| Obedient Germans? a Rebuttal: A New View of German History Contributor(s): Blickle, Peter (Author), Brady, Thomas A. (Translator) |
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ISBN: 081391809X ISBN-13: 9780813918099 Publisher: University of Virginia Press OUR PRICE: $21.29 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: December 1997 Annotation: Drawing on his broad knowledge of medieval and early modern German history, Peter Blickle demonstrates that Germany was one of Europe's most intensive areas of local self-governance from 1300 to 1800. Arguing against the traditional image of a passive lower class, Blickle shows that the peasantry actively participated in a continuous struggle for political autonomy. In German cities and villages from the fourteenth century on, burghers and peasants commonly established their own political institutions characterized by elected magistrates, a responsibility to householders, and a belief in the common people's fight to resist unjust authority. Urban and rural revolts unparalleled in other European nations were common in early modem Germany when peasants felt their fights had been violated. Blickle argues that only in the eighteenth century -- and then under the strong influence of foreign conceptions of absolutist rule -- did the term "subject" begin to assume the negative meaning it has had since the Enlightenment. Obedient Germans? A Rebuttal presents a radically revisionist view of German history that explains how deeply rooted cultural beliefs in a communal political system could eventually be pushed aside authoritarian, centralist practice. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Civil Rights - History | Europe - Germany - History | Modern - 18th Century |
| Dewey: 323.042 |
| LCCN: 97026222 |
| Series: Studies in Early Modern German History |
| Physical Information: 0.46" H x 5.97" W x 8.91" (0.54 lbs) 126 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Medieval (500-1453) - Chronological Period - 15th Century - Chronological Period - 16th Century - Chronological Period - 17th Century - Chronological Period - 18th Century - Cultural Region - Germany - Ethnic Orientation - German |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Obedient Germans? A Rebuttal is a concise book, brimming with smart ideas and important, little-known information. It lays to rest the notion that ordinary people passively let 'history' sweep over them, instead of actively creating their own history. It is also a powerful antidote to some of the most persistent stereotypes about German history. Anyone interested in the early modern era will want to read this book for its grand thematic sweep and interpretive rigor. It sets the standard for understanding the political role of the common people in European history. |