History

Robert E. Norton

The Crucible of German Democracy

Ernst Troeltsch and the First World War

[Der Schmelztiegel der deutschen Demokratie. Ernst Troeltsch und der Erste Weltkrieg.]

2021. XV, 650 pages.

Beiträge zur historischen Theologie 197

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The famous philosopher, historian, theologian and politician Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923) was one of the most prominent advocates of the democratic idea in Germany during the First World War and in the following years until his death. Robert E. Norton presents for the first time the dramatic history of his activity during these turbulent, decisive years.

»Robert Norton’s The Crucible of German Democracy: Ernst Troeltsch and the First World War is a work of great insight and erudition.«
Helmut Walser Smith in The German Quarterly, Fall 2021, pp. 545
Robert E. Norton offers the first comprehensive study in any language devoted to Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923) and his activities during the First World War. Troeltsch was one of the most famous figures of his day, a renowned historian, philosopher, sociologist, and theologian. But he did not just comment on events, he also actively served in a number of public roles before, during, and after the war. Throughout the last decade of his life, Troeltsch was a central participant in many of the most significant political debates and struggles that took place in his country, and in the process he became one of the most forceful and committed proponents of democracy in Germany.
Tracing the gradual rise and growth of democratic thought during the war, Robert E. Norton shows how democracy itself emerged as the pivotal question within German domestic politics around which everything else came to revolve. In this process, Ernst Troeltsch emerged as one of the most eloquent and persuasive voices advocating for democracy and peace, and always promoting the ideals of freedom and human dignity for all peoples.

»Robert Norton’s The Crucible of German Democracy: Ernst Troeltsch and the First World War is a work of great insight and erudition.«
Helmut Walser Smith in The German Quarterly, Fall 2021, pp. 545
Authors/Editors

Robert E. Norton Born 1960; 1982 BA in German from the University of California, Santa Barbara; 1988 PhD from Princeton University; since 1998 Professor of German, History, and Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.

Reviews

The following reviews are known:

In: FAZ – Geisteswissenschaften — 19.April 2023, S. N3 (Thomas Meyer)
In: Jahrbuch Extremismus & Demokratie — 34 (2022), p. 477
In: Theologische Literaturzeitung — 147 (2022), pp. 472–474 (Gangolf Hübinger)
In: Theologische Rundschau — 87 (2022), pp. 593–599 (Thomas Linke)
In: Lo Stato — 17 (2021), 484–487 (Agostino Carrino)
In: Informationsmittel f. Bibliotheken — http://informationsmittel-fuer-bibliotheken.de/showfile.php?id=10850 (Till Kinzel)
In: Études Germaniques — 77 (2022), pp. 130–132 (Bérénice Palaric)
In: H-Soz-u-Kult — https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-96516 (Margarete Tiessen)
In: NTT – Journal of Theology and the Study of Religion — 76 (2022), pp. 170–171 (Arie L. Molendijk)
In: The German Quarterly — 2021, pp. 545–547 (Helmut Walser Smith)
In: German History — https://doi.org/10.1093/gerhis/ghad024 (Mark D. Chapman)
In: Zeitschrift für Neuere Theologiegeschichte (ZNTHG) — 29 (2022), pp. 174–177 (Friedemann Voigt)
In: Historische Zeitschrift — 315 (2022), pp. 538–539 (Friedrich Wilhelm Graf)
In: Journal of Modern History — 95 (2023), pp. 499–500 (Peter C. Caldwell)
In: Max Weber Studies — 22 (2022), pp. 125–131 (Gangolf Hübinger)
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