How did the Germans manage to recover from the shattering experience of defeat in World War II and rehabilitate themselves from the unspeakable crimes of the Holocaust? This book seeks to answer this most important question of German history during the second half of the 20th century by analyzing the restoration of civility and civil society which were destroyed by the Nazis and then rebuilt during the post-war period. It argues that the transformation of German political culture was the result of a joint effort of the allied victors and a minority of concerned democrats, with external influences predominating initially and internal rethinking ultimately bringing the process to fruition. In the competition between the Western democratic and the Eastern communist models, the former won out eventually, because it proved more appealing to ordinary Germans for material and political reasons. The recivilizing proceeded primarily in three stages: During the immediate postwar period the occupation powers sought to demilitarize, denazify, and decartelize the defeated enemy so as to prevent the outbreak of World War Three by eliminating those negative traditions that had produced the first two conflicts. During the second half of the 1960s and the early 1970s, the Germans themselves tried to catch up to the modernization taking place among their neighbors by Westernizing their culture, democratizing their outlook and expanding participation through generational protest. During the second half of the 1980s and the early 1990s they attempted to complete their metamorphosis by repudiating Communism in the East, recovering a more normal sense of identity and dealing with the difficult immigration issue. This long-range transformation process has fostered the emergence of a new Berlin Republic that not only changed the location of the capital, but also infused German politics with a new, more self-confident spirit. Viewed from the vantage point of the physical and mental devastation of 1945, this rebirth is a truly astounding success story.
Industry Reviews
"[T]his thoughtful, engaging, and often highly provocative account of postwar German history...This is a marvelous book, full of ideas, which will challenge readers of all persuasions to rethink their positions on almost a page-by-page basis."--Journal of Modern History
"This penetrating analysis of how modern Germans have coped is highlighted by Jarusch's observation that the Germans created and then capitalized on a new sociological phenomenon--an 'arrogance of humility.' The articulation of this phenomenon is perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this work that enriches the historiography of post-WW II Germany. Highly recommended."--D.A. Browder, CHOICE
"Prolific historian Konrad H. Jarausch has laid out many arguments and superb information as to why our focus should shift from analyzing the establishment of the Third Reich and its actions, to examining how German society attained a new humanitarianism after World War II...Jarausch provides the best basis thus far for reflecting on the positive transformation of, historically, one of the world's most problematic contries."--Dieter K. Buse, H-Net
Reviews
"As a history of the German post-war period this account will become a standard work."--Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung
"The idea that Germans have become civilized after leading the last century in commission of barbarous acts is gaining currency. Prolific historian Konrad H. Jarausch has laid out many arguments and superb information as to why our focus should shift from analyzing the establishment of the Third Reich and its actions, to examining how German society attained a new humanitarianism after World War II...The best basis thus far for reflecting on the positive
transformation of, historically, one of the world's most problematic countries."--Dieter K. Buse, H-German
"The book's very important contribution is Jarausch's effort to place 'civil society' and human rights at the centre of twentieth-century German history. This perspective allows many fresh and original insights; it will undoubtedly inspire new research as well as open up new possibilities for transnational and international comparisons."--Frank Biess, German History
"A fascinating work...Internal developments, foreign contracts, and a deliberate effort by outsiders assisted the German people in aligning themselves with the West not only in the military sense but also in the values of civil society. That process is reviewed in this book in an exemplary fashion and with a fair attention to the disputes that have attended it."--Gerhard L. Weinberg, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"What an extraordinary challenge! Konrad Jarausch asks us to think of postwar German history--of West and East Germany in tandem--as a 'civilizing process,' as the lengthy and contorted effort of learning to live in empathy, where enmity had reigned supreme and a literally murderous war had destroyed the foundations of civility."--Michael Geyer, University of Chicago
