Beschreibung
is a phrase well-known in the Slavic, French and Anglo-Saxon world. But the Germans, who are supposed to have originated the term to express their drive to subjugate the Slavs, do not use it. Indeed, they vigorously denounce the concept as a hostile fabrication of their enemies. How, and where, did this household expression originate? By what means, and to what areas, did it spread? Using library resources in America, London, Paris, Marburg, Helsinki and Vienna, Henry Cord Meyer traces the development of the slogan from a corner of ethnic conflict in old imperial Russia to its world-wide use today. Finally, he addresses the strange German reluctance to come to grips psychologically with these intellectual circumstances. More than just an aspect of German-Slav interaction, this book is also a rare and painstaking inquiry into the socio-political process by which a local catchword is transformed into a broadly-held historical concept.
Autorenportrait
The Author: Henry Cord Meyer, born at Chicago USA, has been professionally active since 1939. He holds degrees from the universities of Colorado (1935), Iowa (1937), and Yale (1941) and several honorary doctorates. During World War II he was a research analyst at the Office of Strategic Services. He has been professor of history at several American colleges and universities, most recently at the University of California, Irvine. His major works include
(The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1955;
(New York: Harper & Row, 1973); and
(Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991).
Rezension
«Meyer analyses in detail the many changes in the conception and use of 'Drang nach Osten'. Above all, he demonstrates clearly the historical importance of slogans of this kind. His book is a model of what has come to be called 'Begriffsgeschichte'.» (Norman Rich, Central European History)
«Ein wichtiger Beitrag zum komplexen Feld der deutsch-slawischen Beziehungen.» (Wolfdieter Bihl, Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung)
