Heinrich von Treitschke

Heinrich von Treitschke

Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke (September 15, 1834 – April 28, 1896) was a nationalist German historian and political writer during the time of the German Empire.

Early life and teaching career

Treitschke was born in Dresden. He was the son of an officer in the Saxon army who rose to be governor of Königstein and military governor of Dresden. Young Treitschke was prevented by deafness from entering the public service. After studying at the universities of Leipzig and Bonn, where he was a student of Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann, he established himself as a "Privatdozent" at Leipzig, lecturing on history and politics. At one point he became very popular with the students, but his political opinions made it impossible for the Saxon government to appoint him to a professorship.

At that time Treitschke was a strong Liberal; he hoped to see Germany united into a single state with a parliamentary government, and all the smaller states swept away. In one statement he said that "Every virile people has established colonial power. All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to set their mark upon barbarian lands and those who fail to participate in this great rivalry will play a pitiable role in time to come." This harsh statement reflects on his increasing aggressiveness of European nationalism after Otto von Bismarck's wars toward the unification of Germany. It also discusses the Social Darwinian theories of brutal competition among races. In 1863 he was appointed professor at Freiburg; in 1866, at the outbreak of Austro-Prussian War, his sympathies with the Kingdom of Prussia were so strong that he went to Berlin, became a Prussian subject, and was appointed editor of the "Preussische Jahrbücher". His violent article, in which he demanded the annexation of the Kingdoms of Hanover and Saxony, and attacked with great bitterness the Saxon royal house, led to an estrangement from his father, who enjoyed the warm friendship of the king. It was only equalled in its ill humour by his attacks on Bavaria in 1870. After holding appointments at Kiel and Heidelberg, he was made professor at Berlin in 1874.

Political career

In 1871, Treitschke became a member of the Reichstag, and from that time till his death he was one of the most prominent figures in Berlin.

On Heinrich von Sybel's death Treitschke succeeded him as editor of the "Historische Zeitschrift". He had outgrown his early Liberalism and become the chief panegyrist of the House of Hohenzollern. He made violent and influential attacks on all opinions and all parties which appeared in any way to be injurious to the rising power of Germany. He supported the government in its attempts to subdue by legislation the Socialists, Poles and Catholics (Kulturkampf).

As a strong advocate of colonial expansion, Treitschke was a bitter enemy of the British Empire. He was to a large extent responsible for the chauvinistic anti-British feeling of the last years of the 19th century.

In the Reichstag Treitschke had originally been a member of the National Liberal Party, but in 1879 he was the first to accept the new commercial policy of Bismarck, and in his later years he joined the Moderate Conservatives, though his deafness prevented him from taking a prominent part in debate.

Treitschke was one of the few important public figures who supported antisemitic attacks which became prevalent from 1878 onwards. He attacked the alleged refusal of German Jews to assimilate into German culture and society and the flow of Jewish immigrants from Russian Poland. Treitschke coined a phrase "Die Juden sind unser Unglück!" ("The Jews are our misfortune!") adopted as a motto by "Der Stürmer" several decades later. Because of his respected status, Treitschke's remarks aroused widespread controversy.Ben-Sasson, H.H., ed. (1976): "A History of the Jewish People". (Harvard University Press, Cambridge). ISBN 0-674-39730-4, p.875]

Literary career

Treitschke approached history as a politician, and confined himself to those periods and characters in which great political problems were being worked out: above all, he was a patriotic historian, and he never wandered far from Prussia. His great achievement was the "History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century". The first volume was published in 1879, and during the next sixteen years four more volumes appeared, but at his death he had only advanced to the year 1847. He also wrote biographical and historical essays, and essays on contemporary politics.

The most important essays were collected as "Historische und politische Aufsatze" [Heinrich von Treitschke: "Historische und politische Aufsatze" (4 vols., Leipzig, 1896)] ; a selection from his more controversial writings was made under the title "Zehn Jahre deutscher Kämpfe"; in 1896 a new volume appeared, called "Deutsche Kämpfe, neue Folge". After his death his lectures on political subjects were published under the title "Politik". He brought out also in 1856 a short volume of poems called "Vater-ländische Gedichte", and another volume in the following year. His first works to be translated into English were two pamphlets on the war of 1870, "What we demand from France" (London, 1870), and "The Baptism of Fire of the North German Confederation" (1870).

Treitschke's students included Heinrich Class, Hans Delbrück, W.E.B. Dubois, Otto Hintze, Max Lenz, Erich Marcks (historian), Friedrich Meinecke, Karl Peters, Ludwig Schiemann, Gustav Schnürer, Georg Simmel and Friedrich von Bernhardi. During World War I, many writers in the West, particularly in Britain, blamed Bernhardi for creating attitudes amongst the political class of Germany that were seen as an incitement to war. A complete translation of both volumes of Treitschke's "Politics" was published in London in 1916. "Politics" also appeared in an abridged English translation edited by Hans Kohn and published in 1963.

Notes

References

* Theodor Schiemann, "Heinrich von Treitschkes Lehr und Wanderjahre, 1836-1866" (Munich, 1896)
* "Gustav Freitag und Heinrich v. Treitschke im Briefwechsel" (Leipzig, 1900)
* "Deutsche Rundschau" (October 1896)
* Obituary article by James Wycliffe Headlam, "English Historical Review" (December 1897)
* Heinrich von Treitschke, "A Word about our Jews", (1879-1880)
* Andreas Dorpalen, "Heinrich von Treitschke" (New Haven 1957)
* Ulrich Langer, "Heinrich von Treitschke" (Düsseldorf 1998)
* "Politics", (English Edition 1916) [http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/treitschke/politics01.pdf Volume One] [http://socserv2.mcmaster.ca/~econ/ugcm/3ll3/treitschke/politics02.pdf Volume Two]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Heinrich von Treitschke — Heinrich Gotthardt von Treitschke (* 15. September 1834 in Dresden; † 28. April 1896 in Berlin) war ein deutscher Historiker, politischer Publizist und Mitglied des Reichstags von 1871 bis 1884, zunächst als nationalliberaler Abgeordneter, seit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Heinrich von Treitschke — Heinrich von Treitschke. Heinrich von Treitschke (15 de septiembre de 1834 28 de abril de 1896) fue un historiador y politólogo alemán de inclinación nacionalista que vivió en época del Imperio alemán …   Wikipedia Español

  • Heinrich Von Treitschke — Heinrich von Treitschke. Heinrich Gothard von Treitschke (15 septembre 1834 à Dresde 28 avril 1896), est un historien et théoricien politique allemand. Il fut professeur à l université de Berlin, député nationaliste de 1871 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Heinrich von treitschke — Heinrich von Treitschke. Heinrich Gothard von Treitschke (15 septembre 1834 à Dresde 28 avril 1896), est un historien et théoricien politique allemand. Il fut professeur à l université de Berlin, député nationaliste de 1871 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Heinrich von Treitschke — Heinrich von Treitschke. Heinrich Gothard von Treitschke (15 septembre 1834 à Dresde 28 avril 1896), est un historien et théoricien politique allemand, membre du Parti libéral national. Il fut professeur à l université de Berlin, député… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Eduard Heinrich von Treitschke — (* 2. Januar 1796 in Dresden; † 10. März 1867 ebenda) war ein königlich sächsischer Generalleutnant. Leben und Wirken Er war der jüngste Sohn der Eltern Dr. Carl Friedrich Treitschke, Hof und Justizrat in Dresden und seiner Frau Elenore… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Heinrich Leo von Treitschke — (* 30. Januar 1840 in Dresden; † 17. Juni 1927 ebenda) war ein sächsischer Offizier, zuletzt General der Infanterie. Inhaltsverzeic …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • TREITSCHKE, HEINRICH VON° — (1834–1896), German historian and politician. Treitschke was a member of the National Liberal Party and author of a popular German history of the 19th century (Deutsche Geschichte im 19. Jahrhundert, 5 vols., 1879–94). He became well known as a… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Treitschke, Heinrich von — born Sept. 15, 1834, Dresden, Saxony died April 28, 1896, Berlin German historian and political writer. Son of a Saxon general, Treitschke studied at Bonn and Leipzig and then taught history and politics at a number of German universities. A… …   Universalium

  • Treitschke, Heinrich von — (1834–1896)    Born in Dresden, Heinrich von Treitsche was one of the most well known German historians of the later nineteenth century. Appointed as Leopold von Ranke ’s successor at the Humboldt University in 1874, Treitschke’s name is closely… …   Encyclopedia of the Age of Imperialism, 1800–1914

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”