The German Forest: Nature, Identity, and the Contestation of a National Symbol, 1871-1914 (German & European Studies) (German and European Studies) - Softcover

Jeffrey K. Wilson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1487521677 ISBN 13: 9781487521677

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2016

Synopsis

From the late eighteenth century, Germans increasingly identified the fate of their nation with that of their woodlands. A variety of groups soon mobilized the 'German forest' as a national symbol, though often in ways that suited their own social, economic, and political interests. The German Forest is the first book-length history of the development and contestation of the concept of 'German' woodlands.

Jeffrey K. Wilson challenges the dominant interpretation that German connections to nature were based in agrarian romanticism rather than efforts at modernization. He explores a variety of conflicts over the symbol - from demands on landowners for public access to woodlands, to state attempts to integrate ethnic Slavs into German culture through forestry, and radical nationalist visions of woodlands as a model for the German 'race'. Through impressive primary and archival research, Wilson demonstrates that in addition to uniting Germans, the forest as a national symbol could also serve as a vehicle for protest and strife.

About this title

Review:

Wilson s book would be important reading for any student of environmental history or the history of Western Europe in the modern age. - Charles Closmann - Environment and History vol 21:04:2015

The book fills a real gap, not only in its chronological and spatial focus but also in drawing connections between the politics of the forest and the Heimat movement. Wilson offers a significant and persuasively narrated contribution to the history of Imperial Germany, of the forest, and of nationalism. - Richard Holzl - German History vol 32:02:2014

This well contextualized study provides an interesting example of environmental history, offering insights into the land and human relationships with it as well as revealing how much environment-related issues can tell us about humans as political animals. --- Brian Vick - American Historical Review, vol 118:03:2013

This well contextualized study provides an interesting example of environmental history, offering insights into the land and human relationships with it as well as revealing how much environment-related issues can tell us about humans as political animals.

--- Brian Vick - American Historical Review, vol 118:03:2013

About the Author:

Jeffrey K. Wilson is an assistant professor in the Department of History at California State University, Sacramento.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1487521677
• ISBN 13: 9781487521677
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344