The Continuities of German History : Nation, Religion, and Race Across the Long Nineteenth Century

This book opens the debate about German history in the long term – about how ideas and political forms are traceable across what historians have taken to be the sharp breaks of German history. Smith argues that current historiography has become ever more focused on the twentieth century, and on twentieth-century explanations for the catastrophes at the center of German history. Against conventional wisdom, he considers continuities - nation and nationalism, religion and religious exclusion, racism and violence - that are the center of the German historical experience and that have long histories. Smith explores these deep continuities in novel ways, emphasizing their importance, while arguing that Germany was not on a special path to destruction. The result is a series of innovative reflections on the crystallization of nationalist ideology, on patterns of anti-Semitism, and on how the nineteenth-century vocabulary of race structured the twentieth-century genocidal imagination. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Dedication......Page 7 Contents......Page 9 Introduction......Page 11 1 The vanishing point of german history......Page 23 I......Page 27 II......Page 33 III......Page 40 2 The mirror turn lamp: Senses of the Nation before Nationalism......Page 49 I......Page 51 II......Page 57 III......Page 62 IV......Page 69 V......Page 82 3 On catastrophic religious violence and national belonging: The Thirty Years War and the Massacre of Jews in Social Memory......Page 84 I......Page 87 II......Page 93 III......Page 105 IV......Page 111 V......Page 112 VI......Page 119 I......Page 125 II......Page 127 III......Page 133 IV......Page 138 V......Page 144 VI......Page 149 VII......Page 161 VIII......Page 168 IX......Page 172 5 Eliminationist racism......Page 177 I......Page 180 II......Page 192 III......Page 203 IV......Page 207 V......Page 211 Conclusion: Continuities in German History......Page 221 I......Page 230 Acknowledgments......Page 245 Index......Page 249 This book addresses the long term of German history, tracing ideas and politics across what have become sharp chronological breaks. Smith argues that current historiography has become ever more focused on the twentieth century, and on twentieth-century explanations for the German catastrophe. Against conventional wisdom, he considers continuities in the concept of nation and the ideology of nationalism, in religion and religious exclusion, and in racism and violence that are the center of the German historical experience and that have long histories. Smith explores these deep continuities in novel ways, emphasizing their importance, while arguing that Germany was not on a special path to destruction. The result is a series of innovative reflections on the crystallization of nationalist ideology, on patterns of anti-Semitism, and on how the nineteenth-century vocabulary of race structured the twentieth-century genocidal imagination. In this controversial work of German history, Smith argues that German historians have become ever more focused on the twentieth century and on twentieth-century explanations for the catastrophe at the heart of it: the Holocaust. Against conventional wisdom, he considers long-term continuities - in the concept of nation and the ideology of nationalism, in religious exclusion and violence, and in race and racism. Exploring these topics in novel ways, he argues for deep continuities in German history, even as he insists that Germany was not on a special path to destruction. The result is a series of challenging reflections on nationalism, anti-Semitism, and race, as well as a novel interpretation of modern German history. This work opens up the debate about German history in the long term - about how ideas and political forms are traceable across what historians have taken to be the sharp breaks of German history. Smith argues against current historiography's focus on the 20th century, looking instead at the continuities of Germany's history

Smith reexamines German continuities and sheds new light on nationalism, anti-Semitism and genocide.