POL113H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 8: German Romanticism, Rede Ferroviária Nacional
Document Summary
Hitler was primarily the champion of a particular racial group, not the nation, and fruition of his plans would have eventually led to the supersession of the german nation-state. The volkish or romantic tradition was in many respects an early 19th cent reaction to the complexities produced by a rapidly developing industrial economy and the pressures of modernity. One central idea of german romanticism was that humans had somehow lost their bearings in modern civilization and had to return to a more natural, simple setting in order to cure their sickness. This included a harmonious interrelationship between the human animal and the forces of nature. The image of the sun, for example played an imp role in popular volkish literature as the symbol of strength and power of the german spirit. Typical of the desire for simplicity was the advocacy by one early romantic, father jahn (1778-1852).