I've studied medieval and newer History and historical anthropology in Frankfurt am Main. My focus was on the 19th and 20th century, especially Prussia, Napoleon, the napoleonic wars, Imperialism, german unification and the First World War, occassional i threw in some national socialists and ww2 into it. In Frankfurt, the studies were pretty liberal, i don't know if you can do it like that anymore. I just had the rule to do a certain number of seminars to be allowed to the degree, i did not have a real "schedule". In Anthropology, i was focused on North american natives, especially the Lakota (imagine the cliche "great plains indian").

But I do not work or have ever worked in the field. After my degree (Magister Artium) i went to the regular Job market, there weren't much jobs for historians there. I am now Content Manager/Marketing Manager. BUT i think my studies helped me doing my job well. Marketing is a lot of research, what to do with the data you find, find the right words to adress the correct audience and write or create contents so they understand what you are trying to tell them. Same is history. You read (a lot!), you process that information, reach conclusions and write for a specific audience.

So far, i found my studies quite enjoying. I always had an interest for history and politics and i love reading, so you could say i studied my interests. In my opinion knowing history always helps for almost any field. It is always good to know where something came from, how a specific status quo came to be. Makes it easier to understand why things are as they are. Politics and Law are good examples of that.

So, I currently study history and archeology in Germany, but haven't finished yet. I hope this can help you anyways. From my experience and from what I've seen and heard, there are multiple options.

On the history side, you can go work at an archive, an institute, museum, become a teacher (the most common I'd guess) or go into research. Now, I honestly have no idea how the chances are to get a job in these fields, but it is possible. Usually you can ask your professors for help or a reference, or they may even offer you a job. One of my friends for instance got a job at an institute to help a professor with his research and I know of multiple who work at an museum.

Archeology tho is much easier. Usually you get to participate in excavations as a student to get experience and to make contacts there. A lot of my friends have worked already at excavation companies for instance, and most of them want to keep working there after their degrees. You can work at the government agency for the conservation of landmarks too. Also, there is this cool law in Germany that says that before a construction takes place anywhere, archeologists need to do an excavation there to make sure nothing old is buried underneath, so that's a little job security there. Due to the fact that a lot less people study archeology, there is also less competition (there are like, 16 archeology students at the whole uni I think). And at least at my university, the professors are really supportive and try to help you to get jobs afterwards.

That's what you can do if you only look for jobs directly related to these fields. From what I see, it's really easy to get a job in some government or EU institution if you studied history. I checked once out of interest, and there seems to be a lot of diplomats who studied history for example. So there is that, I imagine that combining history with politics or law might be useful in that regard.

And, as someone already said, a history degree can be useful in other jobs as well.

But, as I said, I haven't finished yet. Will update you once I get my degree.

I have a B.S. and M.S. in history. I loved the experience of both and I learned a lot. I've worked in the field in archives, museums, and libraries since. I only did the masters degree because I found a fully funded position though. I wouldn't recommend banking on a big paying job in the field to pay back loans, so those funded ones are the way to go.

There is no way of studying history that doesn't involve politics. On the most basic level, are you going to treat history as economic, or as "great man" stuff? Or, in other terms, are you going to have a liberal or socialist view of history? You're already into politics by just asking what the engine of history is.

I spent about 15 years teaching through grad school and afterward. I've also been a mail clerk, an administrative assistant, a notary public, and weirdly taught people how to build planes (you might want to postpone your travel schedule for a bit). I've worked in law. I've worked in food.

The thing about studying history is it makes you an interesting person. You have a boatload of interesting stories; you have the ability to critically read a text; and while these may not translate directly to any given job, they make you a person people want to talk to. And that's an asset in any position.