The Peculiarities of German History Bourgeois Society and Politics in Nineteenth-Century Germany by David Blackbourn and Geoff Eley Oxford New York OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESSOxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford oxz 600 Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Buenos Aires Caleutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris Sto Paolo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw ‘and axzociated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Dovid Blackbourn and Geoff Eley 1984 First published 1984 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Pres. Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the ‘purpose of rerearch or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of the licences ‘issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning ‘reproduction outside these terms and in other countries should be ‘ent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, ft the address above ‘This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated ‘without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover ‘other than that in which itis published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Blackbourn, David, 1949- ‘The peculiarities of German history Rev, and expanded translation of the authors’ Mythen ‘deutscher Geschichtsschreibung. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Germany — History~1789-1900—Historiography. 1. Bley, Geoff, 1949- II. Title. ‘DD204,85213 1984 94307 84-1005 ISBN 0-19-873057-8 10 Printed in Great Britain ‘om acid-free paper by Ty International Led, Padstow, CormallPreface This book began as two independent papers which were presented before a number of audiences in Britain and Germany in the years after 1974. As we compared notes it became clearer that we were working in a similar direction. The idea of putting the two papers together took shape, and Dieter Groh suggested that we publish them in a new social history series he was then editing in the Federal Republic of Germany. The original German edition appeared in 1980 and was followed in 1983 by a Japanese edition. For the much revised and expanded English edition we have tried to take account of the intervening discussion. The Introduction (which is entirely new) and the revised versions of our two essays were written during 1982-3. The essays were separately authored and are intended to stand in their own right. The attentive reader will notice that there are differences between our two approaches, not only in style and substance, but also in content. Our common ground should nevertheless be equally obvious, and our close working relationship over many years has meant that it is sometimes difficult to re- member with whom a particular idea originated. Despite differences of emphasis, we therefore hope that our two essays will be read as complementary. The Introduction was an exercise in transatlantic co-operation, drafted by one of us, redrafted by the other, and agreed by us both. Works of this kind necessarily owe much to the previous labours of others. Our general intellectual debts are indicated in both text and footnotes. We are happy to acknowledge a more immediate debt to the many seminar audiences in Britain, the USA, and the Federal Republic of Germany which helped us to develop our ideas. Over the years we have also profited greatly from the suggestions and criticisms of colleagues and friends, amongst whom Richard Bessel, David Bien, Jane Caplan, David Crew, Dick Geary, Raymond Grew, Dieter Groh, Gareth Stedman Jones, Keith Nield, Hartmut Pogge von Strandmann, and Roman Szporluk deserve particular mention. Dieter Groh made an important