German Origin Theories
GERM 2520
There are two main fundamental theory’s to Germany’s development as a country; Schulze’s Roman model and the Special Path theory. Schulze’s Roman model of development says that all European countries were attempting to re-create the Ancient Roman type of government that reigned thrived for many years and was the first real structured style of government that had been formed. However, its counter-argument is the Special Path theory which states that Germany had its own unique form of development, and there is no norm to a countries individual development. I believe the Special Path theory is the theory that is most understandable because Germany’s main development was Martin Luther’s reformation, the Revolution of 1848, and Germany’s militaristic attitudes.
Martin Luther is one of the most significant events in Germany’s history is because it caused a total reformation of how Germans viewed the church and religion. During this time the Church had as much rule and power as the emperor had themselves and no one successfully proved the flaws that occurred within the church. Martin Luther had devoted his life to the church and became a monk, but whenever the church had ran out of money in the treasury, they began selling salvation to Heaven. Luther proved they were wrong by translating the Bible into German so the German people could come to their own conclusions and not believe everything the church told them based on their own words alone. A few years after this, the Peace of Augsburg decreed that the civilians under a territorial ruler had to adopt the ruler’s religion; and if the civilians didn’t agree with the religion, they could emigrate to a territory where their religion was already established; thus, causing a major religious separation of the German territories. I believe this develops the Special Path theory because this was a separation of religions and territories which didn’t conform to the “norm” of the other countries. It was a
There are two main fundamental theory’s to Germany’s development as a country; Schulze’s Roman model and the Special Path theory. Schulze’s Roman model of development says that all European countries were attempting to re-create the Ancient Roman type of government that reigned thrived for many years and was the first real structured style of government that had been formed. However, its counter-argument is the Special Path theory which states that Germany had its own unique form of development, and there is no norm to a countries individual development. I believe the Special Path theory is the theory that is most understandable because Germany’s main development was Martin Luther’s reformation, the Revolution of 1848, and Germany’s militaristic attitudes.
Martin Luther is one of the most significant events in Germany’s history is because it caused a total reformation of how Germans viewed the church and religion. During this time the Church had as much rule and power as the emperor had themselves and no one successfully proved the flaws that occurred within the church. Martin Luther had devoted his life to the church and became a monk, but whenever the church had ran out of money in the treasury, they began selling salvation to Heaven. Luther proved they were wrong by translating the Bible into German so the German people could come to their own conclusions and not believe everything the church told them based on their own words alone. A few years after this, the Peace of Augsburg decreed that the civilians under a territorial ruler had to adopt the ruler’s religion; and if the civilians didn’t agree with the religion, they could emigrate to a territory where their religion was already established; thus, causing a major religious separation of the German territories. I believe this develops the Special Path theory because this was a separation of religions and territories which didn’t conform to the “norm” of the other countries. It was a