A study of the German influence on the Russian Revolution in 1917, including the German-Bolshevik conspiracy and the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

This thesis has as its subject matter the chronicles written by members of the Teutonic Order to describe and Justify the crusades undertaken by the Order in Prussia and Lithuania in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It argues that the full importance of this material has been largely ignored or misunderstood by historians and literary historians and hence that its contribution to crusading ideology has not been fully appreciated. It is then argued that the Kronike von Pruzinlant, the most widely disseminated and influential of the chronicles, was written in response to widespread criticism of the crusades and the military orders at the end of the thirteenth and beginning, of the fourteenth centuries, and played an important part in re-establishing the crusading ideal at a time of crisis for the crusading movement. The first section examines the Kronike von Pruzinlant in the context of crusading tradition and contemporary crusading literature and aims to identify the Order's original contributions to crusading ideology. The second section employs a diachronic approach. It demonstrates the Kronike von Pruzinlant's importance by contrasting it with an earlier chronicles the Livlandische Reimchronik, and a later one, the Chronicle of Wigand of Marburg. It also contrasts the two existing versions of the Kronike von Pruzinlant, the Latin original and the vernacular translation, examining the impact made by changes in the vernacular version on the form and purpose of the chronicle. The thesis concludes that the Order made significant contributions to the development of crusading ideology in the fourteenth century. Its development of these ideas reflects its desire to come to terms with the criticisms and difficulties facing the military orders as a whole at this time and points forward to its establishment during the fourteenth century as the foremost centre of crusading warfare in Europe.

No description available.

This dissertation examines the evolution of federal government in the German Empire from the unification in 1871 to the collapse of the monarchy in 1918. The story of how the imperial federal state changed over the years has hitherto been hidden from view by disciplinary biases and methodological limitations. While concentrating on how Germany’s peculiar form of government oscillated between a Western-style constitutional monarchy and a semi-absolutist autocracy, historians have failed to make sense of deeper systemic issues. In order to move these to the centre of analysis, the thesis combines different perspectives from history, law, and political theory. This approach exposes an extraordinary development. The 1871 constitution left Germany’s organisational nature largely undefined. The new national state possessed only very few institutions and competences. There was not even a national government. The Reich completely depended on the constituent states. This weakness was no coincidence. Bismarck’s plan was to secure the dominance of the Prussian monarchy by giving the union enough flexibility to develop either into an integrated composite state or a loose cooperative assembly of states. But the decades after unification turned out differently. By seizing control over the Prussian administration, the federal bureaucracy gradually acquired so many competences that by the outbreak of the First World War Germany had changed into a centralised state. Rather than by the collaboration of the monarchical state governments, national decision-making was now shaped by the competition and cooperation of the federal parliament – the Reichstag – and the newly emerged federal government around the Chancellor. This transformation came about, the thesis argues, because both monarchical and democratic actors – above all the Prussian government, the federal bureaucracy, and the national parliament – saw federal structures primarily as an instrument of power to be manipulated for their own purposes, namely for the preservation of princely prerogatives or for the expansion of parliamentary rights. There was little respect for federalism as an organisational principle that was beneficial per se. Rather, most executives, administrators, and parliamentarians understood Germany’s federal organisation – albeit for different reasons – as a necessary evil and a means to an end. This attitude had a lasting impact on German political culture, with federal structures remaining at the mercy of power interests throughout the twentieth century. The dissertation is woven from three different strands. By combining them, it can draw connections that would not come into view if it concentrated on just one of these themes. First, it is a history of German federalism that focuses on the key question of the political history of the Empire: who or what actually governed Germany? As it thus exposes the anatomy of power in the imperial state, it is also a contribution to one of the biggest controversies in modern European history, namely the debate on Germany’s alleged ‘special path’: where did Germany go wrong? Thirdly and lastly, the thesis offers a systemic analysis of federal structures whose observations are relevant for federal orders – such as the European Union – more generally.

This thesis examines the history of urban squatting in East and West Berlin from c. 1970 to c.1990. In doing so, it explores the relationship between urban space, opposition and conformity, mainstream and alternative cultures, as well as questions of identity and belonging in both halves of the formerly divided city. During Berlin’s history of division, illegal squatting was undertaken by a diverse range of actors from across the period’s political and Cold War divides. The practice emerged in both East and West Berlin during the early 1970s, continuing and intensifying during the following decade, before the traditions of squatting on both sides of the Berlin Wall converged in 1989-­‐90, as the city’s – and Germany’s – physical division was overcome. Squatting, this thesis argues, provides an important yet little studied chapter in Berlin’s – and indeed Germany’s – post-­‐war history. What is more, it provides an example of the ways in which, during the period of Cold War division, Berlin’s and Germany’s symbolic meaning was not only contested between East and West, but was, within the respective societies, also re-­‐interpreted from below. Drawing on a broad range of archival sources, this thesis compares and contrasts the experience of squatters on both sides of the Berlin Wall, and the ways in which the respective polities responded to this phenomenon. Broadly similar paradigms of urban renewal, this thesis argues, account for not only parallels in the temporality but also the geography of squatting in East and West Berlin. In both Berlins, this thesis demonstrates, the history of squatting was interconnected with that of domestic opposition and political dissidence. Moreover, squatting contributed to the emergence of alternative urban lifestyles, which sustained comparable urban sub-­‐cultures on both sides of the Cold War divide. Perhaps counter-­‐intuitively, this thesis argues that, East Germany’s apparatus of control notwithstanding, the relationship between squatters and the authorities in the GDR was generally more consensual than it was between their counterparts in West Germany and West Berlin. The thesis not only points to the limits of the totalitarian model of interpretation when applied to late Socialist society in the GDR, but also questions the dominant historiographical trend of studying the two Germanys in isolation from one another. Taking its cue from a number of influential scholars, this thesis asserts the importance of incorporating the experiences of both East and West Germany into a narrative of the nation’s divided past. Through identifying and analysing the overarching variable of urban squatting, this thesis attempts to develops a perspective that regards the post-­‐war history of East and West Germany as part of a wider whole.

This thesis focuses on the concept of cultural national identity during the Third Reich and how the Nazis attempted to shape an image of Germany to their liking. By specifically examining musical culture and restrictions, this thesis investigates the methods the Nazis used to define Germany through music by determining what aspects of Germany’s culture were not “traditionally” German—namely those of the Jewish minority in Germany. Therefore, this study follows the Nazi restrictions on the German population who participated in the creation and performance of music and is then contrasted with those imposed upon the corresponding Jewish population. The resulting conclusion is that the Nazis created a place for exclusion and oppression, but managed to, ironically, create a place of refuge for Jewish musicians in the Third Reich. Music was, in the end, an unstoppable force which the Nazis could not control or fully regulate.

No description available.

Few historical works focus on the period of German history immediately following World War I. Fewer still inquire about how the Majority Social Democratic Party (MSPD) regime exercised power. This paper looks at the rhetoric in the MSPD's party organ Vorwärts to understand how they presented themselves to the German people following the collapse of the Imperial regime. The official party organ provides unique insight into how the MSPD regime transitioned from a party in opposition to leading the provisional government and how it justified holding that power. The official party newspaper of the radical Spartakusbund coupled with the conservative Neue Preußische Kreuzzeitung provide a context to further understand the rhetoric of the MSPD and how the opponents of the majority socialist regime responded to the interim government. The MSPD was in a difficult position after the collapse of the Imperial regime, which was exacerbated by a hostile rhetorical environment. Upon assuming power, the MSPD was hesitant and defensive but grew into their position of leadership, winning the largest portion of votes in the January 19th election of 1919 as well as the early elections of the Weimar republic. / History

Aus dem Vorwort: Der entstehende deutsche Staat hatte 928/29 mit der Unterwerfung der damals östlich von Elbe und Saale siedelnden Slawen begonnen. Den meisten Stämmen war es jedoch durch den Aufstand von 983 gelungen, nochmals ihre Freiheit zu erkämpfen. Im 12. Jahrhundert begann ein erneuter Vorstoß. Während dieser zweiten Etappe der feudalen deutschen Ostexpansion wurden bis um 1300 die nördlichen und mittleren Teile des jetzt zur DDR gehörenden Gebietes endgültig dem deutschen Reich angegliedert. Damals entstand die Mehrzahl unserer Städte und Dörfer. Im 10. Jahrhundert hatten die Könige Heinrich I. und Otto I. das Vordringen nach Osten geleitet. Während des 12. und 13. Jahrhunderts lag die Initiative in den Händen der ostsächsischen Fürsten. Sie gingen daran, ihren Einfluß auf die slawischen Gebiete auszudehnen, wie der Herzog von Sachsen, Heinrich der Löwe aus dem Geschlecht der Welfen, und Erzbischof Wichmann von Magdeburg, oder gründeten östlich der Elbe neue Territorialherrschaften, wie der Markgraf der Nordmark, Albrecht der Bär aus dem Hause der Askanier, der erste Markgraf von Brandenburg. Im Süden begannen die Wettiner die Marken Lausitz und Meißen zu festigen und zu erweitern. Wie sich die eben grob skizzierten Vorgänge jedoch im einzelnen abgespielt haben, liegt immer noch weitgehend im dunkeln. Vor allem muß damit gerechnet werden, daß sich die Herrschaftsverhältnissein verschiedenen Gebieten mehrfach geändert hatten, bevor etwa in der zweiten Hälfte des 13. Jahrhunderts die Strukturen entstanden waren, die im wesentlichen bis in die neuere Zeit bestimmend blieben. So ist heute vielfach noch unklar oder umrtritten, welche deutsche Feudalgewalt einen bestimmten Raum als erste besetzte und wo der Einflußbereich der nächsten Herrschaft begann. Das gilt in besonderem Maße für die Grenzzonen der sich ausdehnenden Fürstentümer. Aber auch Fragen, die seit langem als geklärt galten, werden plötzlich wieder aufgeworfen, wie die vor der 750-Jahr-Feier Berlins erneut aufgenommene Diekussion über die Anfänge unsarer Hauptstadt beweist.

By May 1945, most major German cities lay in ruins, and a largely demoralised population struggled for subsistence in many areas. National Socialist remnants, Christian faith and communist ideology met in the rubble of the Third Reich. The Protestant and Catholic Churches attempted to ‘re-Christianise’ the Volk and reverse secularisation, while the German communists sought to inspire dynamism for their socialist project in Eastern Germany. This thesis recreates the religious world of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia in the Soviet zone, 1945-9, and analyses ‘religio-politics’ (the interactions between the secular authorities and the Churches), the affairs of the priesthood/pastorate, and the behaviours, mentalities and emotions of ‘ordinary people’ amongst the pews. After the American withdrawal in July 1945, the Soviet authorities occupied the entirety of Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, and they proclaimed a ‘freedom of religion’. The realities of this policy were different in each state, and the resolution or non-resolution of local-level disputes often determined Church and State relations. At the grassroots, though, many people engaged in a latent social revolt against all forms of authority. The Churches’ hopes of ‘re-Christianisation’ in 1945 were dashed by 1949, despite a brief and ultimately superficial ‘revival’. The majority of people did not attend church services regularly, many allegedly practiced ‘immorality’, and refused to adopt ‘Christian neighbourly love’ in helping often-destitute refugees. ‘Re-Christianisation’ also did not incur comprehensive denazification or a unified pastorate, and there was even a continuation of the Third Reich Kirchenkampf in some areas. Christian ideas of guilt for a popular turning from God, much less for Nazism and its crimes, rarely resonated amongst the population and some sections of the pastorate. This mentality encapsulated the popular rejection of authority, whether spiritual or political, that endured up to and beyond the foundation of the German Democratic Republic in October 1949.