions of Norway: Politics and Culture, 1814-1905, (Southern Illinois University Press 2002).

 

Fred Singleton, A Short History of Finland, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1998)

 

A course reader of additional reading materials (partially in Scandinavian languages)

 

Course materials are available at the University Bookstore and Underground Textbook Exchange on State Street.

 

 

Course Schedule:

 

Introduction to Scandinavian History

 

Week One

January 21 - Course Introduction

 

No reading assignment

 

January 23 - Brief Overview of Scandinavian History from Viking Age to c. 1800

 

No reading assignment, but students are encouraged to have a brief look at the early chapters of Nordstrom’s Scandinavia since 1500.

 

 

Scandinavia and the Napoleonic Wars

 

Week 2

January 26 – The Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna – an overview

 

Nordstrom, pp. 165-176.

 

Ole Feldbaek, ‘Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars. A Foreign Policy Survey,’ Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 June 2001, Vol. 26, No 2, pp. 89-101.

 

January 28 – The Annexation of Finland by Russia

 

Singleton, chapter 3, pp. 49-68.

 

Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Samlade skrifter, pp. 21-22,‘Soldatgossen.’

 

January 30 – The Annexation of Norway by Sweden and the New Political Order in Scandinavia

 

Nordstrom, pp. 176-185.

 

Barton, pp. 3-18.

 

 

Scandinavian Society in the Early 19th Century – Economy, Social Structure and Culture

 

Week 3

February 2 – Economic and Social Structure of Scandinavia in the Early 1800s

 

Nordstrom, pp. 121-129, 138-162, 228-230.

 

Harald Gustafsson, Nordens historia, (Lund 1997), chapter 8, pp. 159-167.

 

Note: to get an idea what Scandinavia looked like in the nineteenth century, please have a brief look at:

 

http://www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet/  (Click on  ‘in English’, ‘Internet’, ‘Slideshows’ and then ‘From Romanticism to Realism’ and view the first few pictures).

 

 http://virtual.finland.fi/

 (Click on ‘picture book’, then choose links to ‘travels in Finland in the 1870s’ and ‘Finland in drawings’)

 

February 4 – Nationalism and Culture in Scandinavia

 

Nordstrom, pp. 186-187, 191-194

 

Peter Hallberg, ‘Mirrors of the Nation: The Construction of National Character and Difference in the Historical Writings of E.G. Geijer’, Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 March 2001, Vol. 26, pp. 25-52.

 

February 6 – Language and Nationalism

 

Nordstrom, pp. 188-191.

 

Matti Klinge, Runebergs tva fosterland, (Borga 1983), pp. 220-232.

 

Please also have a look at: http://www.finlit.fi/Kalevala/index.eng.html.

Political History of Scandinavia, 1815 – c. 1900

 

Week 4

February 9 – Denmark, Slesvig-Holstein and National Minorities

 

Nordstrom, pp. 203-212.

 

Stewart Oakley, The Story of Denmark, (London 1972), pp. 166-179.

 

Anders Burman, ‘Var lyckligaste tanke. C.J.L. Almqvist om skandinavismen,’ Scandia, 2002, 68 (2), pp. 249-267.

 

February 11 – Finland under Russian Rule

 

Singleton, pp. 90-102

 

Tuomo Polvinen, Imperial Borderland, (Durham 1995), pp. 254-267.’

 

February 13 – Sweden and Norway 

 

Barton, pp. 19-57.

 

Igvar Andersson, A History of Sweden, (Westport 1975), chapter 31, ‘Scandinavianism,’ pp.338-350.

 

Deadline for the registration of long paper title

 

 

Road to Democracy and Independence, c. 1900-1919

 

Week 5

February 16 - Sweden and Norwegian Independence

 

Nordstrom, pp. 194-199, 221-227.

 

Barton, pp. 58-83.

 

Jostein Nerbovik, Norsk historie 1860-1914. Eit bondesamfunn i oppbrot. (Oslo 1999), chapter 13.

 

February 18 - Denmark at the Turn of the Century

 

Nordstrom, pp. 213-219.

 

Steen Busck and Henning Poulsen (eds.), Danmarks historie i grundtraek, (Aarhus Universitetsforlag 2002), chapter 19, pp. 286-301.

 

February 20 - Scandinavia in World War I

 

Nordstrom, pp. 257-268.

 

Singleton, pp. 103-105

 

Week 6

February 23 - Finland Becomes Independent

 

Nordstrom, pp. 199-203, 219-221.

 

Singleton, pp. 105-107.

 

Herman Lindqvist, Historien om Sverige. Drommar och verklighet, (Varnamo 2000), chapter 6, pp. 222-228.

 

February 25 - The War of 1918 in Finland and the Aland Islands Question

 

Singleton, pp. 108-115.

 

Osmo Jussila, Seppo Hentila, Jukka Nevakivi, From Grand Duchy to a Modern State. A Political History of Finland since 1809, (London 1995), pp. 113-115.

 

Herman Lindqvist, Historien om Sverige, chapter 6, pp. 228-254.

 

 

Economic and Demographic Trends in Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

 

February 27 – Emigration to North America

 

Nordstrom, pp. 228-236.

 

Vilhelm Moberg, The Emigrants, chapter 9.

 

Week 7

March 1 - Economic Transformations, c. 1850-1914.

 

Nordstrom, pp. 236-248.

 

Jorgen Weibull, Swedish History in Outline,  pp. 82-90.

 

Singleton, chapter 5, pp. 82-89.

 

March 3 – Revision Session – Scandinavia from 1809 to c. 1920: Maps, Pictures and Images.

 

Social and Political Movements in Scandinavia at the Turn of the Century

 

March 5 - Women’s Movement and Women’s Rights

 

Nordstrom, pp. 248-253.

 

Irma Sulkunen, ‘The Women’s Movement,’ pp. 178-191 in Finland - People, Nation, State, (London 1989), ed by Max Engman and David Kirby.

 

Henrik Ibsen, A Doll’s House. Full text available online in English at

http://promo.net/pg/

 

Week 8

March 8 – Socialism, Religion and the Temperance movement

 

Nordstrom, pp. 247-248.

 

Selma Lagerlof, Gosta Berling’s Saga, pp. 3-14.

 

Lars-Arne Norborg, 170 ar i Sverige, Svensk samhallsutveckling 1809-1979, (Arlov 1982), pp. 119-129.

 

March 10 – Mid-term Exam 

 

March 12 – Cultural Trends in  Scandinavia in the 19th and early 20th Centuries

 

Barton, pp. 87-158.

 

Markku Valkonen, The Golden Age. Finnish Art,1850-1907, (Porvoo 1992), pp.  56-61, 66-67, 74-77.

 

Please also have a look at:

http://www.museumsnett.no/nasjonalgalleriet/  (click on  ‘in English’, ‘Internet’, ‘Slideshows’ and then first ‘From Romanticism to Realism’ and then ‘Edvard Munch.’)

 

Spring Break March 13 to 21

 

 

History of Scandinavia c. 1920- 1938

 

Week 9

March 22 – Fragile Democracies

 

Nordstrom, pp. 268-281.

Singleton, pp. 115-119.

 

March 24 – Economic Developments in the Interwar Years

 

Nordstrom, pp. 281-284.

Singleton, pp. 119-121.

 

March 26 – Culture and Society in the Interwar Years

 

Nordstrom, pp. 284-290.

 

T.K. Derry, A History of Scandinavia – Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, (Minneapolis 1979), chapter 12, pp. 283-302.

 

 

Week 10

March 29 – Inter-Scandinavian and International Relations During the 1920s and 1930s

 

Nordstrom, pp. 291-298.

 

Please also see:

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1939pact.html (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939)

 

 

Scandinavia in World War II

 

March 31 The Finnish Winter War, 1939-40

 

Nordstrom, pp. 291-299.

 

Singleton, pp. 122-130

 

Long paper outline due in class

 

April 2 – German Occupation of Denmark

 

Nordstrom, pp. 302-310.

 

W. Glyn Jones, Denmark. A Modern History, (London 1986), chapter 8.

 

Week 11

April 5 - German Occupation of Norway

 

Nordstrom, pp. 310-315.

 

T.K. Derry, A Short History of Norway, (London 1968), chapter xii.

 

April 7  – Swedish Neutrality during World War II

 

Nordstrom, pp. 315-319.

 

Hans Kirchhoff, ‘‘Doing All That Can Be Done’ – The Swedish Foreign Ministry and the Persecution of Jews in Denmark in October 1943,’ Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 March 1999, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp 1-43.

 

April 9 – Finland, Germany and the Soviet Union, 1941-47.

 

Nordstrom, pp. 299-302, 319-320.

 

Singleton, pp. 130-133.

 

Vaino Linna, The Unknown Soldier, chapter XIV, pp. 262-282.

 

Week 12

April 12 –Iceland’s Independence

 

Nordstrom, p. 309.

 

Johannes Nordal and Valdimar Kirsinsson, Iceland 1966, pp. 84-90, ‘Historical Scetch’.

 

Gunnar Karlsson, ‘The Emergence of Nationalism in Iceland,’ pp. 33-59 in  Sven Tagil (ed)., Ethnicity and Nation Building in the Nordic World, (Southern Illinois University Press 1995).

 

 

Scandinavia in the Cold War

 

April 14 – Norway, Denmark and the Atlantic Alliance

 

Nordstrom, pp. 321-330, 334-335.

 

Claus Bjorn, ‘Modern Denmark: A Synthesis of Converging Developments,’ Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 June 2000, Vol. 25, No. 1-2, pp. 119-130.

 

April 16 – Swedish Neutrality in the New World Order

 

Nordstrom, pp. 335-336.

 

Geir Lundestad, America, Scandinavia and the Cold War, 1945-1949, (New York 1980), pp. 319-328.

 

Week 13

April 19 – Finland, Neutrality and the Soviet Union

 

Singleton, chapter 9, pp. 134-146.

 

Nordstrom, pp. 336-339.

 

 

Scandinavian Economy and Society after 1945

 

 April 21 - The Scandinavian Welfare State

 

Nordstrom, pp. 330-334

 

Niels Finn Christiansen and Klaus Petersen,’The Dynamics of Social Solidarity: The Danish Welfare State, 1900-2000,’ Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 September 2000, Vol. 26, No 3, pp. 177-196.

 

April 23 – Scandinavian Economy after 1945

 

Nordstrom, 339-346.

 

Singleton, chapter 10, pp. 147-154.

 

Berge Furre, Norsk historie 1914-2000. Industrisamfunnet – fra vokstervisse til framtidstvil, (Oslo 1999), ‘Den nye oljenasjonen,’ pp. 320-328.

 

Week 14

April 26 – Scandinavia and the European Union

 

David Arter, Scandinavian Politics Today, (Manchester and New York 1999), pp. 329-338.

 

Erik Ringmar, ‘Re-Imagining Sweden: The Rhetorical Battle Over EU Membership,’ Scandinavian Journal of History, 1 June 1998, Vol. 23, pp. 45-63.

 

Gro Harlem Brundtland, Madam Prime Minister. A Life in Power and Politics, (New York 2002), pp. 323-335.

 

April 28 - Minorities and Demographic Trends in Scandinavia since World War II

 

Nordstrom, pp. 346-353.

 

Ulla-Britt Engelbrektsson, Tales of Identity. Turkish Youth in Gothenburg, (CEIFO 1995), pp. 43-51, 143-145.

 

Arthur Spencer, The Lapps, (New York 1978), chapter 2, pp. 23-42.

 

April 30  - Women in Post-War Scandinavia 

 

Nordstrom, pp. 351-353.

 

Please also have a look at:

www.presidentti.fi/eng/persons/thcv.htm (Tarja Halonen)

http://www.who.int/dg/brundland/en (Gro Harlem Brundtland)

http://iti.unseco.org/pages.wtd.99wtdbio.htm (Vigdis Finbogadottir)

http://www.unifem.undp.org/assessment/rehn_bio.html (Elisabeth Rehn)

 

 

Scandinavia in Context: Culture, Image and Influence

 

Week 15

May 3 - Modern Cultural Trends in Scandinavia

 

Students are asked to come to class prepared to discuss three famous Scandinavians or Scandinavian cultural phenomena in the fields of art, music, design, literature, cinema, or architecture.

 

Helpful web sites:

http://virtual.finland.fi (Click on ‘arts and entertainment’ or ‘famous Finns’. Once you find an interesting name, you can often find more information in: http://kansallisbiografia.fi/english.htm)

http://www.culturenet.no

http://www.norway.org.uk/culture

http://www.sweden.se (Click on ‘arts and culture’)

http://www.kultur.nu/konst/

http://.www.um.dk/english/danmark/danmarksbog/  (Click on ‘culture’) 

http://www.scandinaviandesign.com/news/index.htm

http://www.menning.is/ensk/index.html (Culture Net Iceland)

 

Long paper deadline

 

May 5 - Revision: Scandinavia from early 1900s to Modern Day – Maps, Pictures and Trends

 

May 7 – Scandinavia and the World – Ideals, Values and the Challenges of the New Millennium

 

Nordstrom, pp. 351-357.

 

Sven Ove Hansson (ed.), Palme Sjalv. Texter i urval med forord av Ingvar Carlsson, (Stockholm 1996), pp. 193-206.

 

Please also have a look at:

http://www.sweden.se/templates/FactSheet____4374.asp (Olof Palme)

 

May 11 – Final Exam, 7.25 pm