The Thirty Years' War and German Memory in the Nineteenth Century
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9803301 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Sperber (0000-0001-5270-0680, University of Missouri, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 124 |
| Issue | 511 |
| Pages | 1519-1521 |
| Publication date | 2009-11-17 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The English Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-8266 • E-ISSN: 1477-4534 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ehr/cep304 |
| OpenAlex | W2018879956 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
Kevin Cramer's account of representations of, and debates about, the Thirty Years’ War in nineteenth-century Germany is, primarily, a study of nationalism and national identity, dealing with three main topics: nationalism and religious confession; nationalism and the practice of history; and national identity as a field of cultural self-representation. Working through an impressive number of published primary sources, referring to the latest theories of historical memory and collective representation, and providing some interesting comparisons with other European countries, the author deals very well with his first topic. His efforts to tackle the second and third, although evoking a number of thought-provoking points, produce more uneven results. Cramer structures his work through the chronology of the Thirty Years’ War, narrating the different nineteenth-century interpretations of each of the war's phases. The first chapter deals with the initial decade, from the revolt of the Bohemian Estates, to the decisive victories of the Catholic armies under Tilly. In the second chapter, Cramer takes up accounts of Gustavus Adolphus. This is followed by a chapter on Wallenstein, one on the destruction of Magdeburg, and a final chapter on the years of the ‘Swedish War’, 1630–38. The book lacks a discussion of interpretations of the last decade of the war, the period of direct French intervention, and, rather oddly, there is no systematic consideration of accounts of the Peace of Westphalia
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Collective memory · Confession (law · German · Identity (music · National identity · Nationalism · Period (music · Political science · Politics · Representation (politics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Classics · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · Historical Influence and Diplomacy · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.21 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2018 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |