History Commons^™

Heroes Of Berlin Wall Struggle, William D. Bowman

History Faculty Publications

When the Berlin Wall fell 25 years ago, on Nov. 9, 1989, symbolically signaling the end of the Cold War, it was no surprise that many credited President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for bringing it down.

But the true heroes behind the fall of the Berlin Wall are those Eastern Europeans whose protests and political pressure started chipping away at the wall years before. East German citizens from a variety of political backgrounds and occupations risked their freedom in protests against communist policies and one-party rule in what they called the "peaceful revolution." [excerpt]

Book Review: Princely Brothers And Sisters: The Sibling Bond In German Politics, Joseph P. Huffman

History Educator Scholarship

Much has been made of wider kinship networks and their roles in medieval aristocratic political life, yet lit-tle attention has been given to relations between the closest lifetime kin: siblings. Jonathan R. Lyon provides an engaging study of the most prominent aristocratic families in the German Kingdom between 1138 and 1250, making the case that networks of brothers, and sisters (to a lesser degree), served successfully to curb the authority of Staufen kings and emperors. Lyon challenges the normative European model of lineal descent and title holding based on primogeniture by pointing out that medieval German aristocrats prac-ticed partible inheritance. …

Love Your Enemy? Reflections At The Centenary Of World War I, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Love Your Enemy? Reflections At The Centenary Of World War I, Denis Kaiser

Denis Kaiser

No abstract provided.

Irish And German Immigrants Of The Nineteenth Century: Hardships, Improvements, And Success, Amanda A. Tagore

Honors College Theses

This paper examines the economic and social reasons that are attributed to the high emigration rate in Ireland and in Germany during the nineteenth century, and how the lives of these groups turned out in the United States. As a result of economic deterioration and social inequality, pessimism became prevalent in Ireland from the 1840s onward and in Germany from the 1830s onward. Because the United States was perceived as an optimistic avenue for advancement, thousands of Irish and Germans emigrated their homelands and fled to America in search of a better life. During the first few decades upon their …

Comparing Hitler And Stalin: Certain Cultural Considerations, Phillip W. Weiss

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a great temptation to compare the Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. This is true for two reasons: first, the careers of both men converged at the same point in history, thus doubling the impact both made and second, because the names Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin have become metaphors for ideologies and crimes that today are reviled. The question then arises: who was worse, Hitler or Stalin? This project shows that there is no viable, credible, definitive, or final answer to this question, and that prevailing attitudes about Hitler and Stalin have become so ingrained in contemporary society …

An Inquiry Into The Harshness Of German Colonialism In Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, Jessica Rohr

Theses & Honors Papers

This thesis investigates German colonialism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. It discusses the pressure and competition Germany experienced as neighboring countries also aggressively expanded and as Europe underwent massive and rapid industrial growth. It also analyzes the harshness Germany employed in colonizing foreign lands and the reasons for such measures, such as perceived racial and social superiority and economic need.

“Wir Streiken!”: Music And Political Activism In Cold War Germany, John Tyler Patty

Masters Theses

Using print media such as band biographies, books, and journals that address youth, popular culture, and music in the German context, this thesis analyzes how music and musicians influenced political protest movements in West Germany during the Cold War and how, in turn, protest movements fostered the career of musicians. The relationship between music and social change in Germany throughout the Cold War is complicated and contains many aspects. This thesis focuses mainly on the effect American and British music had on divided Germany and examines how these influences helped shape the cultural climate in which political protests emerged. It …

Debating Cannae: Delbrück, Schlieffen, And The Great War, Andrew Loren Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Debating Cannae: Delbrück, Schlieffen, and the Great War provides the reader a view of the historical struggle between Alfred von Schlieffen and Hans Delbrück. They argued fiercely about the foundation of the German Empire and the use of history. The first chapter provides the context of the foundation of the German empire. The second chapter explores the debates between Schlieffen and Delbrück by investigating their writings. The third chapter surveys the effect that the Delbrück and Schlieffen culture war had upon the First World War. This work expands the current view of Schlieffen by demonstrating his commitment to his interpretation …

Banished From The Present: Musicians In Nazi Germany, Thomas G. Bennett

Student Publications

This essay analyzes musical life in the Third Reich. More specifically, the focus will be on the Nazis’ regulation of music and the role that musicians themselves played in determining and enforcing cultural coordination. While some evidence extends into the war years (1939-1945), the bulk of the information presented here took place in the pre-war Nazi era (1933-1939). The purpose here is to show that those musicians who worked with and under the Nazis were affected in different ways and had varying levels of agency within the National Socialist system. Some have been branded collaborators, others victims, and this paper …

Germany And History In Flux: The Generational Changes In Approaching Germany's Past, Louis T. Gentilucci

Student Publications

Historical memory, how a people remember the past, is in a state of almost eternal flux. By following the development of historical memory in post-war Germany, historians can better understand the generational and contemporary impact on popular history. German history illustrates the importance of this concept, as German history has a great deal of 20th century historical baggage.

The Sacred Economy: Devotional Objects As Sacred Presence For German Catholics In Aachen And Trier, 1832-1937, Skye Doney

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

There is a long-standing tradition within western Germany of religious journey, and more pertinent to this paper, of pilgrims requesting Andenken (remembrances) when they could not physically attend pilgrimages. In the following essay, I analyze pilgrim correspondence sent to the Catholic Pilgrimage Committees, groups of clerics who facilitated pilgrimage to Aachen and Trier, Germany. I argue that Catholic pilgrims participated in an ‘economy of the sacred’ through their requests for and use of various pilgrimage objects; including, commemorative cards, medals, and rosaries. Within this economy wealth, worth, and merit were determined by an item’s physical proximity to the relics of …

[Book Review Of] Freikirchen Und Juden Im „Dritten Reich“: Instrumentalisierte Heilsgeschichte, Antisemitische Vorurteile Und Verdrängte Schuld, Edited By Daniel Heinz, Denis Kaiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

[Book Review Of] Freikirchen Und Juden Im „Dritten Reich“: Instrumentalisierte Heilsgeschichte, Antisemitische Vorurteile Und Verdrängte Schuld, Edited By Daniel Heinz, Denis Kaiser

Denis Kaiser

No abstract provided.

The Church And Modern Marriage : Denominational Marriage Counseling And The Transformation Of Mainline Christian Religion In Germany And The United States, 1920s-1970s, Anette Lippold

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Competition is at the heart of the religious market model, which serves as the primary counter theory to the longstanding concept that modernity inevitably included secularization. Using the United States as its primary example, the market model postulates that the longstanding presence of multiple religious offerings encouraged religious institutions to pay attention to popular religious needs and interest, in turn promoting their own continued vitality. In contrast, lack of competition prompted a certain lassitude among religious providers in Europe, leading to their ultimate inability to address the needs of European religious consumers. The market model, however, assumes that competition expresses …

Nazi Ideology And The Pursuit Of War Aim: 1941-45, Kenneth Burgess

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine what can be considered a military blunder on the part of the Nazi Germans. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a massive invasion into the Soviet Union and Soviet territories. The political goals of Operation Barbarossa were to seize hold of the expanses of land belonging to the Soviet Union. This would serve as the foundation for increased agricultural production and the enslavement of any remaining Slavic people for the supposed greater good Germany. Additionally, the Nazis desired to erase the presence of all Jews living within the Soviet Union and …

Rhetoric, Rights, And Pragmatism In The Germanies: Enlightenment Reform In Eighteenth-Century Prussia And Bavaria, Benjamin T. Harris

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This project highlights the nature of Enlightenment reform in 18^th-century Germany, particularly in the Kingdom of Prussia and the Electorate of Bavaria under Frederick II and Maximilian III Joseph. Both of these rulers launch similar reforms under the guise of enlightened absolutism and enlightenment rhetoric with very different results, each catering to the specific needs of their respective principalities. Reform is offered along the lines of compulsory education, codification, humanitarian legal reform, and religious toleration, all in the spirit of the Enlightenment. However, when the extent and details of these reforms are examined, it can be demonstrated that …