Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:46:24.835Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

German History in America, 1884–1984

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Fritz Stern
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Image of the first page of this content. For PDF version, please use the ‘Save PDF’ preceeding this image.'
Type
Centennial Symposium: One Hundred Years of German Historiography in America
Information
Central European History , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , June 1986 , pp. 131 - 163
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Hofstadter, Richard, The Progressive Historians: Turner, Beard, Parrington (New York, 1968), 7Google Scholar; Hofstadter, , America at 1750: A Social Portrait, 1st ed. (New York, 1971), ii.Google Scholar

2. Krieger, Leonard, “European History in America,” in Higham, John, with Krieger, Leonard and Gilbert, Felix, History, The Princeton Studies of Humanistic Scholarship in America (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1965), 243.Google Scholar

3. Herbst, Jurgen, The German Historical School in American Scholarship: A Study in the Transfer of Culture (Ithaca, N.Y., 1965), 1.Google Scholar

4. Hofstadter, The Progressive Historians, 35.

5. Cunningham, Raymond J., “The German Historical World of Herbert Baxter Adams: 1874–1876,” Journal of American History 68, no. 2 (09 1981): 268CrossRefGoogle Scholar; on Droysen, see also Stern, Fritz, ed., The Varieties of History (New York, 1956, 1972), 120–21 and 137–44.Google Scholar

6. Cunningham, 261.

7. George Bancroft, letter to Leopold von Ranke, 5 Sept. 1885. In Papers of the American Historical Association (AHA), vol. 1, no. 6: Report of the Proceedings, Second Annual Meeting, Saratoga, 8–10 09 1885, by Adams, Herbert B. (New York and London, 1886), 63, n. 1.Google Scholar

8. The Progressive Historians, xiii.

9. The text of Judge Dubbin's speech can be found in the archives of the Johns Hopkins University and was quoted in an unpublished speech by Felix Gilbert on the occasion of the Centenary Celebration of the Johns Hopkins University in 1976.

10. Nicholas Murray Butler realized the dream of creating a major research university. Like many other presidents of American colleges and universities, Butler had studied in Germany, and remembered that his time in Berlin had “left an ineffaceable impression of what scholarship meant, of what a university was and of what a long road higher education in America had to travel before it could hope to reach a place of equal elevation.” Quoted in Hofstadter, Richard and Metzger, Walter, The Development of Academic Freedom in the United States (New York, 1955), 375Google Scholar; see the excellent section, “The German Influence,” 367–412.

11. Burgess, John W., “Germany and the United States,” Address before the Germanistic Society of America on 24 01 1908Google Scholar. In The Germanistic Society of America, Publications, no. 1 (New York, 1909), 6–7, 8.

12. Charles Kendall Adams's Manual of Historical Literature, first published in 1882, makes clear that there was almost no German history being written in America. Adams was a man of very decided taste. Of Carlyle's, Frederick he wrote: “A work of superlative genius … the best history of Frederick the Great in any language.” He also thought “there is, perhaps, no more brilliant historical writing in any language than some of the writing of Michelet.” 3d ed. (New York, 1889), 292, 328.Google Scholar

13. Albert Bushnell Hart, quoted in Higham, 161.

14. AHA, “A Study of History in Schools, Being the Report to the American Historical Association of the Committee of Seven (1898).” In AHA, Annual Report 1898 (Washington, 1899), 434–35, 521, 529–30.Google Scholar

15. Lehmann, Hartmut, “Deutsche Geschichtswissenschaft als Vorbild,” Aus Reichsgeschichte und nordischer Geschichte, ed. Fuhrmann, Horst, et al. , Kieler Historische Studien, vol. 16 (Stuttgart, 1972), 384–96Google Scholar. National Commission on Excellence in Education, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform: A Report to the Nation and to the Secretary of Education, U. S. Department of Education (Washington, 1983).Google Scholar

16. James, William, The Letters of William James, 2d ed., ed. James, Henry (Boston, 1926), 1: 110–11.Google Scholar

17. Quoted in Herbst, 17.

18. On Dodd, see Dallek, Robert, Democrat and Diplomat: The Life of William E. Dodd (New York, 1968), 20–21, 80.Google Scholar

19. Quoted in Hofstadter, The Progressive Historians, 121.

20. It was a time when Americans became aware of the growing differences between American and German practices; in 1901, the Association of American Universities declared that doctoral exams in the United States “in nearly all cases … were more rigorous than the examinations held at the University of Berlin.” Association of American Universities, Journal of Proceedings and Addresses (1901), 11, 38. Quoted in Herbst, 9. In a different context but at the same time, Henry Adams expressed his frustration at teaching history at Harvard: “The rather pretentious name of historical method was sometimes given to this process of instruction, but the name smacked of German pedagogy…. Nothing is easier than to teach historical method, but, when learned, it has little use.” The Education of Henry Adams, ed. Samuels, Ernest (Boston, 1918, 1973), 302.Google Scholar

21. See Stern, Fritz, ed., The Varieties of History, “A ‘New History’ in America: Robinson and Beard,” 256–66Google Scholar. On the German connection and the New History, see Schorn–Schütte, Louise, Karl Lamprecht: Kulturgeschichtsschreibung zwischen Wissenschaft und Politik, Schriftenreihe der Historischen Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Göttingen, 1984), 287–309.Google Scholar

22. Robinson, James Harvey, “The Study of the Lutheran Revolt,” American Historical Review (AHR) 8, no. 2 (01 1903): 207.Google Scholar

23. Lehmann, Hartmut, “Martin Luther in the American Imagination,” typescript p. 435Google Scholar. I am grateful to Professor Lehmann for allowing me to see and cite his excellent manuscript, even before its publication.

24. Schmitt, Bernadotte, “Germany and International Peace,” letter to the Editor, The Nation 92, no. 2392 (4 05 1911): 444.Google Scholar

25. Veblen, Thorstein, Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (New York and London, 1915), 238, 70, xii–xiii.Google Scholar

26. Parsons, Talcott, “Democracy and Social Structure in Pre-Nazi Germany,” Essays in Sociological Theory, rev. ed. (Glencoe, Ill., 1954), 104–123.Google Scholar

27. Schmitt, Bernadotte, “Made in Germany,” letter to the Editor, The Nation 99, no. 2565 (27 08 1914): 251–52.Google Scholar

28. Lovejoy had probably seen an early copy of “The Manifesto of the 93,” which was formally published in early October 1914 and in which the leading men of German science and public life sought to rebut Allied charges that Germany had begun the war, had criminally violated Belgian neutrality, and had committed atrocities in Belgium. The Manifesto also insisted that German militarism and German culture were identical, while Allied writers—in deference to German culture—had insisted that the two were distinct. The Manifesto had the most profound and lasting effect in creating an anti-German mood, especially among Allied academics. On this, see vom Brocke's, Bernhard authoritative article, “‘Wissenschaft und Militarismus’” in Wilamowitz nach 50 Jahren, ed. Calder, William M. III, et al. (Darmstadt, 1985), 649–719Google Scholar, which appeared after I delivered this talk. See also my essay “Einstein's Germany,” in Albert Einstein: Historical and Cultural Perspectives: The Centennial Symposium in Jerusalem, ed. Holton, Gerald and Elkana, Yehuda (Princeton, 1982), 327–28.Google Scholar

29. Lovejoy, Arthur O., “German Scholars and ‘Truth About Germany,’” letter to the Editor, The Nation 99, no. 2569 (24 09 1914): 376.Google Scholar

30. Quoted in Hofstadter, The Progressive Historians, 286.

31. Quoted in Gruber, Carol S., Mars and Minerva: World War I and the Uses of Higher Learning in America (Baton Rouge, 1975), 70.Google Scholar

32. Hart, Albert Bushnell and Lovejoy, Arthur O., eds., A Handbook of the War for Public Speakers (New York, 1917), 3, 70, 85.Google Scholar

33. Haskins, Charles H., “European History and American Scholarship,” Presidential Address delivered before the AHA on 27 12 1922Google Scholar. In AHR 27, no. 2 (01 1923): 217.Google Scholar

34. Hayes, Carlton J. H., A Political and Cultural History of Modern Europe (New York, 1936), viiGoogle Scholar. Quoted in Higham, 278.

35. Year Book, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Washington, D.C., 1928), 170Google Scholar. See also Shotwell, James T., Autobiography (New York and Indianapolis, 1961), 134–55.Google Scholar

36. See Chapter 6 of Finch, George A., “History of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1910–1946” (Carnegie Endowment, Washington, D.C., mimeographed, n.d.)Google Scholar

37. Haskins, 226.

38. Pinkney, David H., “American Historians and the European Past,” AHR 86, no. 1 (02 1981): 2Google Scholar; AHA Annual Report 1926 (Washington, 1930), 68Google Scholar; McNeill, William H., “A Birthday Note,” Journal of Modern History (JMH) 51, no. 1 (03 1979): 1Google Scholar. In 1931 a replacement for Charles Kendall Adams's Manual was published: Dutcher, George Matthew et al. , eds., A Guide to Historical Literature (New York, 1931, reprinted 1949)Google Scholar, with S. B. Fay covering a still quite thin section on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; see 695–728.

39. Lukacs, John, Decline and Rise of Europe (Garden City, N.Y., 1965), 267, n. 12.Google Scholar

40. The Progressive Historians, 442.

41. These figures are culled from the Reports of the President and the Treasurer of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1979), xxxii. I am grateful to G. Thomas Tanselle, Vice President of the Guggenheim Foundation, for his help in this matter.

42. Burnett, Philip Mason, Reparation at the Paris Peace Conference (New York, 1965), 1:66.Google Scholar

43. Langer, William L., Gas and Flame in World War I (New York, 1965), xi.Google Scholar

44. Merton, Robert K., “The Fallacy of the Latest Word: The Case of ‘Pietism and Science,’” American Journal of Sociology 89, no. 5 (03 1984): 1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

45. Anderson, Eugene N., “Recent Works on German Unification,” review article in JMH 7, no. 1 (03 1935): 198.Google Scholar

46. In Kehr, Eckart, Economic Interest, Militarism, and Foreign Policy: Essays on German History, ed. Craig, Gordon A. (Berkeley, 1977), ix.Google Scholar

47. I do not mean to suggest that there was any kind of unanimity of view or quality among historians. Some emigré historians, often reluctant departers, could not shed their conservative nationalist views, such as Hans Rothfels. Some younger American scholars could not resist the temptation to reinterpret the past in a conveniently simplistic fashion, as if Hitler really was the culmination of all German traditions. Viereck, Peter, Metapolitics: From the Romantics to Hitler (New York, 1941)Google Scholar, is one such example, distinguished at least by style and learning. After I finished the revision of this paper, Greenberg, Karen J. kindly sent me “The Search for Silver Lining: The American Academic Establishment and the ‘Aryanization’ of German Scholarship,” Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual 2 (White Plains, N. Y. 1985): 115–37Google Scholar, in which she documents the continued pro-German attitude of some leading American academics and university presidents in the years 1933 to 1938.

48. In Higham, 291.

49. “From the Editors,” Central European History 1, no. 1 (03 1968): 3.CrossRefGoogle ScholarMcNeill, William H., “Modern European History,” in The Past Before Us: Contemporary Historical Writing in the United States, ed. for the AHA by Kammen, Michael (Ithaca and London, 1982), 97.Google Scholar

50. Craig, Gordon A., The Politics of the Prussian Army, 1640–1945 (New York, 1955), xiii.Google Scholar

51. Holborn, Hajo, Germany and Europe: Historical Essays (Garden City, N.Y., 1970), 1.Google Scholar

52. Holborn, Hajo, A History of Modern Germany: The Reformation (New York, 1959), x.Google Scholar

53. Schorske, Carl E., Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture, paperback, ed. (New York, 1981), xiv.Google Scholar

54. Walker, Mack, German Home Towns: Community, State, and General Estate, 1648–1871 (Ithaca, 1971), 4.Google Scholar

55. Haskins, 224.

56. McNeill, “Modern European History,” 108–9.

57. Haskins, 223.

58. Annan, Noel, Introduction to Isaiah Berlin, Personal Impressions (London, 1980), xiii.Google Scholar

59. On the “Holocaust” audience, see The New York Times, 19 05 1978, III, 25:6; 21 04 1978, II, 4:1Google Scholar. On William L. Shirer, see Eighty Years of Bestsellers, ed. Hackett, Alice Payne and Burke, James Henry (New York, 1977), 40Google Scholar. On Bracher, private information from publishers.

60. Braudel, Fernand, On History (Chicago and London, 1980), 14, 5.Google Scholar

61. von Weizsäcker, Richard, Die deutsche Geschichte geht weiter (Berlin, 1983).Google Scholar