Pitfalls of Domestic Explanations

Finding the key to the German Problem in the country's domestic character has been a major preoccupation of postwar studies. The approach has several advantages not necessarily tied to its merits. For foreigners, blaming Germany's crimes on the inherent shortcomings of its society and culture is not only plausible but convenient. And for some Germans and ex-Germans, arrogating to Germany the responsibility for the century's major catastrophes justifies a certain traditional self-preoccupation and ignorance of other societies. Nevertheless, despite the convenience all around, attempts to define and relate these supposedly inherent shortcomings do not always stand up well to fairminded examination. Often a series of stereotypes is patched up into a collective German “character.” The result seems a composite projection of those qualities that people dislike most about their own societies. In many instances, the characteristics seem misinterpreted in their German context and, moreover, are easily found in other societies. At their worst, such attempts at definition seem reminiscent of the very racist techniques made notorious by anti-Semites. Many worthy scholars have permitted themselves this dangerous indulgence. Although more vicious forms of anti-German propaganda are no longer fashionable among serious scholars, the effects of this defamation linger, as a certain tendency toward German baiting in contemporary Europe illustrates. Many of us, if we are honest, carry such a view of Germans just beneath the level of articulate consciousness.

The famous British historian, Sir Lewis Namier, gives a good example in a 1947 review of A. J. P. Taylor's Course of German History.