historical interpretations Flashcards
what was the historiography of the 1930s-1945?
weimar germany was largely ignored by academic historians, due to nazi propaganda and therefore a lack of evidence
SITB myth was still present
what was the historiography of the 1945-1950s?
historians had access to previously unopened documents about the WR.
focus of research was largely on how Hitler rose to power so quickly.
popular belief was deterministic - that Germany history with dictatorship left no room for democracy in the form of the WR
Hitler is responsible
what was the historiography of the 1950s?
new evidence - allies documents/archives gave new reason for why hitler rose to power so quickly
very liberal - progressive
the Cold War - led lots of interpretations to be focused on capitalism and its contribution to nazi rise
STRESEMANNS - unpublished documents in 1957 - more nationalistic
what was the historiography of the 1960s?
focus was turned to the early years of weimar germany
firm focus of stresemanns impact on the success of german economy during 1920s
what was the histriography of the 1970s-now?
publication of further memoirs (e.g. Bruning tried to save monarchy)
new focus of the role of violence and the SA in the early consolidation of power
what was the histiography of the 1990s?
a few British historians published on the ‘golden years’ being less golden than once seemed (econmic problems)
what was the traditional interpretation of the instability of the eartly WR? counter?
this was the external interpretation that instability was caused by the ToV
versailles only exacerbated exisiting problems in WR
what was the traditional political interpretation of the instability of the WR?
changing political system led to unstable coalitions, lack of good leader
(e.g. SITB)
what was the economic interpretation of the instability of the WR?
that ww1 and hyperinflation caused further economic instability
what was the revisionist interpretation of the instability of the WR? counter?
that problems were bound to happen due to germans history with dictatorship
democracy was working for other countries
what is the traditional interpretation of the ‘golden age’
the period was a period of stability (e.g. the rentenmark and less political violence)
what was the marxist interpretation of the instability of the WR?
the problems stemmed from capitalism and authoritarian government policies
the capatalsim in government at the time, as well as the failed Spartacist revolt
what was the revisionist interpretation of the ‘golden age’?
the stability was superficial and is related to a continuity approach; everything was happening slowly (e.g. reliance of USA loans, 2 million unemployed)
what are some other interpretations of the ‘golden age’?
was due to positive international relations, led to investment in the german economy (e.g. locarno pact, joining league of nations)
what was the traditional interpretation of change in foreign policy?
that stresemann was a ‘good european’ and responsible for major change in foreign policy, he mainly focused on building back up the economy and investment by the USA
what was the revisionist interpretation of the change in foreign policy?
that stresemann was a pragmatist and didnt make much change in foreign policy, that he made concessions that went against his nationalistic views
french were suspicious of the rapallo pact
what is the successful interpretation of the the success/failure of foreign policy?
externally - league of Nations joined, removal from ruhr, more internationally relevant
internally - dawes plan, young plan (reparations)
what was the failed interpretation of success/failure of foreign poicy?
externally - french suspicious follwong the locarno pact
internally - young plan seen as giving into the ToV, stresemanns successes were to subtle
what is the economic misery interpretation of the GD?
6 million unemployed november 1932
the 800 million marks loaned by USA revoked
what was the politically radicalisation interpretaion of the GD?
as economy collapsed, support for extremism rose as nazis promsied to combat KPD, economy.
what was the social interpretation of the GD?
major unemployment, therefore shanty housing was frequent and people would die of starvation
what was the keynesians interpretation fo the GD?
that the best way for an economy to recover was via government investment (orthodox interpretation)
what was the traditional interpretation of the nazi rise to power? counter?
- role of hitler and the ‘great man theory’ due to his attributes:
strategy, propaganda, patriotism, violence.. - often popular with those close proximity to event
reductive to assign blame to one person, was due to coalition gov for example
what was the chance interpretation of the nazi rise to power?
that hitlers rise was due to chance, and factors like an already exisiting right-leaning cabinet made it easy for hitler to be appointed
what was the chance (external events) interpretation of the nazi rise to power?
that different economic events outside of germany were responsible for the nazi rise, as people were more inclined to vote for extreme parties
what is the revised view on the nazi rise to power?
a combination of factors - the chancellors and president were responsible for appointing more right-wing ideologies, and therefore, Hitler eventually
what are some other (unlikely) other interpretations of the nazi rise to power?
marxist, anti-german determinists (german history and its character)
