Paradigms of political change, Luther, Frederick II, and Bismarck : the GDR on its way to German unity / Jan Herman Brinks ; translated by Gordon W. Smith ; preface by Georg G. Iggers.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brinks, Jan Herman.

Series:

Marquette studies in philosophy ; #28.

Marquette studies in philosophy ; no. 28

Standardized Title:

DDR zwischen Einheit und Abgrenzung. English

Language:

English

German

Subjects (All):

Germany (East)--Historiography.

Germany (East).

Historiography.

Germany (East)--Cultural policy.

Cultural policy.

Political culture--Germany (East).

Political culture.

Communism and culture--Germany (East).

Communism and culture.

Church and state--Germany (East).

Church and state.

Nationalism--Germany (East).

Nationalism.

Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.

Luther, Martin.

Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786.

Frederick.

Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898.

Bismarck, Otto.

Physical Description:

354 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

Milwaukee, Wis. : Marquette University Press, 2001.

Language Note:

Translated from the German.

Summary:

Written before 1989, when he was stationed in East Berlin with Dutch television and utilised his stay there to write this book as a dissertation for the University of Groningen, it showed how GDR party and historians had sought to reinterpret German history to legitimize their socialist dictatorship and in the process had manipulated history. Although the focus of the book is on the ways in which GDR historians have interpreted and reinterpreted three key figures, Luther, Frederick II (!), and Bismarck, from the perspective of their place in German nation building, the translation offers in fact the only up to date history of historiography in the GDR in English. It is preceded only by Andreas Dorpalen's German History from a Marxist Perspective, written in the 1970s with very different questions in mind. Dorpalen in an excellent study surveys work in the GDR on all phases of German history from the Middle Ages to the recent past and critically assesses the contributions which these writings have made to scholarship beyond ideological lines. Brinks concentrates specifically on the question which the tension between a German national identity and a distinct GDR socialist identity played in GDR historical literature, the former viewing Germany in ethnic terms, the latter defining it in class terms.

Contents:

Part A Between unification and demarcation

the classical Marxist writers and early social democrats on German history with special reference to the Reformation, the Peasants' War and Prussia

1.0 Foundations and Basic Questions of GDR historiography 27

1.1 Structures and concepts of Marxist-Leninist ideology in the GDR 27

1.2 The Marxist-Leninist image of history 34

2.0 The classical Marxist writers and early revolutionary social democrats on the German nation state, Prussian German history and revolutionary traditions

2.1 Marx and Engels 39

2.1.1 The Reformation and the Peasants' War 40

2.1.2 The 1848 Revolution 43

2.1.3 Prussia 46

2.1.4 Bismarck and the foundation of the Reich 1871 48

2.2 Lenin 51

2.2.1 The Reformation and the Peasants' War 52

2.2.2 Prussia 53

2.3 August Bebel 57

2.3.1 The Reformation and the Peasants' War 57

2.3.2 Prussia 59

2.4 Karl Liebknecht 65

2.4.1 Prussia 65

2.4.2 The November Revolution 1918 67

2.5 Rosa Luxemburg 68

2.5.1 Reformation and Peasants' War 69

2.5.2 Prussia 69

2.6 Franz Mehring 72

2.6.1 The Reformation and Peasants' War 73

2.6.2 Prussia 77

2.6.2.1 Frederick II 77

2.6.2.2 The Prussian reforms 85

2.6.2.3 The Revolution of 1848 88

2.6.2.4 Bismarck and the foundation of the Reich 1871 89

Part B The GDR and its historiography on German history between 1945 and 1971. A path between unity and demarcation, demonstrated particularly in the treatment of the early bourgeois revolution and Prussia

3.0 A history of historiography 96

3.1 1945-1949/50 The anti-fascist democratic revolution. The negative view of German history 97

3.1.1 Prussia, Frederick II and Bismarck in the work of Abusch, von Hanstein and Niekisch 102

3.1.2 The Reformation and Peasants' War in the work of Abusch, von Hanstein and Niekisch 107

3.1.3 The Soviet Zone of Occupation (SBZ), its historical traditions and German unity 109

3.2 1950-1952: The transition to the 'socialist revolution' 111

3.3 1952-1956: The turn towards a national perspective of history 124

3.4 1956-1961: Teaching socialist patriotism 131

3.5 1961-1963: The search for national identity, strengthened claims to national and class leadership. 1963-1967: Science as a productive force in the 'Scientific and Technical Revolution' 134

3.6 1967-1971: The 'developed social system of socialism' and the increasing role of historical consciousness 141

4.0 The GDR historical view of the Reformation and the Peasants' War as constituting 'early bourgeois revolution'. A historical comparison of Luther and Muntzer 1949-1971 154

5.0 The treatment of Prussia and Prussian history 1949-1971. A historic comparison of attitudes to Frederick II and Bismarck 171

5.1 Frederick II 171

5.2 Bismarck 175

5.3 The 1971 anniversary of the foundation of the Reich 180

5.4 The portrayal of Prussia in the late 1960s 181

Part C Heritage and Tradition in GDR historiography 1971-1987. Prussian-German history in the light of the dual policy of unity and demarcation; with particular reference to the portrayal of the early bourgeois revolution and Prussia

6.0 The developed socialist society (DSS). The concept of a new type of nation and German unity 1971-1987 190

7.0 Heritage and Tradition 197

7.1 Heritage and Tradition in the works of the classical Marxist writers 197

7.2 Heritage and Tradition in GDR historiography 1971-1987 199

7.2.1 The nature and extent of the concepts of heritage and tradition 202

7.2.2 The political goals of the GDR in the discussion about heritage and tradition 203

7.2.3 Implications of heritage and tradition in GDR historiography 206

7.2.4 The history of the Workers' Movement and GDR history as core elements in the understanding of heritage and tradition 215

8.0 Historiographic approaches to the Reformation and the Peasants' War 1971-1987. Luther and Muntzer

opposites or attractions? 222

8.1 The anniversary of the Peasants' War in 1975 222

8.2 The early bourgeois revolution

problems of definition 223

8.3 The problem of dividing the early bourgeois revolution into periods 225

8.4 Luther 226

8.5 Luther and Muntzer. A dialectical unity? 240

8.6 Affinities and reasons for the new image of Luther 243

8.7 Luther in the Federal Republic 246

9.0 Prussia, Frederick II and Bismarck

their portrayal between 1971 and 1987 257

9.1 Frederick's Prussia, Prussia's Frederick 257

9.2 The Prussian reformers 269

9.3 Bismarck and the foundation of the Reich 270

9.4 Prussia against a background of a socialist reunification? 274

9.5 Prussia from the West German perspective 277

9.6 Parallel biographies in both German states? 278

10.0 Final conclusions 289.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [311]-346) and index.

ISBN:

0874626803

OCLC:

47221768