Thonfeld, C;
(2019)
Sharing a divided Memory. The first half of 20th Century History in the Cultures of Remembrance in post-Cold War Germany and Poland.
Bulletin of Historical Research National Taiwan Normal University
, 61
10.6243/BHR.201906_(61).0001.
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《臺灣師大歷史學報》61期作者校-陶克思.pdf - Accepted Version Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
The relationship between Germany and Poland in the first half of the 20th century had been mostly one of aggressive territorial competition and resettlement of people. After the collapse of the communist regimes in Poland and East Germany, followed by German reunification, the history of this relationship has been reconceptualised within the framework of European integration. Despite overall progress, there are still numerous obstacles that need to be overcome. Thus, seen from the perspective of cultures of remembrance, it becomes obvious how fragile the re-established neighbourly relationship and both countries’ quest for internal and bilateral normalization still are. Ever since 1945, there has been an “on-going saga of competitive victimhood” between people in both countries, where the wrongs one has done to the other have to be minimized or delegitimized in order to build a national identity on a sense of being deeply wronged. Reconciliation efforts quickly reached a short-lived peak in 1994/5 but this rapid rapprochement was derailed around the millennium when both sides realized that there were still a number of unresolved issues concerning the recent past. These incidents signalled a return to more re-nationalized approaches to historical memories. Another ten years later, both sides became more and more aware that a more pragmatic approach to the opposite side was needed in order to further develop the bilateral relationship despite remaining differences concerning the views of the past. Thus, we can see over the past three decades a succession of different emphases in German and Polish approaches to the memory of central aspects of their entangled 20th century history, which were alternately based on trends towards Europeanization, contested cosmopolitanisation or reflexive particularism.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sharing a divided Memory. The first half of 20th Century History in the Cultures of Remembrance in post-Cold War Germany and Poland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.6243/BHR.201906_(61).0001 |
| Publisher version: | http://www.his.ntnu.edu.tw/publish/publish_pub.php... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | First half of 20th century history, Germany, Poland, Culture of remembrance, Reconciliation |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > SHS Faculty Office UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > SHS Faculty Office > UCL Institute for Advanced Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10076872 |
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