16922

WiSe 21/22: The moral of German history: from AJP Taylor to Christopher Clark

Daniel Louis Nethery

Comments

Subject: What is the meaning of German history? Historians of modern Germany have answered this question in profoundly different and even contradictory ways. As two influential contributors to the historiography of modern Germany remarked, however, the Third Reich established a ‘standard by which historical enormities are measured and outrage registered’, and this ‘moral dimension’ of German history is something of which historians ‘cannot entirely divest themselves, whether they wish to or not, whether they are German or not.’ Program: We will trace the way English-language writing about German history before Hitler has changed since his defeat. We will begin with AJP Taylor who, in 1944, claimed that ‘nothing is normal in German history’, and end with Christopher Clark, whose bestselling book published in the lead-up to the centenary of the outbreak of war in 1914 repudiated much of what Taylor and others after him had written. Between these two “bookends” we will consider a range of different approaches to German history, including the Sonderweg theory and the role which British and American historians played in challenging it. By the end of the semester you will have a broad understanding of influential interpretations of German history and of the way these have changed over time. Is this course right for me? The course is open to students in the humanities, social sciences and cultural studies. There are no prerequisites. Workload and assessment: To qualify for 5 ECTS points you will need to attend the course regularly, engage with the course materials, and pass the final written examination. close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Fri, 14:00 - 16:00 16 Class schedule

Fri, 2021-10-22 14:00 - 16:00

Lecturers:
Daniel Louis Nethery