For Europe, the twentieth century has been a tumultuous era of power, change, crisis, extremism, decline and revival. In 1914 Europe was at the zenith of its power, but two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Holocaust forced Europe to reconsider how to rebuild society ravaged by the end of empires and the destruction wrought by the rise of fascist dictatorships (SDG 16 - Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). At the same time, the rise of tensions between the communist Eastern Europe and liberal-democracies in Western Europe resulted in a Cold War that forced a radical rethinking of European labour and global trade which tested the continent’s capacity to improve work and economic conditions (SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth) that was exposed by the deep systemic disparities and inequalities (SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities). The 1950s and 1960s then sparked modernization efforts that drove a gradually recovering Europe into a cooperative, yet divided, framework which drove infrastructural development and industrial innovations on both sides of the Iron Curtain (SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). After the fall of the Soviet Union, Europe moved towards a more united structure that transformed the urban landscapes with a focus on urban sustainability (SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities) which has led the European union to be on the forefront on the fight against global climate change (SDG 13 - Climate Action). This course addresses these themes, considers contemporary European developments from a historical perspective and closely considers the impact of European developments on the world.