USESEA010 Geopolitics of the Central European Area

Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Summer 2016
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. RNDr. Vladimír Baar, CSc. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. RNDr. Vladimír Baar, CSc.
Institute of Central European Studies – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava
Prerequisites
Expert Knowledge:
Students demonstrate knowledge of the facts, phenomena and processes in the Central European region in the context of historical development; they are able to explain various attitudes of experts to the political and other events in Central European countries as well as to describe the most significant events and phenomena that made an essential contribution to the formation of the Central European Space.
Expert Skills:
The subject graduates are able to take into account the consequences of development of the region up to the present as well as specific features of individual countries when evaluating the contemporary period of cooperation within the EU. They are also able to define the problems that remain in the conciousness of citizens of the states of Central Europe as a reflection of former geopolitical processes.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the subject is to familiarize students with historical context and other political, economic and cultural factors that influenced the development of political structures in Central European region, the relationships between the states, power ambitions of the states and their consequences for territorial changes. The main attention is paid to the crossing of interests of three ethnolinguistic communities: Germanic, Slavic and Finno-Ugric; which both competed and cooperated, and strived for a dominant position. Similarly, geopolitical transformations and the basic milestones of development are analyzed. As part of the subject,students will also find out about geopolitical ambitions of the states in the surrounding regions (France, Denmark, Sweden, Russia).The greatest attention will be paid to the issues of geopolitical transformation during the 19th and 20th century.
Syllabus
  • 1.-2. Central Europe as a specific region (various approaches to understanding Central Europe in Czech, German, Austrian, Polish, Slovakian, Swiss and Hungarian society).
    3.-4. Geopolitical rivalry for the Central European space up to the 11th century; key regions of German, Czech, Polish and Hungarian statehood.
    5.-6. The transformations of Central European space from the 12th century up to the Napoleonic Wars. Rivalry with surrounding states. Religious conflicts and their influence on geopolitice.
    7.-8. Central European space after the Congress of Vienna. The rivalry for the dominance between Prussia and Austria. The efforts to expand.
    9.-10. Geopolitical transformation of Central European space after the World War I. The downfall of empires, the rise of totalitarian ideologies and the efforts to review the results of the war.
    11.-12. Geopolitical bipolarity of Central European space after the World War II. The beginning and the end of the Iron Curtain. Transformations of integration processes.
Literature
    required literature
  • GURŇÁK, D. Vývoj politickéj mapy stredovýchodnej a juhovýchodnej Európy. Bratislava: Kartprint, 2007. ISBN 978-80-88870-62-3. info
  • KŘEN, J. Dvě století střední Evropy. Praha: Argo, 2005. ISBN 80-7203-612-2. info
  • BAAR, V.- KOVÁŘ, M. Geopolitický, geokulturní a geoekonomický vývoj Evropy. Ostrava: OU, 2004. ISBN 80-7042-969-3. info
  • WANDYCZ, P. S. Cena svobody. Střední Evropa v dějinách od středověku do současnosti. Praha: Academia, 1998. ISBN 80-200-0657-5. info
    recommended literature
  • Kosman, M. Dějiny Polska. Praha: Karolinum, 2011. ISBN 978-80-246-1842-5. info
  • KOVÁČ, D. Dějiny Slovenska. 2. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2011. ISBN 978-80-7422-099-9. info
  • VEBER, V. a kol. Dějiny Rakouska. 1. dopl. a aktualiz. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2009. ISBN 978-80-7422-105-7. info
  • KONTLER, L. Dějiny Maďarska. 2. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2008. ISBN 80-7106-405-X. info
  • MÜLLER, H. M., KRIEGER, K. F., VOLLRATH, H. a kol. Dějiny Německa. 2. dopl. vyd. Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2004. ISBN 80-7106-712-1. info
  • SCHOEPS, H. J. Dějiny Pruska. Praha: Garamond, 2004. ISBN 80-86379-59-0. info
  • WANDYCZ, P. S. Cena svobody. Střední Evropa v dějinách od středověku do současnosti. Praha: Academia, 1998. ISBN 80-85892-66-9. info
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
Written exam to verify the knowledge of theory (terminology, International Law Chronology and historical and political context of the region development) and concrete expressions of geopolitical problems in contemporary Central Europe.
The course is also listed under the following terms Summer 2014, Summer 2015, Summer 2017, Summer 2018, Summer 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Summer 2016, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/summer2016/USESEA010