The German forest : nature, identity, and the contestation of a national symbol, 1871-1914 /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Wilson, Jeffrey K., 1970-
Imprint:Toronto [Ont.] : University of Toronto Press, ©2012 (Beaconsfield, Quebec : Canadian Electronic Library, 2012)
Description:1 online resource (xi, 326 pages) : illustrations, maps, plans, digital file
Language:English
Series:German and European studies
German and European studies.
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/13452508
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9781442686380
1442686383
9781442640993
1442640995
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-311) and index.
Summary: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.
Other form:Print version: Wilson, Jeffrey K. German Forest : Nature, Identity, and the Contestation of a National Symbol, 1871-1914. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, ©2000 9781442640993