本課程將就各大國（英國、法國、德國及俄國）於十九世紀末至二十世紀中期爭奪歐洲控制權所使用的不同大戰略作比較研究。大戰略是指為了達到安全目的的一系列政治與軍事手段。我們將會查驗兩次大戰發生前的戰略發展與這些發展在兩次大戰中的影響。以下問題將會引導整個探究過程：大戰略是什麼及有什麼重要性？本課程所選出的各種國家戰略，受到了哪些循環因素的影響？如何判斷大戰略的好壞？採取不同的大戰略會導致什麼後果？課程的第二個主題是方法學。我們將會詳加注意如何進行比較性歷史個案研究。
This course will conduct a comparative study of the grand strategies of the great powers (Britain, France, Germany and Russia) competing for mastery of Europe from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. Grand strategy is the collection of political and military means and ends with which a state attempts to achieve security. We will examine strategic developments in the years preceding World Wars I and II, and how those developments played themselves out in these wars. The following questions will guide the inquiry: What is grand strategy and what are its critical aspects? What recurring factors have exerted the greatest influence on the strategies of the states selected for study? How may the quality of a grand strategy be judged? What consequences seem to follow from grand strategies of different types? A second theme of the course is methodological. We will pay close attention to how comparative historical case studies are conducted.
