The German Conception of History: The National Tradition of Historical Thought from Herder to the Present

by Georg G. Iggers

The first comprehensive critical examination in any language of the German national tradition of historiography

This is the first comprehensive critical examination in any language of the German national tradition of historiography. It analyzes the basic theoretical assumptions of the German historians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and relates these assumptions to political thought and action.
The German national tradition of historiography had its beginnings in the reaction against the Enlightenment and the French Revolution of 1789. This historiography rejected the rationalistic theory of natural law as universally valid and held that all human values must be understood within the context of the historical flux. But it maintained at the same time the Lutheran doctrine that existing political institutions had a rational basis in the will of God, though only a few of these historians were unqualified conservatives. Most argued for liberal institutions within the authoritarian state, but considered that constitutional liberties had to be subordinated to foreign policy – a subordination that was to have tragic results.

Mr. Iggers first defines Historismus or historicism and analyzes its origins. Then he traces the transformation of German historical thought from Herder's cosmopolitan culture-oriented nationalism to exclusive state-centered nationalism of the War of Liberation and of national unification. He considers the development of historicism in the writings of such thinkers as von Humboldt, Ranke, Dilthey, Max Weber, Troeltsch, and Meinecke; and he discusses the radicalization and ultimate disintegration of the historicist position, showing how its inadequacies contributed to the political débâcle of the Weimar Republic and the rise of National Socialism. No one who wants to fully understand the political development of national Germany can neglect this study.

Genres: History, Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction, German Literature, European History

405 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Georg G. Iggers was an American historian of modern Europe, historiography, and European intellectual history.

Reviews

[noblethumos · Rating 5 out of 5]

The German Conception of History: The National Tradition of Historical Thought from Herder to the Present is a book written by historian Georg Iggers. The book is a study of the German tradition of historical thought, from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. It examines the ideas of key figures such as Johann Gottfried Herder, Leopold von Ranke, and Friedrich Nietzsche, and explores how their ideas influenced the development of German historiography. The book also looks at the impact of political and social factors on the German historical tradition, and the ways in which it shaped the nation's understanding of its past.

GPT

[Justin Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georg Iggers’ “The German Conception Of History” lays the groundwork for three centuries of historical thought in well, Germany. Figures from Johann Herder up to Frederic Meinecke are examined. We can see the trajectory of though go from Herder’s “culture-bound” history, to the anti-state conception founded by Wilhelm Von Humboldt, the older brother of Alexander Von Humboldt, where the culture of a people is in direct contradiction with state development. This latter conception had an influence on Libertarians in the west. Next we have Leopold Von Ranke, who took Herder’s conception of time-bound cultures but attempted to place a god ordained providence over them, however stressing empirical research and documentary evidence, where history is driven by politics and rulers and not the “people”. And then we have Johann Gustav Droysen, who mirrored Hegel (albeit being different as he did not believe that history was rational, but irrational), in the sense that the state in of itself had a goal towards political dominance of the continent. During the interregnum period was Heinrich Von Sybel, who seemed to be politically confused, aligning with whatever party served his own conception of history. Countering Droysen later on was Wilhelm Dilthey, who saw history as totally subjective, based on intuition, Cohen, who saw history as a link of logical consistencies, borrowed from the neo-Kantians. And then there was Weber whose debates on what is considered facts (denoted by natural sciences) and values (denoted by social and historical sciences) created a stir in how objective history could even be interpreted. This never-ending debate created some pessimistic conclusions to which people like Ernst Troeltsch and Frederic Meinecke brought back Rankean consensus on the primacy of faith over power and politics which governs historical development. The latter eventually agreed (in spirit but not in content) with Oswald Spengler on the destiny of culture versus civilization. After World War Two, there was a small revival of natural law theory, a philosophy that has roots in Platonic thought about man having an unchangable essence, which threatened to replace historicism by people such as Leo Strauss. Parelleling that was the growing influence of French social history in German academic quarters as well, which often explained history in terms of economics and culture (very similar to Johann Herder’s original intentions!) over political and military history. Over all, a decent book, if a bit confusing at points. Four stars because I liked the subject matter but would have rated three stars if otherwise.