Gordon A. Craig - Personal Viewpoint

Personal Viewpoint

Craig saw modern German history as a struggle between the positive, as exemplified by the values of humanist intellectuals, and negative forces in German life, as exemplified by Nazism. In a broader sense, he viewed this conflict as between enlightened spirit and authoritarian power. He was highly critical of those who saw Nazism as the culmination of German national character, while at the same time criticizing those who argued that Nazi Germany was just a Betriebsunfall (industrial accident) of history. Craig felt that the particular way Otto von Bismarck created the German Empire in 1871 was a tragedy, as it entrenched the forces of authoritarianism in German life. Similarly, Craig viewed the autonomous role of the German Army as a “State-within-the-State” as highly adverse to the development of democracy.

Craig saw history not as a social science, but rather as a “human discipline”. He censured those historians who saw their work as social science and frequently called for historians to return to the methods of former times by seeking to “interconnect” history and literature. Craig was noted for his sparse, highly elegant literary style, together with a tendency to keep an ironic distance from his subjects. He was very fond of German literature, and praised the novels of Theodor Fontane as the best portrayal of 19th century Germany, which he considered superior to many works produced by historians. Craig’s last project, incomplete at the time of his death, concerned a survey of novels set in Berlin (which was Craig’s favorite city) in the 20th century.