Department of German and Dutch

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Paper Ge 2

Introduction to German History and Thought since 1750

MML Part IB

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

Course Description

This paper surveys 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. Current students can view recent examination question papers on CamTools. A portfolio of essays may be offered for examination instead of sitting the written 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 Ge8, 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)
W.W. Hagen, German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation (Cambridge, 2012)
H. Schulze, Germany. A New History (Cambridge, Mass., 1998)

Students might also like to consult the following websites: German History in Documents and Images and LeMO

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); Marx/Engels, Die deutsche Ideologie, 1. Teil, ‘Feuerbach’ (Die Frühschriften, Kröner ed. 341-417)

c) The Crisis of Modernity

Nietzsche, Der Fall Wagner (in: Reclam UB 7126). This text will be replaced in October 2013 with Nietzsche, 'Der Antichrist', in Kritische Studienausgabe Bd. 6, ed. G. Colli and M. Montinari (dtv/de Gruyter)
Max Weber, Wissenschaft als Beruf (Reclam UB 9388)

d) The Frankfurt School: Critical Perspectives after 1945

Adorno, 'Was bedeutet: Aufarbeitung der Vergangenheit?’, in Theodor Adorno, Eingriffe, Neun kritische Modelle (Suhrkamp, 1996), also in Adorno, Gesammelte Schriften Bd.10 (Suhrkamp, 2003)
Jürgen Habermas, 'Geschichtsbewußtsein und posttraditionale Identität. Die Westorientierung der Bundesrepublik', in Kleine politische Schrifen VI (Suhrkamp, 1987), pp.159-79, also in Habermas, Die Moderne - einunvollendetes Projekt (Reclam, Leipzig, 1992)

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)
H de Berg and D Large (eds), Modern German Thought from Kant to Habermas: An Annotated German-Language Reader (Rochester, 2012)

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).