Department of German and Dutch

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Paper Ge 2

Introduction to German History and Thought since 1750

Course description
Section A: History
Section B: Thought
Preparation for the course
Course adviser

This paper is for Part IB (Option A) students only for Tripos 2012, after which it will be suspended.

Course Description

This paper introduces the history and thought of Germany since 1750. It is divided into two sections. Topics in the history section incude the Holy Roman Empire and enlightened monarchy in the eighteenth century, the 1848 revolutions, Bismarck, the Weimar Republic and National Socialism, and West and East Germany 1949-1945. The thought section includes short texts by writers such as Kant, Marx, Freud and Habermas.

We aim to appeal both to those who may have some background in German history from A-level and to those who have never had the opportunity to study these subjects before. Most of the reading is in English; and while the short texts in the thought section are studied in German you will be helped in interpreting them by secondary reading in English. Lecture courses throughout the year on both history and thought will also help you put the reading that you do for your fortnightly essays into perspective.

In the examination you will have to answer three questions, at least one from each section. Here is a link to a recent examination question paper.

There are a number of ways of building on the work done for this paper in subsequent years. Students who take this paper often go on to take Paper Ge 12 'History and Identity in Germany, 1750 to the Present', Paper Ge 13 'Aspects of German-speaking Europe since 1945' or papers that may be 'borrowed' from the Historical Tripos ('European History since 1890', 'European Fascism, 1919 to the present'). They also often choose to focus on the History and Thought elements in Papers Ge7, Ge9 and Ge10.

Section A: History

The books listed here are not set texts; they are merely suggestions for general reading. Students will receive short reading lists on specific topics, composed largely of articles from periodicals, from their supervisor. The best preparation for the course would be to read one of the general books listed below.

General introductions

M Fulbrook, A Concise History of Germany (Cambridge, 2004)
M Allison, Germany and Austria 1814-2000 (London 2002)
H. Schulze, Germany. A New History (Cambridge, Mass., 1998)

More detailed works for reference

W Carr, A History of Modern Germany 1815-1990 (London, 1990)
German History Since 1800 ed. M Fulbrook, (London, 1997)
TCW Blanning, The Culture of Power and the Power of Culture - Old Regime Europe 1660-1789 (2002)
D Blackbourn, Germany 1780-1918 (London, 1997)
M Fulbrook, Germany 1918-1990 (London, 1991)
P O'Dochartaigh, Germany since 1945 (2003)

Section B: Thought

Set Texts

a) The Enlightenment and its Critics

Lessing, Die Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts (Reclam 8968)
Kant, Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? (Vandenhoeck-Reihe 1258)
Novalis, Die Christenheit oder Europa (Reclam 8030)

b) Idealism and Materialism

Hegel, Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Geschichte, IV.3. 'Die neue Zeit' (Reclam 4881), pp 553-605
Marx, Thesen über Feuerbach (Dietz paperback); Manifest der kommunistischen Partei (Reclam 8323)

c) Psychoanalysis and Politics

Freud, Die Zukunft einer Illusion (Fischer tb 6054)
Mitscherlich, 'Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern - womit zusammenhängt: eine deutsche Art zu lieben' in Die Unfähigkeit zu trauern (Serie Piper 168)

d) The Crisis of Modernity

Max Weber, Wissenschaft als Beruf (Reclam U-B 9388)
Habermas, 'Die Moderne - ein unvollendetes Projekt' in Kleine politische Schriften (Suhrkamp, 1981)

Background reading

V Lange, The Classical Age of German Literature 1740-1815 (London, 1982)
H Schnädelbach, Philosophy in Germany 1831-1933 (Cambridge, 1984)
A Bowie, German Philosophy. A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2010)

Course adviser

The Department's undergraduate course adviser for this paper is Dr Joachim Whaley, (Gonville & Caius College, network tel 32454, e-mail jw10005@cam.ac.uk).