Suchergebnisse

A review essay on Modris Eksteins, Rites of Spring: The Great War at the Birth of the Modern Age (New York & London: Doubleday, 1990). Ecksteins studies how collective memories & feelings of past events shape present actions & acknowledged the connection between the arts & politics. Eksteins's contention that turn-of-the-century Germany represented the ideal modernist nation because it attempted to fashion a national identity that went beyond German history is explored. In addition, Eksteins's comparison of Germans' public celebrations in Berlin during the initial stages of WWI to the opening of Serge Diaghilev's ballet, The Rite of Spring, is discussed to illustrate how the German citizenry associated war conduct with liberation. It is contended that Eksteins's discussion of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight across the Atlantic Ocean aptly demonstrates the decreased relevance that Europeans attached to history during the early 20th century. Moreover, Eksteins's contention that the condition of homelessness among Germans facilitated the rise of Nazism & assertion that Germans were attracted to, rather than forced into, the Nazi movement are examined. The modernist aspects of the Nazi movement are discussed, & the power of myth & imagination to shape present action is acknowledged. J. W. Parker

ABSTRACTPhilanthropy was enduring in early modern Europe. For centuries local charities gave small sums that helped many people to survive. Such charity can be studied from below, from the persepective of survival strategies, and from above, from the perspective of social control, but it can also be studied as scholars of philanthropic studies do for contemporary societies. This article does the latter. It pays attention to benefactors and benefactions; how many people gave and who were they?; when, where and what did benefactors give, and what were their motives? The article places an in-depth study of Amsterdam from the late sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century in the context of the literature on early modern European philanthropy.