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Quade, A. European Economic History
California State University, Sacramento
Departmetn of Economics
Economics 112: European Economic History
Dr. Ane Quade
Lecture List
Unit 1: The Mediterranean World in the Age of African Hegemony
Section 1: The Nature of Economic History
Themes and Periods of Economic History
Grand Unifying Theories I
Grand Unifying Theories II
Theory and Evidence in Economic History
Section 2: The Ancient World
The History of Europe Begins in Africa
Trade Networks of the Ancient Mediterranean
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire
Section 3: Feudalism and the Rise of Islam
Introduction to the Middle Ages
Feudalism and the Islamic Empire
Social Structure in Medieval Christian Europe
Section 4: Agriculture and Urban Life in Medieval Europe
Medieval Christian and Islamic Agriculture
The Fall and Rise of Medieval Cities
Section 5: The End of the "Dark Ages"
The Causes and Effects of the Bubonic Plague
The Mediterranean World in the Age of African Hegemony
Unit 2: Early Modern Europe: The Division Between North and South
Section 6: From the Renaissance to the Reconquest
The Economic Foundations of the Italian Renaissance
Industry and the Family in Early Modern Europe
The Rise of the Hapsburgs
Section 7: Imperial Iberia
The Christian Reconquest and the Invasion of Africa
Iberia, Africa and the "New World"
Gold, Demography and the Price Revolution
Section 8: Agriculture and Structural Change
The Mesta: Powerful Monopoly or Efficient Industrial
Development?
Agriculture and Public Policy in France
The Dutch Rural Economy in the Golden Age
Section 9: The Rise of England
Henry and Elizabeth
Famine and the Escape from Famine
Unit 3: Modern Europe: The Age of European Imperialism
Section 10: The Age of Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution and the Rise of Modern Industry
The Economic Causes of the US and French Revolutions
The Scientific Revolution and Industrial Development
Section 11: Patterns of Industrial Development
Early Industrialisers
Later Industrialisers
Section 12: Social Effects of Industrial Development
Growth and Redistribution
Policies and Poverty
Section 13: The Age of High Imperialism
The Fall and Rise of Imperialism in the 19th Century
Post-Napoleonic Decline
Mid-Century Reversals
Late-Century Revival
Section 14: International Integration and Disintegration
The Great Depression
Pre-War Preconditions
Post-War Preconditions
Section 15: Europe Since the Second World War
The Marshall Plan and the Bretton Woods Agreement
Post-Imperial Europe?
Europe Re-emerges?Economics 112: European Economic History
Final Exam, Spring 1991
Dr. Ane Quade
Instructions: Choose TWO questions from
EACH set of questions below, for a total of FOUR
questions. Answer each of the first pair of
questions (Unit 3) in less than 200 words (1 large
blue-book page or less). Answer each of the
second pair of questions (Cumulative) in 350 words
(2 large blue-book pages) or less. Your total set
of answers should not exceed 6 pages.
UNIT 3 QUESTIONS
CHOOSE TWO
1. Compare and contrast the industrial
development of England, France and Switzerland
during the nineteenth century. Which, if any, had
an "Industrial Revolution" during this time?
2. What were the impacts of the coming of the
railroads on England, the Austro-Hungarian Empire
and the Ottoman Empire between (roughly) 1860 and
1930?
3. Does Central Place Theory adequately
describe the structural changes in England,
Germany or France between 1700 and 1930?
4. Did the rise of European capitalism create
inequality within European families, and/or
between Europe and the rest of the world during
the period 1700 - 1930?
5. Discuss the changes in the relationship
between Europe and either Asia, Africa or
south-Central America between 1700 and the onset
of the first World War.
CUMULATIVE QUESTIONS
CHOOSE TWO
1. How did the role of agriculture change
between the Ancient Age and the 1920s? Provide
examples that support your answer from the Ancient
Mediterranean, Medieval Europe and the Middle
East, Early Modern Europe, and Modern Europe.
2. How has technological change affected the
social structure of Europe since the development
of agriculture? Support your answer with examples
from each of the four time periods discussed in
class.
3. Why were the causes of North-West Europe's
transition from economic perifery to imperial
master between the rise of Egypt and the First
World War? Provide at least one example from each
of the four time periods.
4. Dr. Cameron argues that demographic
pressure may lead to either productivity advance
or disaster, but that the onoly cause of
productivity advance is demographic pressure. Is
he correct on either or both of these points?
Defend your answer using historical examples from
each of the four time periods, including the
Bubonic Plague epidemic of 1348 somewhere in your answer.
5. How important has international trade and
finance been in the rise or fall of empires during
the four time periods discussed in class? Provide
examples from all periods.
6. The division of labor between households
increased in Europe between -10,000 and 1930.
What happened to the division of labor within
households? Provide examples from each of the
four time periods covered in class.
Presentation for UARS, Spring 1991
Beyond the Canon Project
Ane Quade, Economics
Target Course: Econ 112, European Economic
History, an upper division General Education
course also available for elective credit
toward the economics major
The Traditional View:
1. Overview of important economic changes
in Europe since the days of the Greeks
and Romans. Topics vary depending on
the theoretical perspective of the
economic historian, but commonly include
an examination of the role of taxes and
government spending in generating the
Fall of the Roman Empire, an analysis of
feudalism as an economic system, the
Industrial Revolution, the Railroad Boom
of the 19th century, and the causes of
the Great Depression. Conservative
economists often focus on technological
change and the growth of per capita
income; liberals often pay special
attention to the transition from an
agricultural to an industrial economy,
and on the role of governments; Marxists
usually focus on the impact of
technological change on the
relationships between workers, landlords
and capitalists.
2. Most traditional treatment of issues
relating to race and ethnicity is to
examine the economic relationships
between England, France and Germany as
ethnic divisions, or to mention that
Europe had colonies in Asia, Africa and
Latin America at various points in
history. More thorough examinations
might consider whether colonies provided
economic benefits to the European
powers, or to consider the role of
European technological "improvements" in
weaponry as a cause of the expansion of
Europe's empires. Most treat the
peoples that were conquered by the
Europeans after the sixteenth century as
primitive and tribal, using "shells
instead of money" in a system that
bordered on barter, with little or no
technology.
3. The traditional treatment of gender by
most economic historians is to ignore
it. (The textbook I'm using, for
example, doesn't mention even Elizabeth
I or other powerful women.) Many assume
that women's economic roles have always
been to cook, clean, watch children and
produce "nothing of economic value." A
few show pictures of the "factory girls"
of the Industrial Revolution, and
comment that they were working to earn
their doweries.
Revisions to the Canon
1. Introductory thoughts on revising this
course:
a. Research famous women and include
partial lectures on their lives.
Have students write exam essays on
the impact of the economic policies
of Elizabeth I, Catherine the
Great, or Empress Maria Theresa.
b. Add lectures on the economies of
the regions that became Europe's
colonies "before and after" the
European conquest. Have students
write exam essays on the
differences between the textbook
presentation of Africa and the
lecture materials.
c. Add a short unit on the rise of
Islam and the economic relations
between the Arab and Ottoman
Empires and Europe, including the
Crusades.
2. What I have actually done so far:
a. Changes in the syllabus --
1) Divided the course
differently. Formerly, there
were 2 units, "Pre-Industrial
Europe" and "Europe Since the
Industrial Revolution." Now
there are 3 units, "The
Mediterranean World in the Age
of African Hegemony (1000 BC
to 1348)," " Early Modern
Europe: The Division Between
North and South (1348 to ca.
1700)," and " The Age of
European Imperialism
(1700-1960)."
2) The first unit now includes
expanded coverage of the
Mediterranean, Africa and the
Middle East before the rise of
Athens, including Nubia,
Egypt, Phoenicia (Carthage)
and Persia and their
relationships to the European
economies of the age. The
role of slavery (both domestic
and imported) in each of these
economies is considered, as is
the gender and age division of
labor throughout the Ancient
and Medieval Eras. The
proposed unit on Islam and the
Arab Empire has been
developed.
3) The second unit includes an
expanded discussion of the
empires of West Africa before
the arrival of the Europeans,
including the Islamic Empires.
An expanded coverage of the
relationships between Catholic
and Islamic Europe is now
included.
I have added materials on the
impact of the slave trade in
Africa and Latin America, and
on the role of slavery in
breaking the Arab's sugar
monopoly and thus reducing
Europe's trade deficit with
the middle east. Changes in
the role of the Catholic
Church, the relations between
Church and State are
considered. The transition
from the subsistence economy
to family-based industries and
later capitalist industries
and trade monopolies is now
included, including the impact
of these changes on the
division of labor within
families. Additional material
on "famous" women has been
added as well.
4) Work on the third unit is
still in progress. At this
point, new materials on the
division of labor within
families are being developed,
as well as an expanded
coverage of the Partition of
Africa. Additional materials
on the history of European
intervention in the Middle
East will also be included.
b. Changes in student assignments
1. The written participation of
students in the course has
been considerably expanded
(for several reasons), in part
to solicit student responses
to these changes. Students
are asked to write a series of
weekly short essays on topics
related to the lecture and
text, and to redraft one of
those essays for a grade.
Options have been provided
from both the "old" and the
"new" materials.
2. So far, students have been
extremely receptive to these
changes, with considerably
more than the expected
proportion choosing to write
their revisions on the "new"
topics. (There seems to be
very little ethnic or gender
division over these choices;
men chose last week to write
about changes in the role of
women just as frequently as
women, and Euro-American
students choose to write about
the economies of Africa and
the Middle East just as
frequently as African- and
Arab-Americans.)
3. Other Changes in Student Behavior
a. Many more students of color in
class.
b. Higher level of student class
participation.
ECONOMICS 112: EUROPEAN ECONOMIC HISTORY
SECOND UNIT EXAM, SPRING 1991
Dr. Ane Quade
Choose two of the following questions. Answer each
question in 200 to 250 words.
1. Many economic historians believe that agrarian
feudalism was replaced by capitalism during the early
modern period. Where, and to what extent do you think
this was true? Defend your answer.
2. Fernand Braudel argues that the central economic core
of Europe moved slowly from south to north during the
early modern era. Describe the geographic steps in
this transition. What were the most important economic
causes of each step? (Note: We have covered this
indirectly in class, so that it is not necessary to
read even vol. 3 of Civilisation and Capitalism in the
15th - 18th Centuries to answer this question. Should
you choose to read outside of the class assignments,
however, this would be a good choice.)
3. The transition from Domestic Industry to Family
Industry was more rapid in some regions of Europe than
in others during the early modern period.
Use the information you have about the division
of labor between and within families and about the
structural transitions made in Spain, Hapsburg Central
Europe, the Low Countries and England to hypothesise
about the relative changes in the economic roles of
women in early modern Europe.
4. During the early modern period, Europe began the
transition from economic perifery to colonial master
of much of Asia, Africa and the Americas. Why and how
did this occur?
5. What were the principal causes and effects of
demographic changes in Europe between 1348 and 1700?
Economics 112: European Economic History
Questions for Unit 3
Modern Europe: The Age of European Imperialism
Dr. Ane Quade
1. What was the Enclosure Movement ? How did it affect the
structure of the English economy?
2. What were the three most important technological changes
of the eighteenth century? What were their effects on
England's economy?
3. Some economic historians believe that the British overseas
empire was responsible for the rise of the English textile
industry. To what extent do you think this is true?
4. How important were the colonies in the Americas to the
economy of Great Britain? Describe their role in the
British Colonial System.
5. The American and French Revolutions are often presented as
springing from the same ideological foundations. Compare
and contrast their economic causes. Were there
similarities here as well?
6. How important was the crisis in public finance in
generating the French Revolution? Was it more or less
important than the other economic causes?
7. In the history of technology, what are the differences
between invention, innovation and diffusion? Describe
the pattern of industrial change in the nineteenth century
using these concepts.
8. What was the Railroad Boom? What were its main causes and
effects?
9. What was the relationship between demographic pressure and
technological change during the nineteenth century?
10. How did technological change affect the development of
agriculture during the nineteenth century?
11. What improvements in technology affected the integration
of markets during the nineteenth century? Briefly, how
did each do this?
12. Until the end of the nineteenth century, France had
discovered very little coal per capita. In most of
industrializing Europe, coal played a key role in the
growth of income. How did France avoid the problems
associated with coal shortages? What effects did this
solution have on the nature of French industrial
development at this time?
13. What were the most important causes of the industrial
growth of Germany in the nineteenth century?
14. Did Switzerland have an Industrial (R)evolution in the
nineteenth century? Defend your answer.
15. Describe and illustrate the Kuznets Curve. What are the
theoretical reasons for its shape?
16. Did British capitalism create inequality during the period
1750-1850? Describe the changes in the distribution of
income at this time.
17. Describe the basic features of Nineteenth Century Liberal
economic policies. How did each affect the economy of
Europe?
18. Describe the causes and effects of class conflicts during
the nineteenth century. Focus on the Revolutions of 1848.
19. What was the New Poor Law? Why was it enacted? What were
its economic effects?
20. Why did most of Europe return to protectionist policies in
the late nineteenth century?
21. What were the economic causes and effects of the Suez
Crisis of 1869?
22. What were the economic causes and effects of the Opium
War?
23. What is meant by the Partition of Africa? What were its
economic causes and effects?
24. What were the "rules of the game" under the gold standard?
Did any of the participants play by these rules?
25. How did the partition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
affect the economies of Europe between the Peace and the
beginning of the Depression?
26. What were the economic impacts of the partition of the
Ottoman Empire after WWI?
27. Some economic historians believe that the behavior of
England, assisted by France and Germany, between the Wars
cost Europe its international hegemony. Do you agree?