Rebecca SC French 602F2576 MA in German Studies - Rhodes ...

foreign labour 3 to meet the demands of a growing market, highlighted the Imperial structure‟s
inherent contradictions. These included authoritarian and elitist rule over a pseudo-democratic
constitution, a manipulative and repressive domestic policy which sought to resist the effects of
that very modernisation which was being pursued for economic gain, and the ostracism of whole
communities who had ethnic, cultural or ideological allegiances that were incompatible with the
demands of the new Germany. (Abrams in Bartram 2004: 16f.) Thomas Mann, in his 1945
essay Deutschland und die Deutschen, describes Bismarck‟s empire as a supreme power
structure intent on European hegemony, having nothing to do with democracy or the concept of
„nation‟ insofar as it might imply democracy; both its character and the threat it posed grew out
its combination of stalwart contemporaneity, sophisticated efficiency and nostalgia for times past
– all in all, a “hochtechnisierte[r] Romantizismus” (Mann 1992: 33). This longing for simpler
times is reminiscent of “Hitler‟s volkish [sic] appeal to primitive origins” (Cobley 2002: 55); as
Kurzke (in Koopmann 1990: 703) points out, Mann‟s essay, Bruder Hitler (1938), portrays
Hitler as a “verhunzter Künstler, der […] das Wunder der wiedergeborenen Unbefangenheit
verkündet, aber die neue Naivität und Handlungssicherheit diktatorisch verordnet und so in
ihrem Wesen zerstört.” This return to simplicity is expressed in Doktor Faustus as the return,
specifically of music, to barbarism in order to rediscover culture. (Mann, Th. 1948: 431) Klaus
Mann, in Mephisto (2006: 205), also refers to “[d]ie drohende Barbarei” facing the “geistige[ ]
Teil des Bürgertums” and which would bring about “Verfinsterung und Rückschlag [...] während
es sich selber frech „Erwachen‟ und „nationale Revolution‟ zu nennen wagt.” There is further
mention in Mephisto of the “radikale[ ] Rechten, die täglich die Erneuerung deutscher Kultur
durch die Rückkehr zum volkhaft Echten […] zornig propagieren”. (Mann, K. 2006: 214)
The many confrontations between the Reich and its so-called Feinde, the repressive legislations
of the Sozialistengesetz 4 and Kulturkampf 5 , and the language laws prohibiting the use of
languages other than German in schools all pointed to an underlying sense of unease and
mistrust, which was not much relieved by the resignation of Bismarck in 1890. (Abrams in
Bartram 2004: 17) As mentioned above, industrialisation prompted changes in gender relations.
Middle-class women, who, until around the turn of the century, had no access to equal education
or professional employment and could generally only gain economic security through marriage,
began to openly challenge the patriarchal bourgeoisie; a high point was in 1908 when Prussia
lifted the ban on women‟s involvement in political organisations and meetings. (Hackett 1976:
3 from, for example, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands and France
4 Legislation whereby all socialist activities were outlawed.
5 The anti-Catholic campaign headed mainly by the German Liberals.
5