Germany's Conscience: Friedrich Meinecke: Champion of German Historicism

303 Pages·2021·2.165 MB·English

by  Reinbert Krol

Reinbert Krol
Germany's Conscience
Time - Meaning - Culture | Volume 8
The series is edited by Egon Flaig, Daniel Fulda, Petra Gehring, Friedrich Jaeger,
Jörn Rüsen, Jürgen Straub and Manfred Sicking.
Reinbert Krol, born 1979, teaches history at the University of Groningen. His re-
search interests are German political and cultural history, with a specific focus on
philosophy of history.
Reinbert Krol
Germany's Conscience
Friedrich Meinecke: Champion of German Historicism
The translation and printing of this book was supported by the Friedrich-Meinecke-
Gesellschaft, a subdivision of the Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft Freie Universität Berlin
and by Groningen Institute for the Study of Culture, University of Groningen, Faculty
of Arts.
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche National-
bibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://
dnb.d-nb.de
© 2021 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti-
lized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Cover layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld
Proofread by Uta Zeller and Reinbert Krol
Translated by Reinbert Krol
Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar
Print-ISBN 978-3-8376-5135-5
PDF-ISBN 978-3-8394-5135-9
https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839451359
Printed on permanent acid-free text paper.
Contents
Preface................................................................................... 7
Introduction..............................................................................11
Meineckestudies..........................................................................14
Methodologicalprinciples ................................................................43
Structureofthebook....................................................................46
1. TheIdealofaunity................................................................ 47
Introduction ............................................................................. 47
1.1 Nations,thenationalstateandcosmopolitanism....................................53
1.2 Theuniversalandthenational......................................................55
1.3 Thereconciliationofcosmopolitanismandthenationalstate?.......................68
1.4 Thetraditionoftheideal ........................................................... 75
Conclusion............................................................................... 78
2. Strugglingwithaworldview........................................................81
Introduction ..............................................................................81
2.1 Prelude ............................................................................84
2.2 StaatsräsonaccordingtoMeinecke................................................. 87
Stateinterestandanidealofhumanity...................................................94
2.3 ThetragiccharacterofMeinecke’sStaatsräson .....................................98
3. AconscienceakintoGod .........................................................113
Introduction .............................................................................113
3.1 Staatsräsonasa‘solution’..........................................................114
3.2 Thestatesman’sconscience....................................................... 124
Conclusion.............................................................................. 132
4. Aworldviewinthemaking....................................................... 135
Introduction ............................................................................ 135
4.1 Theindividualizingview ........................................................... 139
4.2 PietismandNeoplatonism......................................................... 145
4.3 ReasonandUnreason...............................................................151
4.4 Traditionalismandhistoricism..................................................... 153
4.5 ThepreludetoMeinecke’shistoricism...............................................157
4.6 Scienceorworldview ............................................................. 162
Conclusion...............................................................................172
5. Harmonyregained.................................................................175
Introduction .............................................................................175
5.1 Polaritiesandharmony............................................................ 180
5.2 Meinecke’sUmdeutungofGoethe .................................................. 192
5.3 Goetheandthedaemonic.......................................................... 196
5.4 Harmonyanddissonance..........................................................200
5.5 Meineckeandthecrisisofhistoricism.............................................204
Conclusion...............................................................................221
6. Theauthorityofthepersonality..................................................225
Introduction ............................................................................225
6.1 Acontroversialstudy.............................................................. 231
6.2 Acatastrophicsynthesis...........................................................234
6.3 Nature,chance,fate...............................................................239
6.4 Kulturascure.....................................................................245
6.5 Apotheosis .......................................................................252
Conclusion..............................................................................260
Finalconclusions.......................................................................263
Bibliography.............................................................................271
Index................................................................................... 296
Preface
Conscienceisperhapsanobviousconceptthatcomestomindforastudyonthe
GermanhistorianFriedrichMeinecke(1862-1954).For,therecanbefewhistorians
whoseconcernwiththereflectiononthepastandinformingthepresentwasso
prominentandprudent.ManyworksonMeineckeacknowledgethisaspect;how-
ever,noneofthemexplainwhatroleconscienceexactlyplaysinMeinecke’sphiloso-
phyofhistory.Existingstudiesevensuggesttheneedforanexplanation.Thisstudy
offerssuchanexplanation,andtherebyitalsooffersacoherentinterpretationofhis
workandthought.Thisinterpretationgoesfurtherthanamereexplanationofthe
roleconscienceplaysinMeinecke’sthought,foritrevealshis,untilnow,unnoticed
reconciliatoryphilosophyofhistoryinwhichconscienceisencapsulated.
Reconciliation is thus another key concept in Meinecke’s thought. This book
analyzeshowMeinecke’sapparentlyambivalentattitudeonpoliticalissuesaswell
asthecontraststhatarecentraltohisworkbecomecomprehensibleagainstthe
background of this notion of reconciliation. A thorough analysis of Meinecke’s
intellectual development and his role as a champion of German historicism will
not only provide insight into the much-discussed question of the coherence of
Meinecke’soeuvreanditsimportanceforthehistoricisttradition,butcanalsobea
sourceofinspirationformanytoday.For,inadditiontohistoricalandphilosophical
insight,itgivesinsightinto(historical)questionsoftruth,ethics,statepowerand
propaganda,political and ethical relativism,and questions on how we can have
knowledgeofthepast,thedifficultrelationshipbetweenpowerandethicsinpower
politicaldecisionmaking,andhowtorenderaccountofcatastrophesandreconcile
oneself with one’s past.These issues are all present in Meinecke’s philosophy of
history.
Almosteveryhistorianwillhavetorenderaccountofethical,cultural,political,
andintellectualquestions,butprobablynogenerationofhistoriansasdidFriedrich
Meinecke’slivedthroughamoredeeplyunsettlingtransformationoflifethatall
thesequestionstogetherwheremostpressing.Thisgenerationwasindeedwitness
tomajorpolitical,socio-economic,culturalandintellectualcrisesandhadto,one
wayortheother,trytocopewiththem.
8 Germany’sConscience
Beginning in fin-de-siècleGermany, different processes coincided: industrial-
ization,socialism,massdemocracy,classconflicts,socio-economicpluralism,ur-
banization,stateandnationbuilding.1 Germanywasthusfacedwiththetaskof
simultaneously addressing crises of identity, legitimacy, participation and inte-
gration.2 From 1890 the various crises intensified.It is the year that Chancellor
Otto von Bismarck was dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II,which put an end to
RealpolitikandwastheadventofanimpulsiveandaggressiveWeltpolitik.3Wilhelm
II’s imperialist policy was focussed on the future, on increasing the power and
territoryofGermany,butwasalsousedtodefuseinternaltensions.Moreover,it
wasapolicycharacterizedbyunrest,impatience,irritabilityandnervousness.4
After the forced resignation of Bismarck, in addition to the political, social
andeconomicchanges,therewasalsoamajorculturalchange.Variousassocia-
tions and societies were established, which Bismarck had previously banned or
keptsmall.Accordingtosome,therewasculturalprosperityandpoliticaldecline.
Thereismuchtobesaidforthis,especiallywithregardtotheworksofpoetsand
thinkerssuchasFriedrichNietzsche,RichardWagner,StefanGeorge,MaxWeber
andThomasMann.Theriseofallkindsofartisticcirclesandyouthmovements
arealsoevidenceofaculturalboom.Atthesametime,allkindsofpolitico-cul-
turalandespeciallyutopian-orientedmovementsemergedsuchasMarxism,Social
Darwinism,eugenicsandracialtheory.Thecombinationofoptimism,utopianism,
despondency and nervousness, and the multitude of crises and changes in the
political,economic,culturalandsocialspheres;thedynamics,expansion,speed,
optimismandfuture-orientationasexpressedintechnicalinnovations,meansof
transportandmassculturaldevelopments–suchasthecar,tram,train,ships,but
alsothebicycle,telegraph,telephone,radio,gramophone,film–alsoledtoadarker
sideofthatmodernity:asenseofalienationandfragmentation,whichmanifested
itselfinthephenomenaofhypersensitivity,fatigue,decadence,irrationalism,de-
1 BrianLadd,‘Berlin’in:JohnMerrimanandJayWintereds.,Europe1789to1914Encyclopedia
oftheAgeofIndustryandEmpire(Detroitenz2006)215-220;ThomasNipperdey,‘Probleme
derModernisierunginDeutschland’in:idem,KannGeschichteObjektivsein?HistorischeEssays
(Munich2013)84-104,there98.
2 Nipperdey,“ProblemederModernisierunginDeutschland,”98.
3 Volker Ullrich, Die Nervöse Grossmacht 1871-1918: Aufstieg und Untergang des deutschen
Kaiserreichs(FrankfurtamMain1997),passim.WilhelmIIcausedforevenmorecrises,like
theMoroccocrises,theinfamousKrüger-Telegram,theDailyTelegraphaffair.Onhismental
condition:ChristopherM.Clark,KaiserWilhelmII.ALifeinPower(London2009)29-34.
4 JoachimRadkau,‘DiewilhelminischeÄraalsnervösesZeitalter,oder:DieNervenalsNetz
zwischenTempo-undKörpergeschichte’,GeschichteundGesellschaft20No.2(April/June1994)
211-241,there238;Ullrich,DieNervöseGrossmacht,581,720.
Preface 9
cayanddegeneration.5 Andthiswasallgoingonbeforetheadventoftwoworld
wars,socio-economiccrises,andmanyotherpoliticalandintellectualcrises.
Despiteorprobablythankstothisturbulentaswellaseuphorictime,anexplo-
sionofintellectualcreativitytookplace.ThiswasofcoursenotlimitedtoGermany,
for its thinkers were present all over Europe; one can think of Dilthey,Simmel,
Proust,Freud,Bergson,Collingwood,Cassirer,Mannheim,Whitehead,Ortegay
Gasset, Huizinga, Croce, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Einstein, and of course Mei-
necke,to name a few.These thinkers,and many more,have laid the foundation
for our time, and essentially, we still encounter problems similar to those they
addressed:problemsofthemind,language,being,time,ethics,aesthetics,rela-
tivism,individualityandthehistoricityofalltheaforementioned.Evenmoreso,
thosewhoalsohadtoenduretheatrocitiesoftheFirstandtheSecondWorldWar
hadtotakethisintoaccount,oronemightexpecttheydid.Meineckewasoneof
thosethinkerswhodid.Hereflectedonhistimeandthehistoryofhiscountry.
Thelandscapeofthehistoricalsciencesinthefirsthalfoftwentieth-century
Germany was indeed shaped to a significant extent by Friedrich Meinecke. Not
onlydidhismostimportantworksappearduringthisperiod,healsoexertedcon-
siderableinfluenceoncurrentpoliticalandhistorical-theoreticaldebatesaseditor-
in-chiefoftheprestigiousHistorischeZeitschrift.Themanypoliticalandintellectual
crisesthatGermanyfacedduringthisperiodforcedMeinecketoconstantlyreflect
onthepast.Moreover,whereothersbecameentangledindespair,hereliedonthe
resilienceoftheGermanspirit.

This study is a thoroughly revised and updated translation of my Dutch disser-
tation,but it is essentially a second and more profound book on Meinecke.The
DutchversionwaswrittenundersupervisionofFrankAnkersmitandHermanPaul
inthecontextoftheproject‘BeyondHistoricism’attheUniversityofGroningen.
Thisprogramfocussedonhistoricism,itshistoryandviabilityandhasledtothree
studiesonthissubject.6
5 Nipperdey, ‘Probleme der Modernisierung in Deutschland’, 95, 99-100; Joachim Radkau,
DasZeitalterderNervosität:DeutschlandzwischenBismarckundHitler (MunichandVienna
1998) passim; Max Nordau, Entartung, 2 vols (Berlin 1892-1893); Andreas Killen, Berlin
Electropolis.Shock,Nerves,andGermanModernity(Berkely,LosAngelesandLondon2006)2,
4-5,33;WesselKrul,‘Tweemaalfin-de-siècle:vandenegentiendenaardetwintigsteeeuw’,
Groniek:HistorischTijdschrift143(1998)155-167,there155;DavidBaneke,Synthetischdenken.
Natuurwetenschappersoverhunrolineenmodernemaatschappij,1900-1940(Hilversum2008)24;
R.A.Krol,‘HyperDuitsland.Tijdservaringennervositeitinhetfindesiècle’,Groniek:Historisch
Tijdschrift219(voorjaar2019)143-156.
6 HermanPaul,Hetmoerasvandegeschiedenis.Nederlandsedebattenoverhistorisme(Amsterdam
2012);FrankAnkersmit,Meaning,Truth,andReferenceinHistoricalRepresentation(Ithaca2012);