The Baron’s Cloak, by Willard Sunderland, focuses on a Russian-German noble named, Baron Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg. His nickname is Ungern. The author focuses on one man’s life, which helps develop a story line; from the man’s life story we can understand the history at this time, especially what is what everyday life was like. His family’s heritage gives us insight to the intermingling of nations, culture, and religions. Ungern’s schooling gives insight to the importance of nationalism and the changing world, as Russia took over more land. While, his travels help us to understand the conflict and changing world along the borders. Ungern was born in 1885 in Graz; located in the Habsburg Empire (Sunderland, p. 18). His mother “came …show more content…
The Urgern-Sternberg family was called “Uradel,” which meant “original nobility” (Sunderland, p.18). His heritage is “Baltic German/ Austria German,” which gave the reader a cultural awareness of the area where Ungern was born (Sunderland, p.19). He had two parents of noble descendant, but from other nations; but in the “nineteenth century the aristocratic world of Europe was fundamentally multinational” (Sunderland, p.19). Therefore, Ungern’s had a different upbringing because his family was an “antipasto”; which meant he had more than one heritage (Sunderland, p.19). He was born of German and Austrian decent, but was educated in a Russian school; which helped Russify him. This was especially important because he was a boy when the Baltic region was growing in nationalism and Russification. Ungern’s father, uncles, and grandfathers were all educated in German schools; but Ungern would be the first to attend a “Russian-language high school” (Sunderland, p.35). This was due …show more content…
The nation-state was popular at this time; it is a population of people in a specific territory that has a set national culture. Ungern spends only a few years in Graz, Austria and then moves to Estland with his family, which was part of the Russian Empire. The Russian territory was a nation-state, that wanted to direct it citizens to have a strong sense of nationalism. Since Ungern was “nobility by birth (Geburtsadel)” he was given the title baron and had more rights than a normal citizen (Sunderland, p. 19). His family name carried a lot of weight; the “Ungern-Sternbergs were known as one of the most esteemed houses of state” (Sunderland, p.19). Therefore, his family name helped propel him in a successful life; like his military
Officially credited with 80 air combat victories, 26 year old Manfred von Richthofen (“The Red Baron”) was not only Germany’s greatest Ace, but the greatest Ace of World War 2. Despite the fact that he was killed nearly 100 years ago on 21 April 1918, the question still remains: Who killed Manfred von Richthofen? While the kill was credited to be the work of Captain Roy Brown, a Canadian pilot, there are reasons to believe that the Baron was killed at the hands of a different soldier. Sergeant Cedric Popkin, of the 24th Australian Machine Gun Company is the man who was most likely to have shot his plane down. Not only was Cedric within the range the bullet was shot from, but bullet trajectory and evidence from the official autopsy comes
Sajer’s sense of patriotism was even further undermined while trying to hold the Dnieper River in Russia. Fellow soldier Lensen, drunk from imbibing medical alcohol in the wake of a minor victory against the Russians, announces his distaste for Sajer’s mixed-heritage and, as a result, makes Sajer realize that his companions have “rejected him” in spite of all of their shared miseries and hardships (Sajer 207). Sajer questions his own worthiness to fight for Germany and ultimately concludes that he will never again find joy in reciting the German songs he once loved so much (Sajer
can be traced by to his grandmother who provided him with a powerful moral and
"in general terms that he was to be a child of the Baltic vastness, reared
Hagen W (2012). ‘German History in Modern Times: Four Lives of the Nation’. Published by Cambridge University Press (13 Feb 2012)
When Otto von Bismarck was recalled from Paris to become Minister-President of Prussia in 1862, German nationalism was already more than 40 years old. First apparent in the opposition to Napoleon´s occupation of the German states, national feeling grew into a movement after 1815. This feeling was encouraged by a growth of interest in German literature and music and by increased economic cooperation between the north German states. By 1848 it was strong enough to make the creation of a united Germany one of the main demands of the revolutionaries. Otto von Bismarck was a Prussian patriot who inherited the traditions of love of king, army and country from his family.
... context that shaped Heinrich Böll, it becomes apparent to the reader that these conditions have greatly shaped the themes and ideas discussed in Böll’s, The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum. Main issues such as the corruption and collusion of powerful institutions in society, especially the police, press and industrialists have come through, with emphasis being placed on the misogynistic and patriarchal society and the effects this has on the treatment of woman, shown by Katharina. Böll brings his awareness of they way in which power and status are connected to wealth into the text and greatly condemns the abuse of power by the dominant groups in society, “Böll had little faith in any moral renewal coming from political or ecclesiastical hierarchies.” . Böll believed that “the function of literature is to challenge the arrogant claims to totality made by all ideological systems” . By incorporating his own context into his work, The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum, Böll leads the reader to a greater understanding of this time period in West Germany, at the same time undermining the dominant systems and causing the reader to question and carefully examine power structures in society.
Reading the book “The Trial of Tempel Anneke” raises interesting questions, and details the clashing of anxieties that took place within Early Modern German communities, both in economic and religious justification. Some central questions posed by myself is proposed below.
An exploration of Jewish mixed blood status in Nazi Germany renders a brief history of anticipatory racial conceptions leading up to the Third Reich. The use of Mischlinge as well as other labels intended to denote mixed blood naturally evolved out of well-established racial conceptions central to Germany and the Third Reich ideology. This ideology, which existed as “an uneasy fusion of different strands of racial elitism and popularism,” defined persons as according to not only their Rasse or racial identity, but also membership of the German people or Volk (Hutton 15, 18). The idea of the Volk denoted not only shared language and heritage as well as right of citizenship, but the ordained right to inhabit German lands. Above all, this idea concerned triumphant unification of a German people perceived to be under threat of dissolution by ethnic and religious groups such as the R...
Kirby, David, The Baltic World 1772-1993: Europe's Northern Periphery in an Age of Change (London: Longman, 1995).
Effi Briest, a realist novel written by Theodore Fontane and published in 1896. This novel forms a story around a female character’s point of view of a socially arranged marriage to a man 21 years her senior, resulting in a story of adultery and ultimately tragedy. This essay aims to analyse the character of Effi Briest, with critical commentary on her tragic fate as part of Fontane’s concerns with regard to the cultural legitimacy of the Junker class to lead the German society in the final years of the 19th century. The essay will go on further to make comment on the extent that Effi is to blame for her own misfortunes in the novel.
Nationalisms powerful and intense impact on individuals is demonstrated in Rudolf von Ihering’s Two Letters (1866). By offering individuals a group to be a part of became something which appeared to be boundless in its potential for prosperity and it gave individuals a sense of empowerment. Initially, Von Ihering had rigorously opposed Realpolitik’s policies which were employed by Otto von Bismarck, declaring that, “everyone [in Ger...
was very independent and has always done things he wanted, as he was entrusted with the
Benjamin, Walter. The Origin of German Tragic Drama. Trans. John Osborne. London: n.p., 1998. Print. fourth
Carr, William. A. A. The Origins of the Wars of German Unification. London: Longman Group, 1991. Hamerow, Theodore S. The Social Foundations of German Unification, 1858-1871.