René Schilling. "Kriegshelden": Deutungsmuster heroischer Männlichkeit in Deutschland 1813-1945. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh Verlag, 2002. 436 S. EUR 49.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-3-506-74483-8.
Reviewed by Gene Powers (Department of History, Northern Illinois University)
Published on H-German (April, 2005)
Constructing Military Masculinity in Bürgerliche Germany
In recent years, historians have been paying increased attention to masculinity and how notions of it are constructed. Probably the most well known example of this, for historians of Germany anyway, is Klaus Theweleit's controversial Male Fantasies. Oddly enough, and despite the obvious importance for the social, cultural, and military history of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, the German "hero" has usually only been studied in the context of National Socialism. Arguing that the Nazi years are merely the end point of a longer developmental trajectory, Rene Schilling attempts to rectify this oversight in his most recent book. Throughout the nineteenth century and up to the end of the Second World War, the idea of "becoming a hero in war by dying a hero's death for the Fatherland was a praiseworthy ideal for young men in Germany" (pp. 15-16). This kind of sacrificial death had been the exclusive preserve of the nobility and military elite. However, as Germany went through the process of unification and military service became more common, increasing numbers of people had the opportunity to become a sacrificial hero for the Fatherland.
Schilling sets out to explore heroic masculinity's patterns of meaning through four major themes. His investigation is undertaken in books, speeches, festivals, and newspaper articles that discuss four men who were held up to the German public as heroes. Schilling's analysis is more nuanced than those that have conceived of masculinity as a hegemonic "ideology" perpetrated by elites and blindly accepted by the masses. Rather, he gives a detailed description of the negotiation between the middle and upper classes and how their various positions were developed and deployed over time. Schilling's investigation covers the period stretching from 1815 through the end of the Second World War.
First and foremost Schilling investigates the hero's individual qualities. The original conception formed during the Wars of Liberation was that of an educated, humanitarian hero. He was a Bürger who engaged in single combat against another warrior and who sacrificed his life for the Fatherland. This construction of martial masculinity was primarily mobilized to argue that more political rights should be extended to Bürger. In many ways, this ideal was seen as an oppositional stance by the nobility and army leadership. While the theme of sacrificial heroism remained, by the time of the Great War, the concept of hero had become contested. On the one hand, conservatives were only interested in the soldierly qualities of troops. On the other hand, bürgerliche liberals still emphasized the individual education of men. This assertion is especially interesting in light of Marcus Funck's claim that it was Bürger who were pushing for a "harder" masculinity more suited to fighting a modern war.[1] During the Great War, the singular warrior hero had to be found outside of the infantry and cavalry because most German soldiers fought as part of a unit. Germans most often turned to men who commanded the technological "wonder weapons" of the day, such as U-Boats and fighter-planes. Under the Nazis, this hero became racialized, in addition to being a patriotic, sacrificial hero of the Fatherland. Heroes were presented as charismatic, martial, and populist. In fact, Schilling argues that Hitler styled himself as such, in order to legitimize the NS regime's claim to leadership.
The second theme that Schilling addresses is the question of which of these qualities were ascribed as specifically masculine and what effect such assumptions had for women in Germany. Interestingly, Schilling argues that up until the mid-nineteenth century, a patriotic bürgerliche hero could just as easily be a woman as a man. Further, heroes were not defined by a simplistic "warlike, aggressive masculinity" and did in fact display more "tender traits" (p. 118). As women were increasingly confined to the realm of home and family, German heroes came to be defined as an exclusively male group of hard, ruthless warriors.
The last two themes are closely intertwined in Schilling's analysis and revolve around political and social identity. In each of the periods under investigation, the author explores which political and social order the hero sacrificed himself for and which social groups were allowed to become members of this honored community of fallen heroes. It is very important to reiterate that Schilling is talking about a very specifically defined type of masculinity located primarily in the bürgerliche class and to a certain extent among the nobles as well. Through negotiation between the two classes, Schilling demonstrates how the concept of hero evolved through the Kaiserreich and how the increasing democratization of dying for Germany rendered social and political affiliation a moot point by the end of the Great War. However, the reactions of the working class or farmers are not really addressed in any great detail: this is an important issue for future research.
Schilling's work is appropriate for graduate students and scholars. Some familiarity with its themes will be necessary for readers to put his arguments in their proper historical context. The book fills an important gap in that it covers a much larger time-period than previous works on heroic masculinity in Germany. It also suggests many new avenues that need to be explored before we can come to a better understanding of masculinity in Germany.
Note
[1]. Marcus Funck, "Ready for War? Conceptions of Military Manliness in the Prusso-German Officer Corps before the First World War," in Home/Front, ed. Karen Hagemann and Stefanie Schüler-Springorum (Oxford: Berg, 2002), esp. 57-59. See H-German review by David Bielanski at http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.cgi?path=229111085713745.
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Citation:
Gene Powers. Review of Schilling, René, "Kriegshelden": Deutungsmuster heroischer Männlichkeit in Deutschland 1813-1945.
H-German, H-Net Reviews.
April, 2005.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=10428
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