Germany and ‘The West’: The History of a Modern Concept

This title is printed to order. This book may have been self-published. If so, we cannot guarantee the quality of the content. In the main most books will have gone through the editing process however some may not. We therefore suggest that you be aware of this before ordering this book. If in doubt check either the author or publisher’s details as we are unable to accept any returns unless they are faulty. Please contact us if you have any questions.

The West is a central idea in German public discourse, yet historians know surprisingly little about the evolution of the concept. Contrary to common assumptions, this volume argues that the German concept of the West was not born in the twentieth century, but can be traced from a much earlier time. In the nineteenth century, the West became associated with notions of progress, liberty, civilization, and modernity. It signified the future through the opposition to antonyms such as Russia and the East, and was deployed as a tool for forging German identities. Examining the shifting meanings, political uses, and transnational circulations of the idea of the West sheds new light on German intellectual history from the post-Napoleonic era to the Cold War.