Suchergebnisse

Whether or not it was possible at the time for those who framed the treaties which terminated the World War of 1914–1918 to have better provided for the years of peace which were to follow, it is now generally recognized that the terms agreed upon by the Allied Powers and imposed upon Germany were not as wise as they might have been. This is a conclusion which experience has demonstrated, and, from this experience, it is proper that nations should derive wisdom with regard to any future treaties of peace which may be entered into. Hence it is that, since the outbreak of the present European war, there has been much discussion as to what terms should be imposed upon Germany if and when she is compelled to sue for peace.

No country within the Western orbit offers to foreign thinkers such an ambiguous and enigmatic aspect as does Germany. There is no end of books and articles wrestling with this problem.German history presents sufficient justification for the existence of an enigmatic dualism within the nation. To begin with: Germany is that country in Europe through which a line of profound cultural demarcation runs. The Limes Germanicus (cf. my articles in this Review, July and October, 1939) signified the borderline of Roman conquest and Roman cultural penetration. Within this line Mediterranean civilization took undisputed hold both during the Roman Empire and throughout the middle ages, in the latter period mediated by the Church. The lands farther to the East and North became christianized hundreds of years later than the lands around the Danube and Rhine valley. Often the christianization of the East was pushed forward by force of arms. Riehl, Nietzsche, Ricarda Huch and others have remarked that, to all appearances, the christianization of the German North and East was only superficial, a thin veneer over a basically heathen reality; of late H. Rauschning expressed his concern over the quick disappearance of the Christian faith and ethics among the Northern German peasants after Nazism came to power, and the prophets of the "German Faith" today spread the suggestion that the Northern German peasant never was a Christian.

Recent European events have brought with them some interesting questions of international law which have been discussed in French courts, especially during the war. In the following pages some of these decisions will be taken up regarding:
I.Russian expropriation measures in Eastern Poland, September, 1939.II.Claims against owners of goods expropriated by the Spanish Government.III.The nationality of corporations.IV.The sequestration of enemy property.V.Art. 17 of the Armistice Convention between France and Germany (prohibition of the transfer of securities from the occupied zone).

The above article, a chapter from a larger work on the socio-historical foundation of Prussia, deals with the only peasants' revolt of importance that ever took place in Germany east of the Elbe. In September 1525, when in western Germany the after-effects of the great revolt were ebbing down, the peasants in the recently secularized dukedom of Prussia revolted against the rising nobility. The course of the peasants' action and the insufficient assistance they received from the town of Konigsberg and its citizens are sketched separately from material gathered from a contemporary chronicle. Already five days after the outbreak of the revolt and before serious acts of violence had occurred, the aristocratic town-council of Königsberg effected peace between the peasants and the nobility. After the return of the duke from Germany, severe punishments were inflicted, followed in the next year by the statutory regulation of all the new peasants' obligations.Special attention deserve: the close connection between the peasant movement and contemporary unrests in Konigsberg; the influence that radiated from there; the lack of support from the towns as the cause of the speedy break-down of the revolt; its pronouncedly political character, hardly influenced by religious ideas and aiming at rooting out the aristocratic "weeds". The leading elements of the revolt were the well-to-do, self-confident, free peasants—of German as well as of Polish descent—and not the mostly impoverished serfs, which proves that no peasants' revolts occurred east of the Elbe not because of the favourable condition of the peasants there, and that also in this one particular case socially higher situated elements were sooner inclined to revolt against suppression.

book reviewed in this articlePolitical Liberty; A History of the Conception in the Middle Ages and Modern Times. By A. J. Carlyle.History as the Story of Liberty. By Benedetto Croce.The Social Policy of Nazi Germany. By C. W. Guillebaud.Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. By Mahadev Sahai.The Eastern Marchlands of Europe. By H. G. Wanklyn.The Danubian Case. By Leo Gestetner.Estonia. By J. Hampden Jackson.Marxism : Is It A Science?By Max Eastman.War and Peace in Soviet Diplomacy. By T. A. Taracouzio.The British Constitution. By W. Ivor Jennings.Ideas and Ideals of the British Empire. By Ernest Barker.

Description based on: [No.] 8, 1946; title from verso of title-page. ; No. [1] issued as Western European series, no. 1; no. [4-6] issued as Eastern European series, no. 1-3. ; Each no. has also a distinctive title. ; no.1. France and the Tariff Act of 1922 -- no.2. Unclaimed estates in the Birtish Isles -- no.3. Unclaimed estates in the Netherlands -- no.4. Establishment of diplomatic relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- no.5. Recognition of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- no.6. The establishment of normal relations between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics -- no.7. International transfers of territory in Europe -- no.8. The Spanish government and the Axis -- no.9. The problem of German political revival -- no.10. Trial of war criminals -- no.11. The present status of German youth -- no.12. The distribution of reparation in Germany -- no.13. Restatement of U.S. policy in Germany -- no.14. Foreign affairs outlines: building the peace, no.11. -- no.15. United States economic policy toward Germany -- no.16. Report of the United States education mission to Germany -- no.17. United States and Italy, 1936-1946 -- no.18. U.S. aims and policies in Europe -- no.19. The Nürnberg judgment, a summary -- no.20. The United States and economic collaboration among the countries of Europe -- no.21. Treaties of peace with Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Roumania, and Finland -- no.22. Soviet supply protocols -- no.23. Occupation of Germany: policy and progress -- no.24. Making the peace treaties, 1941-1947 -- no.25. European initiative essential to economic recovery -- no.26. The displaced-persons problem -- no.27. Directive regarding the military government of Germany -- no.28. Committee of European Economic Co-operation: volume 1, general report -- no.29. Committee of European Economic Co-operation: volume 2, technical report -- no.30. Foreign affairs outlines: building the peace, no.15. -- no.31. The problems of European revival and German and Austrian peace settlements. ; Mode of access: Internet.