A study of the authoritarian traditions which influenced and hampered the development of democracy in Germany in contrast to the other great nations of the West which effected the breakthrough to democratic and liberal political forms since the 18th century. An analysis of why Germany's attempt to do likewise in the years 1848-49 failed, why even the first parliamentary democracy on German soil, the Weimar Republic, was of a temporary nature, why authoritarian and irrational forces prevailed in the form of fascism, and why it was not until the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany that Germans, though lacking equivalent traditions in the political culture, finally found an appropriate expression of democracy.
Prerequisites:
Interest in questions of a historical and social nature
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course, students should possess knowledge of the historical development of authoritarian and democratic traditions in Germany. Student will also have developed skills for critical thinking in historical matters.
Method of presentation:
Lectures and discussions; student presentations
Required work and form of assessment:
Term paper (25%),
mid-term (25%)
final exam (30%),
class participation (20%)
content:
1. Introduction: basic concepts of political theory
2. Revolutionary and democratic traditions in Europe since the Renaissance
3. The failure of a democratic development in Germany in the 19th century
4. The end of Liberalism: imperialism and genocide
5. The November Revolution 1918-1919
6. Challenges of the Weimar Republic 1919-1929
7. Problems facing the Weimar Republic 1929-1933
8. The rise of the fascist movement
9. Anti-Semitism in German fascist ideology
10. Germany under Fascism
11. World War II
12. Concentration camps and mass exterminations
13. The Nürnberg Trials
14. Video presentation of the Nürnberg Trials with original film footage
15. Coming to terms with the past: is understanding in and of the 20th century even possible without psychoanalysis?
16. Neo-Nazism in contemporary Germany: basis, causes, forms of expression
Required readings:
Zeiten und Menschen, Vol. 1, Paderborn, 1999
Zeiten und Menschen, Vol. 2, Paderborn, 2001
Recommended readings:
Aly, Götz, Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Faschismus. Frankfurt a. M: Fischer 2005
Berding, Helmut. Moderner Antisemitismus. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2004.
Browning, Christopher. Ganz normale Männer. Reinbek: Rowohlt TB-V., 1999.
Fischer, Fritz, Bündnis der Eliten. Zur Kontinuität der Machtstrukturen in Deutschland 1871-1945: Athenäum: Düsseldorf 1985
Gilbert, Martin. Endlösung. Die Vertreibung und Vernichtung der Juden. Reinbek: Rowohlt TB, 1995.
Herbst, Ludolf. Das nationalsozialistische Deutschland 1933-1945. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2003.
Jasper, Gotthard, Die gescheiterte Zähmung. Wege zur Machtergreifung Hitlers 1930-1934: Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 2006
Klüger, Ruth. Weiter leben. München: dtv, 1991.
Kogon, E. Der SS-Staat. Das System der deutschen Konzentrationslager. München, 2002.
Levi, Primo. Ist das ein Mensch? Ein autobiographischer Bericht. München: dtv, 1992.
Sofsky, Wolfgang. Die Ordnung des Terrors: Das Konzentrationslager. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2005.
Vollnhals, Clemens, ed. Entnazifizierung. Politische Säuberung und Rehabilitierung in den vier Besatzungszonen 1945-1949. München: Chr. Kaiser, 1991.
Wette, Wolfram, Militarismus in Deutschland – Geschichte einer kriegerischen Kultur. Primus Verlag: Darmstadt 2008
Würger-Donitza, Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie, Bd. 2: Die Macht und das Böse. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2010 (in print)
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Wolfgang Würger-Donitza earned a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Freiburg in 1982. He then earned a Ph.D. in Social Philosophy from the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1985. He is currently an instructor for IES Freiburg and other institutions. He pursued his postdoctoral lecture qualifications in Social Philosophy at the University of Oldenburg in 1994. Current research areas focus on anthropology, political theory, modern German and European history. Among his more recent publications: “Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie: Bd. 1 Ethik” (2003); latest publication: “Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie: Bd. 2 Die Macht und das Böse“ (2010, in print).
A study of the authoritarian traditions which influenced and hampered the development of democracy in Germany in contrast to the other great nations of the West which effected the breakthrough to democratic and liberal political forms since the 18th century. An analysis of why Germany's attempt to do likewise in the years 1848-49 failed, why even the first parliamentary democracy on German soil, the Weimar Republic, was of a temporary nature, why authoritarian and irrational forces prevailed in the form of fascism, and why it was not until the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany that Germans, though lacking equivalent traditions in the political culture, finally found an appropriate expression of democracy.
Interest in questions of a historical and social nature
By the end of this course, students should possess knowledge of the historical development of authoritarian and democratic traditions in Germany. Student will also have developed skills for critical thinking in historical matters.
Lectures and discussions; student presentations
Term paper (25%),
mid-term (25%)
final exam (30%),
class participation (20%)
1. Introduction: basic concepts of political theory
2. Revolutionary and democratic traditions in Europe since the Renaissance
3. The failure of a democratic development in Germany in the 19th century
4. The end of Liberalism: imperialism and genocide
5. The November Revolution 1918-1919
6. Challenges of the Weimar Republic 1919-1929
7. Problems facing the Weimar Republic 1929-1933
8. The rise of the fascist movement
9. Anti-Semitism in German fascist ideology
10. Germany under Fascism
11. World War II
12. Concentration camps and mass exterminations
13. The Nürnberg Trials
14. Video presentation of the Nürnberg Trials with original film footage
15. Coming to terms with the past: is understanding in and of the 20th century even possible without psychoanalysis?
16. Neo-Nazism in contemporary Germany: basis, causes, forms of expression
Zeiten und Menschen, Vol. 1, Paderborn, 1999
Zeiten und Menschen, Vol. 2, Paderborn, 2001
Aly, Götz, Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Faschismus. Frankfurt a. M: Fischer 2005
Berding, Helmut. Moderner Antisemitismus. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2004.
Browning, Christopher. Ganz normale Männer. Reinbek: Rowohlt TB-V., 1999.
Fischer, Fritz, Bündnis der Eliten. Zur Kontinuität der Machtstrukturen in Deutschland 1871-1945: Athenäum: Düsseldorf 1985
Gilbert, Martin. Endlösung. Die Vertreibung und Vernichtung der Juden. Reinbek: Rowohlt TB, 1995.
Herbst, Ludolf. Das nationalsozialistische Deutschland 1933-1945. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2003.
Jasper, Gotthard, Die gescheiterte Zähmung. Wege zur Machtergreifung Hitlers 1930-1934: Frankfurt a. M., Suhrkamp 2006
Klüger, Ruth. Weiter leben. München: dtv, 1991.
Kogon, E. Der SS-Staat. Das System der deutschen Konzentrationslager. München, 2002.
Levi, Primo. Ist das ein Mensch? Ein autobiographischer Bericht. München: dtv, 1992.
Sofsky, Wolfgang. Die Ordnung des Terrors: Das Konzentrationslager. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer, 2005.
Vollnhals, Clemens, ed. Entnazifizierung. Politische Säuberung und Rehabilitierung in den vier Besatzungszonen 1945-1949. München: Chr. Kaiser, 1991.
Wette, Wolfram, Militarismus in Deutschland – Geschichte einer kriegerischen Kultur. Primus Verlag: Darmstadt 2008
Würger-Donitza, Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie, Bd. 2: Die Macht und das Böse. Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann 2010 (in print)
Wolfgang Würger-Donitza earned a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Freiburg in 1982. He then earned a Ph.D. in Social Philosophy from the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1985. He is currently an instructor for IES Freiburg and other institutions. He pursued his postdoctoral lecture qualifications in Social Philosophy at the University of Oldenburg in 1994. Current research areas focus on anthropology, political theory, modern German and European history. Among his more recent publications: “Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie: Bd. 1 Ethik” (2003); latest publication: “Grundlegung einer negativen Anthropologie: Bd. 2 Die Macht und das Böse“ (2010, in print).