Generations in Conflict: Youth Revolt and Generation Formation in Germany 1770–1968

by Mark Roseman

This is the first English-language collection of essays on modern German history with a generational theme. It analyzes the origins and impact of generation conflict from the eighteenth century to the 1960s student revolts. It adds to our understanding of generations as historical phenomena and elucidates why so often in modern German history generation conflict has overshadowed class conflict. It addresses the generational roots of National Socialism, and pays particular attention to gender and the development of East German society.

332 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 1995

About the author

Mark Roseman is an English historian of modern Europe with particular interest in The Holocaust. He received his B.A. at Christ's College, Cambridge, M.A at Cambridge, and his PhD at University of Warwick. As of 2014 he is teaching history at the University of Indiana, Bloomington in the United States of America.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually, I returned this book to the library at least a week ago, but it seemed time to record some impressions. Generational history is particularly important for Germany because, since at least the late 18th century, Germans have been writing and thinking about generations and generational gaps. More than most European cultures, the Germans have long had a sense that events like wars won or lost, revolutions failed or successful, economic catastrophes, and technological developments have formed the identities of those who lived through them, separating them from their parents or their children. The early Romantics were profoundly aware of this alienation of Germans from Germans, and, indeed, were probably responsible for over-inflating the sense of separation, making it a historical factor whether the view was accurate or not. Germany has also had a long-standing propensity for "youth movements" (usually all-male) which have proclaimed the desire to change society, reject the mistakes or corruption of previous generations, and finally unite Germans under a single Reich.

This book is a series of essays that explore these themes and attempt to develop a more theoretical approach to understanding generational history. It begins with the late eighteenth century and moves roughly chronologically up to the infamous "Generation of 1968," born after World War Two. In most cases, the focus is on men of bourgeois German backgrounds, but some of the most interesting essays include exceptions - two are specifically about women, one about workers, and one about Jewish Germans. It can thus be read specifically for articles on the period or sub-group of interest, or as a whole, for an overview of generational history of Germans and Germany in general. Although it is a few years old now, it remains on the cutting edge of current thinking on the subject.