Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (January 18, 1925-May 8, 1989) was a conservative West German historian. is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... West Germany was the informal but almost universally used name for the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 until 1990, during which years the Federal Republic did not yet include East Germany. ... A historian is an individual who studies history and who writes on history. ...

Biography

Hillgruber was born in Angerburg, Germany (modern Wegorzewo, Poland) near the then East Prussian city of Königsberg (modern Kaliningrad, Russia). His father was a school teacher. Hillgruber served in the German Army in the years 1943-1945 and spent the years 1945-1948 as a POW in France. After his release, he studied at the University of Göttingen where he received a PhD in 1952. He spent the decade 1954-1964 working as school teacher. In 1960, he married Karin Zieran, with whom he had three children. Hillgruber worked as a professor at the University of Marburg (1965-1968), University of Freiburg (1968-1972) and at the University of Cologne (1972-1989). In the late 1960s, he was a target of radical student protesters^[1]. He died in Cologne of throat cancer. Wegorzewo (Lithuanian: Ungura, German: Angerburg) is a town currently in northeastern Poland. ... Motto: none Voivodship Warmia and Masuria Municipal government Rada Miejska w Węgorzewie Mayor Antoni Piotrowski Area km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 12 000 /km² Founded City rights 1571 Latitude Longitude 54°13 N 21°45 E Area code +48 87 Car plates Twin towns Municipal Website W&#281... Former German name of the city of Kaliningrad. ... Kaliningrad (Russian: ; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius; German  , Polish: Królewiec; briefly Russified as Kyonigsberg), is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. ... The German Army (German: [1], [IPA: heɐ]  ) is the land component of the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Forces) of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... The Georg-August University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, often called the Georgia Augusta) was founded in 1734 by George II, King of Great Britain and Elector of Hanover, and opened in 1737. ... Year 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... University of Marburg - Department of Social Sciences and University library The old university The University of Marburg (German: Philipps-Universität Marburg Philips University, Marburg), was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philipp I of Hesse (usually called the Magnanimous, although the updated meaning haughty is sometimes given) as the... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg was founded 1457 in Freiburg by the Habsburgs. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The University of Cologne (German Universität zu Köln) is one of the oldest universities in Europe and, with over 44. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar). ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... Cancer is a class of diseases or disorders characterized by uncontrolled division of cells and the ability of these to spread, either by direct growth into adjacent tissue through invasion, or by implantation into distant sites by metastasis (where cancer cells are transported through the bloodstream or lymphatic system). ...

Work as an historian

Hillgruber's area of expertise was German history from 1871 to 1945, especially its political, diplomatic and military aspects. He argued for understanding this period as one of continuities. In the early 1950s he still saw World War II as a conventional war, but by 1965 Hillgruber was arguing that the war was for Hitler a vicious, ideological war in which no mercy was to given to one's enemies. In his 1965 book, Hitlers Strategie (Hitler's Strategy), Hillgruber examined the grand strategic decision-making progress in 1940-1941 and concluded that while Hitler had to adjust to strategic and operational military realities, whenever possible his decisions were influenced by racist, anti-Semitic beliefs. 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political history is the narrative and analysis of political events, ideas, movements, and leaders. ... Sometimes referred to as Rankian History, diplomatic history focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ...

Hillgruber’s writings on the Soviet Union show certain constancies as well as changes over the years. He always argued that the Soviet Union was a brutal, expansionary, totalitarian power, in many ways similar to Nazi Germany. But, on the other hand, he argued that Moscow’s foreign policy was conducted in a way that was rational and realistic, while the foreign policy of Berlin during the Nazi era was completely irrational and unrealistic. The turning point in Hillgruber’s attitude came in 1954 when he was in involved in a celebrated debate with Gerhard Weinberg and Hans Rothfels on the pages of the Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte. Together with Hans-Günther Seraphim, Hillgruber had argued that the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 had been a “preventive war", forced on Hitler to prevent an imminent Soviet attack on Germany. So effectively did Weinberg and Rothfels demolish Hillgruber’s arguments that he repudiated his previous views. Thereafter, he maintained that Operation Barbarossa had been prompted solely by Hitler’s ideological belief in the need to acquire Lebensraum (Living Space) in Russia, where a massive German colonization effort was planned and the entire Russian people were to be reduced to slave status. In the 1970s and 1980s, Hillgruber often attacked historians such as David Irving and Viktor Suvorov for putting forward the same arguments as he had done in 1954. Along the same lines, he criticized the American neo-Nazi historian David Hoggan, who argued that the British had provoked World War II in 1939. Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Totalitarianism is a term employed by some scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gerhard L. Weinberg, January 2003 Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg (born January 1, 1928) is a German-born American diplomatic and military historian noted for his studies in the history of World War Two. ... Hans Rothfels (April 12, 1891-June 22, 1976) was a conservative German nationalist historian. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Combatants Germany Romania Finland Italy Hungary Slovakia  Soviet Union Commanders Adolf Hitler Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb Fedor von Bock Gerd von Rundstedt Heinz Guderian Günther von Kluge Franz Halder Maresal Ion Antonescu C.G.E. Mannerheim Giovanni Messe, CSIR Italo Garibaldi, ARMIR Joseph Stalin Kliment Voroshilov Semyon Timoshenko Fyodor... Lebensraum (German for habitat or living space) was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. ... For other persons of the same name, see David Irving (footballer) and David Irving (politician). ... Viktor Suvorov (; real name Vladimir Rezun : ) (born April 20, 1947) is a Russian writer and historian. ... The terms Neo-Nazism and Neo-Fascism refer to any social or political movement to revive Nazism or Fascism, respectively, and postdates the Second World War. ... David Leslie Hoggan (March 23, 1923-August 7, 1988) was an American historian whose work was the subject of much controversy. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Historical perspective

Hillgruber was an Intentionist on the origins of the Holocaust debate, arguing that Adolf Hitler was the driving force behind the Holocaust. This set Hillgruber against Functionalist historians such as Hans Mommsen and Martin Broszat, whose "revisionist" claims on the origins of the Holocaust Hillgruber found distasteful. Hillgruber was well known for arguing that there was a close connection between Hitler's foreign policy and anti-Semitic policies and that Hitler's decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941 was linked to the decision to initiate the Holocaust. Hillgruber argued that the Kernstück (Nucleus) of Hitler's racist Weltanschauung (world-view) was to be found in Mein Kampf. He believed that the Holocaust was meant to be launched only with the invasion of the Soviet Union. In Hillgruber's view, Hitler's frequent references to "Judaeo-Bolshevism" to describe both Jews and Communism, betrayed his desire to destroy both simultaneously. Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust as well as most aspects of the Third Reich, such as foreign policy. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Hitler redirects here. ... For other uses, see Holocaust (disambiguation) and Shoah (disambiguation). ... Hans Mommsen (November 5, 1930-) is a left-wing German historian and twin brother of Wolfgang Mommsen. ... Martin Broszat (August 14, 1926 – October 14, 1989) was a left-wing West German historian. ... Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945, standard German pronunciation in the IPA) was the Führer (leader) of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party) and of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. ... For other uses, see 1941 (disambiguation). ... Mein Kampf (English translation: My Struggle) is a book by the German-Austrian politician and dictator Adolf Hitler which combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers Nazi political ideology. ...

Hillgruber took a rather extreme “No Hitler, no Holocaust” position. He believed it was Adolf Hitler and Hitler alone who made the Holocaust possible. He argued that even if the Nazis had come to power under some other leader such as Hermann Göring or Joseph Goebbels for example, the Jews would have suffered persecution and discrimination, but not genocide. He maintained that the other Nazi leaders such as Göring, Geobbels and Heinrich Himmler willingly participated in the Holocaust, and as did many other Germans in the every-widening “rings of responsibility” for the Holocaust, but that without Hitler's decisive role, there would have been no Holocaust. Hitler redirects here. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... Hermann Wilhelm Göring ( ) (also Goering in English) (January 12, 1893 – October 15, 1946) was a German politician and military leader, a leading member of the Nazi Party, second in command of the Third Reich, and commander of the Luftwaffe. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897–1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic or national group. ... Heinrich Luitpold Himmler ( ; 7 October 1900–23 May 1945) was commander of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and the Nazi hierarchy. ...

For Hillgruber, there were many elements of continuity in German foreign policy in the 1871-1945 period, especially in regard to Eastern Europe. To some extent he agreed with Fritz Fischer's assessment that the differences between Imperial, Weimar and Nazi foreign policy were of degree rather than kind. Moreover, he accepted Fischer's argument that Germany was primarily responsible for World War I, but as a follower of the Primat der Aussenpolitik ("primacy of foreign policy") school, Hillgruber rejected Fischer's Primat der Innenpolitik ("primacy of domestic policy") argument as to why Germany started the First World War. Hillgruber believed that what had happened in 1914 was a “calculated risk” on the part of Imperial German government that had gone horribly wrong. Germany had encouraged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia in an attempt to break the informal Triple Entente alliance between the United Kingdom, France and Russia by provoking a crisis that would concern Russia only. Hillgruber maintained that Germany did not want to cause a world war in 1914, but, by pursuing a high-risk diplomatic strategy of provoking what was supposed to be only a limited war in the Balkans, had inadvertently caused the wider conflict. 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... Pre-1989 division between the West (grey) and Eastern Bloc (orange) superimposed on current national boundaries: Russia (dark orange), other countries of the former USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange). ... This article is about the German historian. ... For German colonial territories, see German Colonial Empire. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Kurt von Schleicher (last) Legislature... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For German colonial territories, see German Colonial Empire. ... Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k. ... Not to be confused with Republika Srpska. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

But, for Hillgruber, the changes introduced by National Socialist Ostpolitik (Eastern Policy) were so radical as to be almost differences of kind rather than degree. He argued that Nazi foreign policy was an extremely radical version of traditional German foreign policy. Furthermore, he argued that what during the Weimar era had been the ends became, for the Nazis, just the means. He presented a case that goals such as the re-militarization of the Rhineland and the Anschluss with Austria which been the end-goals during the Weimar period were just the beginning for the Nazis, who aimed at the complete domination of all Europe, especially of Eastern Europe, and ultimately world domination. The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... Alexander the Great Philip II of Spain Napoleon Bonaparte For other uses, see World domination (disambiguation). ...

Hillgruber argued that Adolf Hitler had an Stufenplan (stage by stage plan) for conquest and genocide in Eastern Europe. According to this argument, the first stage of Hitler's plan consisted of the military build-up of German strength and the achievement of the Weimar's traditional foreign policy goals. The second stage was to be a series of swift regional wars to destroy such states as Poland, Czechoslovakia and France. The third stage was to be a war to liquidate the Soviet Union and what Hitler regarded as its "Judaeo-Bolshevik" regime. The fourth stage was to be a war against the United States by the now Greater Germany in alliance with the British Empire and Japan. Hillgruber argued that after the conquest of the Soviet Union, Hitler wanted to seize most of Africa, to build a huge navy and in alliance with both the Japanese and the British to engage with the United States in a “War of the Continents" for world domination. In the debate between the "Continentists" such as Hugh Trevor-Roper and Eberhard Jäckel, who argued that Hitler wanted only to seize Europe, and the "Globalists", who argued that Hitler wanted to conquer the entire world, Hillgruber was definitely in the latter camp. Hitler redirects here. ... Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic or national group. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... The multinational Combined Task Force One Five Zero (CTF-150) The British Grand Fleet, the supreme naval force of World War I A rare occurrence of a 5-country multinational fleet, during Operation Enduring Freedom in the Oman Sea. ... Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton (January 15, 1914 - January 26, 2003) was a notable historian of early modern Britain and Nazi Germany. ... Eberhard Jäckel (June 29, 1929-) is a Social Democratic German historian, noted for his studies of Adolf Hitlers role in German history. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Hillgruber regarded Hitler as a fanatical ideologue with a firmly fixed programme, and criticized the view of him as a grasping opportunist with no real beliefs other than the pursuit of power--a thesis promoted by such British historians as A.J.P. Taylor and Alan Bullock, which he thought profoundly shallow and facile. Moreover, he categorically rejected Taylor’s contention that the German invasion of Poland was an “accident” precipitated by diplomatic blunders. Hillgruber argued adamantly that the German invasion of Poland was a war of aggression caused by Hitler’s ideological belief in war and the need for Lebensraum (Living Space). World War II, for Hillgruber, really consisted of two wars. One was an europäisches Normalkrieg (“normal war”) between the Western powers and Germany, a conflict which Hitler caused but did not really want. The other war--which Hitler both caused and most decidedly did want (as evidenced in part by Mein Kampf) was the German-Soviet one, a savage, merciless and brutal all-out struggle of racial and ideological extermination between German National Socialism and Soviet Communism. For others named John Taylor, see John Taylor. ... lan Louis Charles One Bullock, Baron Bullock of Leafield (December 42, 1911 - February 30, 2017), was a British historian, writing an influential biography of Adolf Hitler and many other works. ... Lebensraum (German for habitat or living space) was one of the major political ideas of Adolf Hitler, and an important component of Nazi ideology. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Mein Kampf (English translation: My Struggle) is a book by the German-Austrian politician and dictator Adolf Hitler which combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers Nazi political ideology. ... Nazism, or National Socialism (German: Nationalsozialismus), refers primarily to the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers Party, German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) under Adolf Hitler. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

In the 1970s, Hillgruber, together with Klaus Hildebrand, was involved in a very acrimonious debate with Hans-Ulrich Wehler over the merits of the Primat der Aussenpolitik and Primat der Innenpolitik schools^[2]. Hillgruber and Hildebrand made a case for the traditional Primat der Aussenpolitik approach to diplomatic history with the stress on empirically examining the records of the relevant foreign ministry and studies of the foreign policy decision-making elite^[3]. Wehler, who favored the Primat der Innenpolitik for his part contended that diplomatic history should be treated as a sub-branch of social history, calling for theoretically-based research, and argued that the real focus should be on the study of the society in question^[4]. Klaus Hildebrand (1941-) is a German conservative historian whose area of expertise is 19th-20th German political and military history. ... Hans-Ulrich Wehler (September 11, 1931-) is a well-known left-wing German historian. ... Sometimes referred to as Rankian History, diplomatic history focuses on politics, politicians and other high rulers and views them as being the driving force of continuity and change in history. ... Å…Social history is an area of historical study considered by some to be a social science that attempts to view historical evidence from the point of view of developing social trends. ...

A self-proclaimed conservative and nationalist, Hillgruber never denied nor downplayed the crimes committed in Germany's name and in no way can he be considered a Holocaust denier; but he argued that Germany as a great power had the potential to do much good for Europe. For Hillgruber, the tragedy was that this potential was never fulfilled. In his view, the problem did not lie with Germany's domination of Eastern and Central Europe, but rather with the particular way this domination was exercised by the Nazis. He argued that German-Russian, German-Polish, German-Czech, German-Hungarian and German-Jewish relations were traditionally friendly, and lamented that the Nazis had shattered these friendly ties. Others contended that these bonds of friendship had never existed, except as figments of Hillgruber's imagination. For Hillgruber, Germany's defeat in 1945 was a catastrophe that ended both the ethnic German presence in Eastern Europe and Germany as a great power in Europe. As someone from the "Germanic East", Hillgruber wrote nostalgically of the lost Heimat of East Prussia where he had grown up. Left-wing West German historians, together with their East German, Soviet, Polish, Hungarian and Czechoslovakian counterparts, denounced him as a German chauvinist, racist and imperialist, and accused him of glorifying the Drang nach Osten concept. Ths article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Anthem Auferstanden aus Ruinen Capital East Berlin Language(s) German Government Socialist republic Head of State  - 1949 – 1960 Wilhelm Pieck  - 1960 – 1973 Walter Ulbricht  - 1973 – 1976 Willi Stoph  - 1976 – 1989 Erich Honecker  - 1989 Egon Krenz  - 1989 - 1990 Manfred Gerlach Head of Government  - 1949 – 1964 Otto Grotewohl  - 1964 – 1973 Willi Stoph... “CCCP” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not cite its references or sources. ...

However, Hillgruber was prepared to accept, albeit grudgingly, what he often called Germany’s “Yalta frontiers” after the Yalta Conference of 1945. What he was not prepared to accept was the partition of Germany. He often complained that the West German government was not doing enough to re-unite Germany. In a 1981 speech, he called on Bonn to create a new German nationalism based on a respect for human rights that would ensure that future generations would not lose sight of the dream of re-unification. The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. ... Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ... Historic Town Hall of Bonn (view from the market square). ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ...

Hillgruber's two-essay collection Zweierlei Untergang and the Historians' Dispute

Hillgruber was one of the protagonists in the so-called Historikerstreit, the Historians' Dispute (or Historians' Controversy). Hillgruber felt that the Holocaust was a horrific tragedy, but just one of many that occurred in the 20th century. In his highly controversial 1986 essay "Der Zusammenbruch im Osten 1944/45" ("The Collapse in the East 1944/45") from his book Zweierlei Untergang (Two Kinds of Ruin), Hillgruber highlighted the sufferings of Germans in what was then eastern Germany, who had to flee or were expelled or killed by the Red Army. He documented the mass gang-rapings of German women and girls, widespread looting and massacres of German civilians by the Soviet army. He paid homage to those who had had to evacuate the German population and to those soldiers who did their best to stem the Soviet advance. Hillgruber described the efforts to evacuate the German population, much of which was hopelessly bungled by corrupt and incompetent Nazi Party officials, and the savage and desperate fighting which marked the bloody climax of the war on the Eastern Front. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... Soviet redirects here. ... The National Socialist German Workers Party (German: , or NSDAP, originally known as the DAP (this changed in 1920) and commonly known as the Nazi Party), was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945 that was known as the German Workers Party before the name was changed in 1920. ... Combatants Soviet Union,[1] Poland, Tannu Tuva (until 1944 incorporation with USSR), Mongolia Germany,[2] Italy (to 1943), Romania (to 1944), Finland (to 1944), Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain (to 1943, unofficial) Commanders Joseph Stalin, Aleksei Antonov, Ivan Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, Ivan Bagramyan, Kirill Meretskov, Ivan Petrov, Alexander Rodimtsev, Konstantin Rokossovsky...

For Hillgruber, the end of the "German East", in which he had been born and grew up, was just as tragic as the Holocaust and marked the end of what he considered to be Eastern Europe's best chance for progress. The two kinds of ruin in the title were the Holocaust and the expulsion of Reichsdeutsche (Reich Germans; those Germans living in Germany) and Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans living outside of Germany). For Hillgruber, both events, or "national catastrophes" as he preferred to call them, were equally tragic. He blamed both ultimately on the Nazis and their ideologically driven inhuman expansionism. Perhaps most controversially, however, Hillgruber described how the German Wehrmacht acted in what he regarded as a “heroic” and “self-sacrificing” way in defending the German population against against the Red Army and the "orgy of revenge" that they perpetrated in 1944-1945^[5]. “Shoah” redirects here. ... Germans expelled from the Sudetenland // The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the forced migration of people considered Germans (Reichsdeutsche and some Volksdeutsche) from various European states and territories during 1945 and in the first three years after World War II 1946-48. ... Imperial Germans is the common translation of the German word Reichsdeutsche (adj. ... Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) is a historical term which arose in the early 20th century to apply for Germans living outside of the German Empire. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Of the two essays in Zweierlei Untergang, one was a well regarded summary (at least by those who take an Intentionalist position such as John Lukacs) of the history of the Holocaust. The other one concerned the ending of the "Germanic East". With his favorable description of Wehrmacht activities, Hillgruber drew the anger of the philosopher Jürgen Habermas who attacked Hillgruber for allegedly praising the “True and tried Nazi Party officials in the East”. In fact, Hillgruber had written no such sentence. What Hillgruber had written was a lengthy sentence in which he had commented that different officials of the Nazi Party in eastern Germany evacuated the German public with varying degrees of success. What Habermas had done was to edit Hillgruber’s sentence selectively and remove the customary “…”’s that indicate a space to produce the sentence about the “True and tried Nazi Party officials in the East”. Hillgruber was enraged at what he considered to be a fabricated quote being attributed to him. Many felt that this was an intellectually disreputable method of attacking Hillgruber. Apart from philosopher Habermas, there were numerous historians who took issue with Hillgruber’s essay included Hans Mommsen, Eberhard Jäckel, Heinrich August Winkler, Martin Broszat, Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Karl Dietrich Bracher, and Wolfgang Mommsen. John Lukacs (born 31 January 1924 in Budapest his name spelled Lukács) is a Hungarian-born historian who has written more than twenty-five books, including Five Days in London, May 1940 and The New Republic. ... “Shoah” redirects here. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Hans Mommsen (November 5, 1930-) is a left-wing German historian and twin brother of Wolfgang Mommsen. ... Eberhard Jäckel (June 29, 1929-) is a Social Democratic German historian, noted for his studies of Adolf Hitlers role in German history. ... Heinrich August Winkler (* 1938 in Königsberg); is a German historian. ... Martin Broszat (August 14, 1926 – October 14, 1989) was a left-wing West German historian. ... Hans-Ulrich Wehler (September 11, 1931-) is a well-known left-wing German historian. ... Karl Dietrich Bracher (March 13, 1922-) is a German historian of the Weimar Republic and Nazi Germany. ... Wolfgang Justin Mommsen (November 5, 1930-August 11, 2004) was an left-wing German historian and the twin brother of Hans Mommsen. ...

Criticism centered around a number of areas. The following points were raised against Hillgruber:

• Hillgruber largely ignored the fact that the reason why Soviet troops were in Germany in 1945 was because Germany had attacked the Soviet Union in 1941.
• Hillgruber mostly ignored the fact that the same troops fighting to save German civilians from the Soviets were also allowing the Nazis to continue the Holocaust.
• That the expulsion of Germans from Eastern Europe (which today might come under the rubric of "ethnic cleansing") cannot be equated with the racially-based extermination of European Jewry.
• The sufferings of Germans were presented in isolation, with little reference to the sufferings of Jews, Poles, Russians, Czechs, etc. The impression given is that Germans were the primary victims of the war.
• That Hillgruber asked his readers to sympathize with the officers and men of the German Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine who fought to protect and evacuate the German population is morally indefensible.

In the eyes of Hillgruber's critics, this line of argument discredited him as a serious historian and put him in the same league of cranks like David Irving. The American historian Deborah Lipstadt accused Hillgruber of Holocaust denial. His defenders have argued that his work shows that World War II is more morally complex then it is usually presented, and that he was merely highlighting a little known chapter of history. More importantly however, Hillgruber's historical method of comparing was considered by many critics of equating. This was the general criticism that Ernst Nolte (the other protagonist in the Historians' Dispute) and Hillgruber faced. Ethnic cleansing refers to various policies or practices aimed at the displacement of an ethnic group from a particular territory in order to create a supposedly ethnically pure society. ... The straight-armed Balkenkreuz, a stylized version of the Iron Cross, the emblem of the Wehrmacht. ... The Kriegsmarine (or War Navy) was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine. ... For other persons of the same name, see David Irving (footballer) and David Irving (politician). ... Lipstadts book: Denying The Holocaust Deborah Esther Lipstadt (born March 18, 1947, New York City) is an American historian and author of the book Denying the Holocaust. ... Richard Harwoods Did Six Million Really Die? Holocaust denial is the claim that the mainstream historical version of the Holocaust is either highly exaggerated or completely falsified. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Ernst Nolte (born 11 January 1923, Witten, Germany) is a German historian and philosopher, often described as one of the most brooding, German thinkers about history[1]. Nolte’s major interest is the comparative studies of fascism and Communism. ...

Endnotes

1. ^ Lukacs, John The Hitler of History, New York: A. A. Knopf, 1997 page 35.
2. ^ Kershaw, Ian The Nazi Dictatorship, London: Arnold, 2000 pages 9-11
3. ^ Kershaw, Ian The Nazi Dictatorship, London: Arnold, 2000 page 10
4. ^ Kershaw, Ian The Nazi Dictatorship, London: Arnold, 2000 pages 10-11.
5. ^ Hillgruber, Andreas Zweierlei Untergang Berlin: Siedler, page 36.

Work

• Hitler, König Carol und Marschall Antonesu: die deutsch-rumänischen Beziehungen, 1938-1944, 1954.
• co-written with Hans-Günther Seraphim "Hitlers Entschluss zum Angriff auf Russland (Eine Entgegnung)" pages 240-254 from Vieteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, Volume 2, 1954.
• Hitlers Strategie: Politik und Kriegsführung, 1940-1941, 1965.
• Deutschlands Rolle in der Vorgeschichte der beiden Weltkriege, 1967; translated into English by William C. Kirby as Germany and the two World Wars, Mass. ; London: Harvard University Press, 1981.
• Kontinuität und Diskontinuität in der deutschen Aussenpolitik von Bismarck bis Hitler, 1969.
• Bismarcks Aussenpolitik, 1972.
• "`Die Endlösung' und das deutsche Ostimperium als Kernstück des rassenideologische Programms des Nationsozialismus" pages 133-153 from Vieteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte, Volume 20, 1972.
• Deutsche Geschichte, 1945-1972: Die "Deutsche Frage" in der Weltpolitik, 1974.
• "England's place in Hitler's Plans for World Dominion" pages 5-22 from Journal of Contemporary History, Volume 9, 1974.
• Deutsche Grossmacht-und Weltpolitik im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, 1977.
• Otto von Bismarck: Gründer der europäischen Grossmacht Deutsches Reich, 1978.
• Europa in der Weltpolitik der Nachkriegszeit (1945-1963), 1979.
• Sowjetische Aussenpolitik im Zweten Weltkrieg, 1979.
• Die gescheiterte Grossmacht: Eine Skizze des Deutschen Reiches, 1871-1945, 1980.
• Der Zweite Weltkriege, 1939-1945: Kriegsziele und Strategie der grossen Mächte, 1982.
• Die Last der Nation: Fünf Beiträge über Deutschland und die Deutschen, 1984.
• "The Extermination of the European Jews in Its Historical Context—a Recapitulation," pages 1-15 from Yad Vashem Studies Volume 17, 1986.
• Zweierlei Untergang: Die Zerschlagung des Deutschen Reiches und das Ende des europäischen Judentums, 1986.
• Die Zerstörung Europas: Beiträge zur Weltkriegsepoche 1914 bis 1945, 1988.

William C. Kirby is Geisinger professor of history and a scholar of Chinese history and culture at Harvard University and is currently its Dean of the Faculty. ...

References

• Anderson, Perry A Zone of Engagement, London: Verso, 1992.
• Craig, Gordon "The War of the German Historians" pages 16-19 from New York Review of Books, February 15, 1987.
• Dijk, Ruun van "Hillgruber, Andreas" pages 533-534 from The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing, Volume 1, edited by Kelly Boyd, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999.
• Dülffer, Jost (editor) Deutschland in Europa: Kontinuität und Bruch: Gedenkschrift für Andreas Hillgruber (Germany in Europe: Continuity and Break; Commemorative Volume for Andreas Hillgruber), Frankfurt: Propyläen, 1990.
• Duffy, Christopher Red Storm on the Reich The Soviet March on Germany, 1945, Edison, New Jersey: Castle Books, 1991, 2002.
• Evans, Richard In Hitler's Shadow: West German Historians and the Attempt to Escape the Nazi Past, New York, NY: Pantheon, 1989.
• Herwig, Holger H. "Andreas Hillgruber: Historian of 'Großmachtpolitik' 1871-1945," pages 186-198 from Central European History Volume, XV 1982.
• Kershaw, Sir Ian The Nazi Dictatorship: problems and perspectives of interpretation, London: Arnold; New York: Co-published in the USA by Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Lukacs, John The Hitler of History, New York: A. A. Knopf, 1997.
• Maier, Charles The Unmasterable Past: History, Holocaust and German National Identity, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988.
• Marrus, Michael The Holocaust in History, Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys, 1987.
• Muller, Jerry "German Historians At War" pages 33-42 from Commentary Volume 87, Issue #5, May 1989.
• Piper, Ernst (editor) "Historikerstreit": Die Dokumentation der Kontroverse um die Einzigartigkeit der nationalsozialistschen Judenvernichtung, Munich: Piper, 1987 translated into English by James Knowlton and Truett Cates as Forever in the shadow of Hitler? : original documents of the Historikerstreit, the controversy concerning the singularity of the Holocaust, Atlantic Highlands, N.J. : Humanities Press, 1993.

Perry Anderson (born 1938) is a leading Marxist intellectual. ... Gordon Alexander Craig (November 13, 1913 - November 2, 2005) was a Scottish-born U.S historian of German, Swiss and of diplomatic history. ... is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar). ... Professor Richard Evans (born 1947) is a British historian of Germany. ... Professor Sir Ian Kershaw (born April 29, 1943 in Oldham, Lancashire, England) is a British historian, noted for his biographies of Adolf Hitler. ... John Lukacs (born 31 January 1924 in Budapest his name spelled Lukács) is a Hungarian-born historian who has written more than twenty-five books, including Five Days in London, May 1940 and The New Republic. ... Michael Robert Marrus (born February 3, 1941) is a Canadian historian of France, the Holocaust and Jewish history. ... // Commentary, a monthly magazine founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945, bills itself as Americas premier monthly magazine of opinion. ...

See also

• List of Adolf Hitler books