A History Of Modern Germany

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30811, 24 July 1965, Page 4

A History Of Modern Germany

History of Modern Germany.; Volume 1. The Reformation; Volume 2. 1648-1840. By Hajo Holborn. Eyre and Spottiswoode. 374 pp and 531 pp. The central problem of Ger-1 man history until the later: nineteenth century was the inter-play between Christian, universalism (the ideal of! world empire), the desire for national unification, and the disintegrating force of partic-i ularism. This fact is establish-; cd at the beginning of the: first volume of Professor Hajo* Holborn’s trilogy, “A History! of Modern Germany." and it[ is kept fair and square in the centre of the stage throughout I the two volumes published* to date. In 1500. the Ho' Roman Empire, the visible expression of the medieval yearning, for a universal State, was al-! ready an enfeebled and frag-' mented political organisation, and the Emperor was ceasing, to be anything more than its nominal head. Holborn traces the struggle for power be-: tween competing authorities: the German territorial, princes, who were wrestingauthority from the weakening! imperial grasp, and who| aspired to be absolute masters in their own lands: nobles and representative estates who resisted the princes’ pretensions and struggled to secure their own position: the Imperial knights, who were devoted to the Imperial ideal but who. under the leadership of the! colourful condottiere. Franz I von Sickineen, were broken in: battle by the princes in 1525:. and the Emperor, vainly pur-' suing the chimera of a strong Imperial authority. The restoration of Imperial power could only be affected; by the princes' support of a! strong federal arrangement, or if the Emperor gained “unforeseen new power.” The former was tried under the inspiration of the reforming Archbishop Berthold of Mainz (1484-1504); the latter was ex-* perienced under Emperor, Charles V (1519-56). But both, were found wanting: neither: was equal to the occasion. 1

Instead the Reformation shattered the ecclesiastical unity of Germany, a disunity con-! firmed by the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Thenceforth the; country was a prey to the strife between catholics and Lutherans. saeramentarians and sectarians. The final act of the Reformation was played out in the seventeenth century, in Thirty Years’ War 1(1618-1648). when Germany was raped by rival armies, her Rhenish lands given over to French occupation or influ!ence. her economy held ransom by Swedish control of the great rivers, and her religious [disunity reaffirmed. Thus, “with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 all, i attempts to reconstruct a Strong central government of the Empire that had broken down in the thirteenth century came to an end.” How : ever. Professor Holborn [ recognises that this was not j : solely due to religious ■ division: “a common faith could not have submerged the basic antagonisms of German politics." In the second volume., which covers the two cen-; ituries from Westphalia to i 1840. Professor Holborn lobserves the consolidation of | independent territorial States, especially the rise of Brandenburg-Prussia and the aims and political creed of its able Hohenzollern rulers. The Great Elector (1840-1688) was a highly successful politician, “who was strongly motivated by religious ideas.” Frederick Willtom L (171340), an incultivated boor, was [insensitive, violent, tyranni-i cal. He supervised everything. trusting no-one save, possibly, the theologians of the University of Halle. “All others needed watching' against a reassertion of the old Adam and a lessening of j their sense of duty.” This! abstemious bourgeois prince: forged the bureaucratic State! and the drilled and disciplined army, the weapons which Frederick the Great used to advance Prussia to a position, challenging the Austrian! I primacy in Germany.

'Frederick the Great himself, i (1740-86), was a king at once i I sensitive and courageous, ! patron of enlightened philos- ■ i ophers but preferring subordinates who did not think I for themselves; above all a ! man driven by a thirst for ; fame. 1 However. Professor Hol- : born's particular forte is the | unravelling of politico- | religious and economic com- ! plexities. and he is generally ! less skilful in the business of ! describing and presenting the (“heroic personality.” As , i depicted by him. the great I men of this era are muted j figures. Frederick the Great: , is one of the few exceptions. I I Seldom are we left with the! ' indelible impress of forceful i[ ; or dynamic personality. Professor Holborn’s treat-, ' ment of eighteenth century | : Germany is also open to | i criticism. Too often the Ger- ! man State system and politi- * ; cal life in this period are glossed over by historians in : favour of international dip-! i lomacy and the organisation 1 of the big powers, Austria, I and Prussia: and he .has | fallen prey to the same sin I of neglect. In a history .of two centuries, running to some 530 pages, we might;*’ reasonably expect more than 190 of these to be devoted to : the period 1700-1789. Further-J more, of the space devoted to the eighteenth century all ; but 50 pages are concerned i with diplomacy, war. and the! * affairs of Austria and Prussia. ■ What of the minor principal!- * ties? How was political life[ l organised in the petty States? * What were the currents of change? Were the governments of the principalities corrupt or competent, anti- [ quated or enlightened? Rarely are these matters given 1 the attention which is their ' due, a particularly dis-1 ‘ appointing fact in view of Professor Holborn’s!, thoroughness in other res-j, pects. The last section of this! s volume is devoted partly to it the impact of the French |f Revolution and of Napoleon s

on Germany, and partly to the first 25 years after Waterloo. The Holy Roman Empire was quietly snuffed out in 1806. Nine years later there was created in its place the Germanic Confederation over which Austria presided; but in practice Germany 7 was dominated by the dualism of Prussia and the multinational Austrian empire. Under the aegis of the Austrian chancellor, Matternich, the Austro-Prussian dualism was devoted to the suppression of any attempt to install Liberal governments in the Confederation States or to give Germany a national government. It was Austria’s intention to perpetuate the existing German political system and her predominance in it. The volume concludes with surveys of education and religion, and the transition from idealism to realism. Professor Holborn’s two volumes are not without their weaknesses. It is a serious omission, in what must be regarded as a scholar’s work rather than a- popular history, that there should be no footnotes, no direction by the author to his sources: no indication as to his evidence. The absence of references lends the book a dogmatic air, that we must accept his assertions and conclusions for we have no means 'of verifying them. Perhaps too the text is austere and needs to be enlivened by some touches of colour, whilst the author has carried the practice of subdividing chapters under headings to excessive lengths. Yet the virtues of these books more than compensate for their defects. They are learned, stimulating, provide a lucid simple treatment of complex historical problems, and frequently open up new perspectives, as in the discussion on the revolution in the methods of warfare. Professor Holborn’s volumes will be valuable additions to the bookshelf of don or student, even though they are unlikely to find their way on to many bedside tables.