A Tale of Three Cities: London, Paris and Berlin in the Nineteenth Century

In the turbulent history of the nineteenth century the three capital cities of Berlin, London and Paris played key roles in the development of their respective states and in the huge changes experienced in the hundred years between 1800 and 1900.London was the world’s greatest trading centre, thriving on a vast network of overseas commerce and driven by the British Industrial Revolution and a growing Empire. Paris became the centre of a new Napoleonic European Empire, developed a reputation for political violence and became the leading example of urban planning and centre of fine art and design in Europe. Berlin started the century as a small capital of a medium-sized German state and experienced substantial economic and population growth, ending the century as the capital of continental Europe’s most powerful industrial nation.During this course we will examine the fascinating history of these three dynamic cities.