Dissonant Lives

Generations and Violence Through the German Dictatorships
1. Auflage 2011
ISBN: 978-0-19-928720-8
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 528 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 951 g

- How Germans of different generations experienced the challenges of total war, radical social transformation, and the Nazi and Communist dictatorships
- Analyses the ways in which these tumultuous historical events affected people's outlooks and the course of their lives
- Provides vivid insights into the character of life in the Third Reich and the GDR through the use of a wide range of material, including diaries, letters, and autobiographical materials
- Sets the life stories of a range of individuals of different backgrounds and ages into the wider context of their times

Dissonant Lives traces the ways in which Germans of different generations lived through periods of total war, radical social transformation, and the clash of competing ideologies, as Nazism was succeeded by Communism in East Germany. Mary Fulbrook explores the experiences and perceptions of selected individuals, analysing the ways in which major historical events, and changing structures of constraint and opportunity, affected the course of their lives and their outlooks.

How did those who lived through this terrible period in German history interpret, confront, and respond to the multiple challenges of their times? How were they affected by the major economic, social, and political crises they lived through? How did living through Germany's 'second dictatorship', the German Democratic Republic, dominated by the communist power against whom the Germans had fought, affect behaviour patterns and social identities? And what implications did these experiences have for interpretations of the Nazi past?

Dissonant Lives explores these important questions, seeking to view the dictatorial regimes of twentieth-century Germany 'from within'. Taking a deeper look at the life stories of individual Germans from a range of periods and backgrounds, it provides a new understanding of the ways in which not only the character of the German state, economy, and social structure changed over the century, but also the very character of people themselves.

Zielgruppe

All those interested in twentieth century German history, especially in the period from the First World War to the demise of the GDR.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fulbrook, Mary

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Totalitarismus & Diktaturen
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Militärgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Mentalitäts- und Sozialgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1: Introduction: Violence and Generations
2: Violence Abroad: Aspects of Imperialism
3: Uncomfortable Compatriots: Societal Violence and the Crises of Weimar
4: Divided Generations: State Violence and the Formation of 'Two Worlds' in Nazi Germany
5: The Escalation of Violence: War and Genocide
6: Profiles: The Shifting Formation of Generations after 1945
7: Transitions from Nazism to Communism
8: Mobilization for the Future (Again)
9: The 'Iron Cage': Coming to Terms with the Present
10: Embodying the Past
11: Turning Points
12: Conclusions: Generations through an Age of Violence
Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Fulbrook, Mary
Mary Fulbrook is Professor of German History at University College London. She is the author of numerous books and articles on German history, including Anatomy of a Dictatorship, also published by Oxford University Press.