History

Time and Place 1899: Apex Empires, Savage Wars

Module code: V1482
Level 5
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

Situated within Eric Hobsbawm’s Age of Empire (1875-1914), this module offers a revisionist history of colonial battles that took place in the twentieth century. It concentrates on the Philippine-American War and the South African War (1899-1902), which have been understood as important, yet separate sites of anti-colonial resistance and memory.

Emphasising themes and case studies that draw these two conflicts together, it reconstructs 1899 as a watershed moment in a more connected global history, when the colonised struck back and laid bare the hypocrisy of apex colonisers consolidating their empires through what Rudyard Kipling called ‘savage wars of peace.

Module learning outcomes

• Critically evaluate the historiography around a particular moment.
• Critically evaluate the applicability of historical concepts to particular cases.
• Supply evidence of these skills in extended essay form.
• Demonstrate ability to use limited amounts of primary source material in extended historical argument.