「歴史の教え方」は、日米でどう違うのか？ リベラルアーツ流の「考え方を考える」授業

1. When Mann delivered this speech: 1922, 3 years after the Versailles treaty

2. What audience: Youth

3. How does he attempt to justify the Republic?
The republic was something that came into being after the defeat in WWI and it was the symbol of the humiliation. Nonetheless, the spirit of republic, democracy, is deeply rooted in the German soul, humanity, which has been fostered through culture, art, and poetry. The “republic” is just a word. What is important is that German people come together under the name of German spirit. He calls the German sprit a “mean”, trying to mingle the right and the left.

4. What do you make of his justification?

It makes sense, but it might not be compelling to the youth then. The youth might not experience the war as Mann did. In addition, his first priority is not the preservation of the republic, but the preservation of the German culture.

What answer(s) does this document suggest to the question, “how democratic were the Germans?”

Although Germany did not have a tradition of democracy, Germans had the capability of becoming democratic. However, ironically, the defeat and the fatalistic acceptance of the treaty of Versailles denied what they have believed in before the war; romanticism, which ultimately leads to democracy.