A Companion to Nazi Germany
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 27. April 2018
Book
Hardback
680 pages
978-1-118-93688-7 (ISBN)
Description
A Deep Exploration of the Rise, Reign, and Legacy of the Third Reich
For its brief existence, National Socialist Germany was one of the most destructive regimes in the history of humankind. Since that time, scholarly debate about its causes has volleyed continuously between the effects of political and military decisions, pathological development, or modernity gone awry. Was terror the defining force of rule, or was popular consent critical to sustaining the movement? Were the German people sympathetic to Nazi ideology, or were they radicalized by social manipulation and powerful propaganda? Was the "Final Solution" the motivation for the Third Reich's rise to power, or simply the outcome?
A Companion to Nazi Germany addresses these crucial questions with historical insight from the Nazi Party's emergence in the 1920s through its postwar repercussions. From the theory and context that gave rise to the movement, through its structural, cultural, economic, and social impacts, to the era's lasting legacy, this book offers an in-depth examination of modern history's most infamous reign.
Assesses the historiography of Nazism and the prehistory of the regime
Provides deep insight into labor, education, research, and home life amidst the Third Reich's ideological imperatives
Describes how the Third Reich affected business, the economy, and the culture, including sports, entertainment, and religion
Delves into the social militarization in the lead-up to war, and examines the social and historical complexities that allowed genocide to take place
Shows how modern-day Germany confronts and deals with its recent history
Today's political climate highlights the critical need to understand how radical nationalist movements gain an audience, then followers, then power. While historical analogy can be a faulty basis for analyzing current events, there is no doubt that examining the parallels can lead to some important questions about the present. Exploring key motivations, environments, and cause and effect, this book provides essential perspective as radical nationalist movements have once again reemerged in many parts of the world.
For its brief existence, National Socialist Germany was one of the most destructive regimes in the history of humankind. Since that time, scholarly debate about its causes has volleyed continuously between the effects of political and military decisions, pathological development, or modernity gone awry. Was terror the defining force of rule, or was popular consent critical to sustaining the movement? Were the German people sympathetic to Nazi ideology, or were they radicalized by social manipulation and powerful propaganda? Was the "Final Solution" the motivation for the Third Reich's rise to power, or simply the outcome?
A Companion to Nazi Germany addresses these crucial questions with historical insight from the Nazi Party's emergence in the 1920s through its postwar repercussions. From the theory and context that gave rise to the movement, through its structural, cultural, economic, and social impacts, to the era's lasting legacy, this book offers an in-depth examination of modern history's most infamous reign.
Assesses the historiography of Nazism and the prehistory of the regime
Provides deep insight into labor, education, research, and home life amidst the Third Reich's ideological imperatives
Describes how the Third Reich affected business, the economy, and the culture, including sports, entertainment, and religion
Delves into the social militarization in the lead-up to war, and examines the social and historical complexities that allowed genocide to take place
Shows how modern-day Germany confronts and deals with its recent history
Today's political climate highlights the critical need to understand how radical nationalist movements gain an audience, then followers, then power. While historical analogy can be a faulty basis for analyzing current events, there is no doubt that examining the parallels can lead to some important questions about the present. Exploring key motivations, environments, and cause and effect, this book provides essential perspective as radical nationalist movements have once again reemerged in many parts of the world.
Reviews / Votes
"Overall this is a rich and stimulating essay companion, well worth dipping into as an introduction to state-of-the-art scholarship, and with a remarkable amount to offer for university teachers and students taking modules on this period."Reviewer: Matthew Stibbe, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
European History Quarterly, Vol. 49, No. 1
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Shelley Baranowski | Armin Nolzen | Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
A Companion to Nazi Germany
Book
approx. 03/2026
1st Edition
Wiley-Blackwell
€44.58
Not yet published
Shelley Baranowski | Armin Nolzen | Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
A Companion to Nazi Germany
E-Book
04/2018
1st Edition
Wiley
€143.99
Available for download
Shelley Baranowski | Armin Nolzen | Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
A Companion to Nazi Germany
E-Book
04/2018
1st Edition
Wiley
€143.99
Available for download
Persons
Shelley Baranowski is Distinguished Professor of History Emerita at the University of Akron, Ohio.
Armin Nolzen, M.A., is a member of the editorial board of the "Beitraege zur Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus."
Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann is Professor of Modern History at Loughborough University.
Armin Nolzen, M.A., is a member of the editorial board of the "Beitraege zur Geschichte des Nationalsozialismus."
Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann is Professor of Modern History at Loughborough University.
Content
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction 1
Shelley Baranowski, Armin Nolzen, and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
Part I Theories, Background, and Contexts 15
1 How Do We Explain the Rise of Nazism? Theory and Historiography 17
Geoff Eley
2 Organic Modernity: National Socialism as Alternative Modernism 33
Konrad H. Jarausch
3 The First World War and National Socialism 47
Benjamin Ziemann
4 The Collapse of the Weimar Parliamentary System 63
Shelley Baranowski
5 National Socialist Ideology 77
Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
Part II Structures of Nazi Rule 95
6 The NSDAP After 1933: Members, Positions, Technologies, Interactions 97
Armin Nolzen
7 Work(ers) Under the Swastika 115
Jens-Uwe Guettel
8 Resistance 129
Detlef Schmiechen-Ackermann
9 Centre and Periphery 147
Thomas Schaarschmidt
10 Information Policies and Linguistic Violence 163
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan
11 Education, Schooling, and Camps 181
Kiran Klaus Patel
12 Research and Scholarship 199
Michael Gruttner
13 Nazi Morality 215
Thomas Kuhne
14 The German Home Front Under the Bombs 231
Richard Overy
15 Total Defeat: War, Society, and Violence in the Last Year of National Socialism 247
Sven Keller
Part III Economy and Culture 263
16 The Nazi Economy 265
Stephen G. Gross
17 National Socialism and German Business 281
Kim Christian Priemel
18 Individual Consumers and Consumption in Nazi Germany 299
Pamela E. Swett
19 Gender 315
Elizabeth Harvey
20 Religion 333
Manfred Gailus
21 Family and Private Life 351
Lisa Pine
22 Sports 367
Frank Becker
23 Cinema, Art, and Music 385
Daniel Muhlenfeld
24 Emotions and National Socialism 399
Alexandra Przyrembel
25 Environment 413
Charles E. Closmann
Part IV Race, Imperialism, and Genocide 429
26 Terror 431
Dieter Pohl
27 Flight and Exile 449
Deborah Dwork
28 Germany and the Outside World 465
Lars Ludicke
29 Social Militarization and Preparation for War, 1933-1939 483
Jorg Echternkamp
30 Race 499
Isabel Heinemann
31 Unfree and Forced Labour 517
Marc Buggeln
32 'Ethnic Germans' 533
Alexa Stiller
33 Ghettos 551
Andrea Low
34 Holocaust Studies: The Spatial Turn 565
Wendy Lower
Part V Legacies of Nazism 581
35 Memories of Nazi Germany in the Federal Republic of Germany 583
Aleida Assmann
36 Remembering National Socialism in the German Democratic Republic 599
David Clarke
37 Presenting and Teaching the Past 615
Karl Heinrich Pohl and Astrid Schwabe
Index 631
Introduction 1
Shelley Baranowski, Armin Nolzen, and Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
Part I Theories, Background, and Contexts 15
1 How Do We Explain the Rise of Nazism? Theory and Historiography 17
Geoff Eley
2 Organic Modernity: National Socialism as Alternative Modernism 33
Konrad H. Jarausch
3 The First World War and National Socialism 47
Benjamin Ziemann
4 The Collapse of the Weimar Parliamentary System 63
Shelley Baranowski
5 National Socialist Ideology 77
Claus-Christian W. Szejnmann
Part II Structures of Nazi Rule 95
6 The NSDAP After 1933: Members, Positions, Technologies, Interactions 97
Armin Nolzen
7 Work(ers) Under the Swastika 115
Jens-Uwe Guettel
8 Resistance 129
Detlef Schmiechen-Ackermann
9 Centre and Periphery 147
Thomas Schaarschmidt
10 Information Policies and Linguistic Violence 163
Thomas Pegelow Kaplan
11 Education, Schooling, and Camps 181
Kiran Klaus Patel
12 Research and Scholarship 199
Michael Gruttner
13 Nazi Morality 215
Thomas Kuhne
14 The German Home Front Under the Bombs 231
Richard Overy
15 Total Defeat: War, Society, and Violence in the Last Year of National Socialism 247
Sven Keller
Part III Economy and Culture 263
16 The Nazi Economy 265
Stephen G. Gross
17 National Socialism and German Business 281
Kim Christian Priemel
18 Individual Consumers and Consumption in Nazi Germany 299
Pamela E. Swett
19 Gender 315
Elizabeth Harvey
20 Religion 333
Manfred Gailus
21 Family and Private Life 351
Lisa Pine
22 Sports 367
Frank Becker
23 Cinema, Art, and Music 385
Daniel Muhlenfeld
24 Emotions and National Socialism 399
Alexandra Przyrembel
25 Environment 413
Charles E. Closmann
Part IV Race, Imperialism, and Genocide 429
26 Terror 431
Dieter Pohl
27 Flight and Exile 449
Deborah Dwork
28 Germany and the Outside World 465
Lars Ludicke
29 Social Militarization and Preparation for War, 1933-1939 483
Jorg Echternkamp
30 Race 499
Isabel Heinemann
31 Unfree and Forced Labour 517
Marc Buggeln
32 'Ethnic Germans' 533
Alexa Stiller
33 Ghettos 551
Andrea Low
34 Holocaust Studies: The Spatial Turn 565
Wendy Lower
Part V Legacies of Nazism 581
35 Memories of Nazi Germany in the Federal Republic of Germany 583
Aleida Assmann
36 Remembering National Socialism in the German Democratic Republic 599
David Clarke
37 Presenting and Teaching the Past 615
Karl Heinrich Pohl and Astrid Schwabe
Index 631