"Deutsche Geschichte". Band 1. Von den Anfangen bis 1789. XXII, 777 $.; Band 2. Von 1789 bis 1917. XVIII, 882 S.; Band 3. Von 1917 bis zur Gegenwart. XX, 768 S. Berlin. VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften. 1967 - 1968.

Vol. 1. From ancient times to 1789; vol. 2. From 1789 to 1917; vol. 3. From 1917 to the present day.

"German History", created by a large team of scientists of the GDR, is the first generalizing Marxist work on the history of Germany from ancient times to the present day. Work on the publication lasted for about 15 years, from the mid-1950s, when, under the leadership of Academician Alfred Meisel (1896-1960), the preparation of a large series of monographs on the history of Germany began, which were approved by the scientific community of the German Democratic Republic and the Soviet Union1 . The appearance of "German History" was preceded by numerous discussions of GDR scientists about the main problems and periodization of national history. Prominent historians of the GDR Karl Obermann, Ernst Engelberg, Leo Stern, Erich Paterna, Max Steinmetz, Stefan Dernberg, Joachim Streisand, and K.-G. Otto and many others. These are three beautifully published, richly illustrated volumes, equipped with historical maps, literature lists, and a large reference device.

The first volume of "German History" covers the period from the emergence, development and disintegration of primitive society in Germany to the beginning of the French bourgeois Revolution of the XVIII century. Most of the volume is devoted to the medieval history of Germany. The authors of these sections (G. - J. Bartmus, H. Guericke, E. Voigt, M. Steinmetz, R. - F. Schmidt) characterize the development of productive forces and production relations in the Middle Ages. The reasons for the emergence of early feudal German states are described in detail and argumentatively. The policy of expansion of German feudal lords to the east in the 12th and 13th centuries is assessed as aggressive and aggressive, in contrast to the nationalist interpretation of this problem by West German bourgeois historians (p. 321).

Considerable attention is paid to the period of the Reformation and the Peasant War (1476-1535), which is characterized as an early bourgeois revolution. The author of this section, M. Steinmetz, justifies his conclusion, first of all, by the fact that feudal relations in Germany at that time had already entered the stage of decomposition, and at the same time elements of the capitalist system were being formed. Under such conditions, the struggle of the peasants objectively contributed to the development of capitalism in the country. The defeat of the peasants, who sought to eliminate feudal relations, and the victory of the princes strengthened, as noted in the volume, the dominance of the Latter in opposition to imperial power, which sharply hindered the national and state development of Germany.

The fragmentation and backwardness of the German lands in the 17th century was largely due to the consequences of the Thirty Years ' War, which the authors describe as a conflict between emerging bourgeois relations and obsolete feudal orders. This is the otsen-

1 See reviews in the journal "New and Recent History", 1963, No. 2; 1964, No. 1; 1965, No. 6.

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This differs from the bourgeois interpretation of the Thirty Years ' War as a war of religions and beliefs. R.-F. Schmidt, who wrote this section, is credited with thoroughly investigating the class struggle of the peasants during the Thirty Years ' War on the basis of new materials.

The final part of the first volume examines the economic, social and political situation of Germany from the second half of the 17th century up to 1789 and the development of absolutism in the country. Professor G. Schilfert, who wrote these chapters, convincingly justifies the thesis that German absolutism was anti-national in nature, because it was, first of all, the absolutism of small states. German absolutism did not promote, but hindered, the creation of a single national state and the development of capitalist relations. As a result, by the end of the eighteenth century, Germany remained economically backward and politically fragmented (pp. 749-750).

The second volume is devoted to the history of Germany in a difficult period of European and world history: from the French Revolution of the late 18th century to the Great October Socialist Revolution. The first section, written by Professor I. Streisand, examines the impact of the Great French Revolution on Germany, the emergence and short-term existence of the Mainz Republic - the first democratic state on German soil. In contrast to the claims of bourgeois historians who interpret the policy of the leaders of the republic and their desire to end the feudal-absolutist order as national treason, I. Streisand convincingly shows that the social upheaval that took place in the Mainz Republic was actually a prerequisite for solving national problems.

Peru Prof. K. Obermann also has sections that deal with the history of Germany from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the Revolution of 1848-1849, inclusive. Analyzing the economic and political development of Germany during these years, the author reveals the reasons that led to the weakness of the German bourgeoisie on the eve of the revolution. The advantage of these sections is the periodization given here of the progressive bourgeois movement in Germany after the Congress of Vienna. K. Oberman pays great attention to the emergence of an independent working-class movement and the activities of K. Marx and F. Schulz. Engels before 1848. Unlike Soviet historians, he gives a slightly different periodization of the revolution of 1848-1849 in Germany, distinguishing four phases: the beginning of the revolution - from the end of February to March 18, 1848, the second period - from April to December 1848; the third-from December 1848 to April 1849; the fourth-May-July 1849 year.

The section devoted to the history of Germany from the defeat of the revolution of 1848-1849 to the country's entry into the era of imperialism was written by Professor E. Engelberg. The author focuses on the problem of creating a German national state, which is considered in close connection with the economic and political development of Germany at that time. E. Engelberg thoroughly analyzes the reasons that led to the victory of the "revolution from above" in the unification of the country. At the end of the section, assessing the consequences of unification "from above", he notes that this led to a further increase in militarism and created the prerequisites for the struggle of monopolists and junkers for a "place in the sun", for the preparation of a world imperialist war (p.475).

Without denying the historical merits of F. Lassalle before the German working class, the author proves the failure of the attempts of bourgeois historians (g. Onken et al.) to portray Lassalle as the founder of the socialist movement in Germany (p.423). This is all the more important because such versions are still current in the publications of West German bourgeois and right-wing reformist historians .2
Proceeding from Lenin's understanding of the essence of imperialism and its main features, Engelberg traces the process of the first monopolistic associations, the beginning of the merger of banking capital with industrial capital, and the silting up of the role of large banks in the economic life of Germany (pp. 490-495). This period presented the working class with new tasks and required the development of new tactics for the working-class movement. An important event in the history of the proletarian struggle was the unification of the Eisenachians and Lassallians and the creation of the united Social Democratic Party of Germany in Gotha in 1875. The author correctly notes that the preservation in the Gotha Program is contrary to the advice of Karl Marx and Fr. Engel-

2 See, for example, F. Balser. Sozial-Demokratie 1848/49 - 1863. Stuttgart. 1962.

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The adoption of a number of opportunist positions contributed to the emergence of revisionism in the German labor movement.

The last part of the second volume covers the period from 1897 to the Great October Socialist Revolution. Tracing the rise in power of German industrial and financial magnates at the beginning of the 20th century, the author of the section f. Klein notes that the transition to imperialism was accompanied by an increase in the aggressiveness of Germany's foreign policy. The section focuses on the struggle of the working class against the reactionary domestic and foreign policies of German imperialism, examines the economic struggle of the German proletariat, the movement for the expansion of democratic rights and freedoms, and mass actions against the aggressive foreign policy of the Hohenzollern Empire. A proper place in this section is occupied by a characterization of revisionism in the German labor movement. "It is an objective historical task of revisionism," he emphasizes. A split of the working class is a prerequisite for the preservation of the capitalist exploitative order."

In recent years, Germany has been discussing the responsibility of Kaiser Germany for unleashing the First World War. Unfortunately, F. Klein does not report anything about this discussion and about the works of the liberal historians of F. Klein. Fischer and I. Geiss 3, which convincingly substantiate the thesis of the special aggressiveness of German imperialism.

The third volume of the peer-reviewed publication is entirely devoted to the events of German history in recent times. The volume opens with a chapter describing the impact of the Great October Revolution on Germany, culminating in the November Revolution. Based on published historical researchs4, V. Ruge (who wrote a section on the history of Germany in 1917-1933) gives a clear description of the positions of parties and classes in German society during the revolution, and reveals the differences within the ruling camp. The author shows how, even before the solution of the fundamental question of the revolution - the question of power - an alliance of the right - wing social-democratic leadership with an open and disguised counter-revolution was formed and operated, an alliance that posed the greatest danger to the German proletariat.

Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg and other leaders of the Spartacus League fought for the consistent realization of the bourgeois-democratic tasks of the revolution, for its development into a socialist revolution. As Karl Liebknecht said in November 1918, "the proletariat cannot be satisfied with the bourgeois-reformist content of the revolution; it cannot lose the piles of conquest again; it must go forward to the social revolution" (p. 24). However, the fragmented German working class could not achieve hegemony in the revolution and win.

In our opinion, the third volume pays insufficient attention to the revolutionary events of 1919-1921. The material on the Bavarian Soviet Republic occupies less than a page (pp. 42-43), the complex and contradictory development of the Communist Party of Germany after the defeat of the revolution has not received sufficient coverage, and the impact of V. I. Lenin's book "The Infantile disease of 'Leftism' in Communism "on German Communists is poorly shown.

Of great interest are the chapters of the volume devoted to the analysis of the positions of the leading parties of the Weimar period on issues of domestic and foreign policy in Germany. Analyzing the contradictions between the main factions of the German monopolistic bourgeoisie, V. Ruge gives a deep description of the so-called "fulfillment policy", whose supporters (j. Wirth, W. Rathenau) demonstrated the readiness of the Weimar Republic to make reparations payments, even on a limited scale, and to accept and fulfill its obligations under the Treaty of Versailles. G. Stinnes and other adherents of the opposite line - the so-called "policy of catastrophes" - demanded sabotage of the Versailles peace, consciously went to conflict with the victorious powers, first of all V. Ruge comes to the important conclusion that the foreign policy of the big German bourgeoisie (especially under G. Stresemann) was the result of a complex combination of the "policy of fulfillment" and the "policy of catastrophes" (p .100).5
3 See F. Fischer. Griff nach der Weltmacht. Dusseldorf. 1961; "Julikrise und Kriegsausbrueh 1914". Bearbeitet und eingeleitet von I. Geiss. Bd. I. Hannover. 1963.

4 Ya. S. Drabkin. November Revolution in Germany, Moscow, 1967; W. Nimtz. Die Novemberrevolution 1918 in Deutschland. B. 1965,

5 See also W. Ruge. Weimar-Republik auf Zeit. B. 1969, S. 79 - 80.

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The special chapter analyzes in depth and comprehensively the economic and political situation in Germany in 1929-1933. The author, entering into a direct polemic with bourgeois literature, shows the real reasons for the fascist coup d'etat. The course of the Breuning, Papen, and Schleicher governments, Ruge emphasizes, was aimed at "curtailing democracy and eliminating the political and social rights of the German people" (p. 122). The result of this policy was the transfer of power to Hitler. The facts presented by the author reveal the essence of the so-called "policy of lesser evil" carried out by the leadership of the Social Democratic Party during this period. At the same time, the author emphasizes the presence of left-wing groups in the social democratic movement, which sought a joint struggle of progressive forces. Serious attention is paid to the struggle of the KKE for the development of a mass anti-fascist movement. The author analyzes in detail the " Program for the National and Social Liberation of the German People "(p.127), published by the KKE in August 1930.

Professor E. Paterna, author of the section devoted to the history of Germany in 1933-1939, pays much attention to the essence of the fascist version of state-monopoly regulation of the economy, the role of big capital in the economy and politics of the third Reich, especially in the implementation of the militarization of Germany, in the preparation and unleashing of World War II. The author draws on new materials that reveal the struggle of the KKE for a united anti-fascist front, the preparation of program documents developed at the Brussels (1935) and Berne (1939) conferences of the KKE.

V. Bleyer, K. Drexler, G. Foerster, G. Hass-the authors of the section "Germany in the Second World War" - do not limit themselves to describing military operations, they focus the reader's attention on the relatively poorly studied problems of the internal development of fascist Germany in 1939-1945, on the evolution of the system of state - monopoly capitalism in war conditions. Polemicizing with West German bourgeois historians, who reduce the German resistance movement only to the actions of the top opposition, the authors show that the main force of the anti-fascist struggle was the vanguard of the working class, led by the communists. The authors used new documents on the preparation by the Central Committee of the KKE in 1944 of the "Program of the Combat Democracy Bloc" - a political platform for the social reconstruction of Germany, its democratic renewal, and the creation of a people's republic based on a broad anti-fascist front.

Usually, in West German historiography, the discussion of German history ends with the events of 1945, the military defeat of Hitler's Germany; this is followed by a short review of post-war events, which boils down to a biased and superficial presentation of the policy of the great powers in the German question. Any serious analysis of the internal development of the two German states is out of the question in the literature of the Federal Republic of Germany .6 In the work published by GDR scientists, half of the third volume (about 360 pages) is devoted to the post-war period (the presentation is brought up to 1963). This large section was written by S. Dernberg, Z. Thomas, G. Kolbe, G. Benzer, G. Geitzer, and W. Horn. Marxist historians convincingly show that May 1945 marked a turning point in the history of the German nation. And while West German publications are dominated by cliched versions about the "death of Germany", about the "rule of chaos", about the "impossibility of implementing German policy", historians of the GDR rightly emphasize that the future of Germany depended, first of all, on the creative actions of the German people themselves and, first of all, the working class.

The historical tasks facing German workers were realized in the east of Germany. With the support of the Soviet military administration, land reform, the nationalization of large-scale industry, the purge of the state apparatus from the Nazis and their henchmen, school reform, etc. were carried out here. An important condition for the success of fundamental democratic transformations was the unity of proletarian action, which was consolidated in the spring of 1946 by the creation of the Socialist United Party of Germany.

The development of events in the Western occupation zones took a diametrically opposite direction.-

6 See, for example, H. E. Stier. Deutsche Geschichte im Rahmen der Weltgeschichte. Frankfurt a. M. 1960; M. Freund. Deutsche Geschichte. Gutersloh. 1965.

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in the opposite direction. The split of Germany and the creation of a separate Bonn state were, as the volume vividly shows, not only the result of the policies of the Western powers that violated the Potsdam Agreements, but also the result of the activities of the reactionary forces of West Germany, represented primarily in the leadership of the Christian Democratic Union-Christian Social Union party. The authors conclude that the Bonn Constitution of 1949 established the rule of big capital. Analyzing the articles of the Constitution, they emphasize: "Whether the constitution will turn into an instrument of reaction or will be used as a starting point for the struggle for democratic goals depends on the real correlation of class forces, on the organization and activity of the democratic movement" (p. 488). This thesis undoubtedly contributes to an understanding of the current stage of the class struggle in West Germany.

In the chapters devoted to the history of the GDR, a lot of space is devoted to the peculiarities of socialist construction in democratic Germany, a clear assessment of the functions of the National Front of Democratic Germany and the multi-party system under the dictatorship of the proletariat is given, and the evolution of petty-bourgeois political parties (the Christian Democratic Union, the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany, the National Democratic Party of Germany), SED and recognize its leadership role in creating a new society.

The book truthfully shows the difficulties of socialist construction in the German Democratic Republic, connected, in particular, with the existence (until August 1961) of the open border of the GDR with West Germany and West Berlin. The authors provide new facts about the struggle of the GDR workers against attempts to overthrow the people's government, especially in 1953, 1956 and 1961.

The success of economic and social development in the GDR has created a great international reputation for the republic, including among the progressive strata of the German population: "The second German state, the GDR, has established itself as a political reality, regardless of whether we like it or not. This State cannot be destroyed either by military or peaceful means " (p. 717). This realistic assessment, which belongs to the leadership of the West German party "German Peace Union", retains its significance even today, when a broad movement is unfolding in Germany for the recognition of the German Democratic Republic, for the rejection of the notorious "Halstein doctrine"by the Bonn government.

The specialists who wrote chapters on the GDR for the third volume of German History relied on generalizing Marxist works on the history of the republic .7 Summary works on the post-war history of West Germany do not yet exist, only individual problems of German development have been studied, so the authors of the corresponding chapters faced a difficult task, which they mostly coped with. The book analyzes the patterns of socio-economic development of West Germany, reveals the reasons for the so-called "economic miracle" of the 50s, behind the facade of which, under the cover of the slogans of "social partnership" and "general welfare", the strengthening of the dominance of the largest monopolies, the militarization of the Bonn state, and the implementation of a reactionary foreign policy were hidden. The authors give detailed characteristics of the political parties of the West German bourgeoisie - the CDU-CSU and the Free Democratic Party, as well as neo-Nazi and revanchist political organizations.

The history of West German social democracy is covered in detail, and the role of its right-wing leadership in the split of Germany and in the creation of the Federal Republic is analyzed. A separate paragraph is devoted to a special analysis of the Godesberg program of the SPD in 1959. Due attention is paid to the politics and ideology of the left-wing social democratic and trade union movements of Germany, which advocate the rejection of the reactionary foreign and domestic policies of the government that developed in the "Adenauer era".

New interesting materials contain chapters on the anti-militarist democratic movement in Germany, especially the movement against nuclear weapons, which is often used in the United States.-

7 p. Dernberg. A brief history of the GDR. M. 1965; G. N. Goroshkova. National Front of Democratic Germany (1949-1963), Moscow, 1966 (book by G. N. Goroshkova translated into German).

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returned in 1957-1958. The authors show the role of the German Communist Party in the class struggle, its activities in the underground, and the beginning of the movement for the legalization of the Communist Party.

In our opinion, the structure of sections on the history of the Federal Republic of Germany is not sufficiently justified. All the material relating to the development of West Germany in 1949-1963 is unnecessarily divided into eight separate chapters, which led to inevitable repetitions in some cases and excessive laconism in others. In the third volume, there is no generalizing chapter that would summarize the historical path of the German people in modern times. There are no chapters on the development of culture after 1917 (similar chapters in the first and second volumes are written in an interesting and informative way).

The creators of "German History" have done a great and responsible job. The authors of this three-volume work developed a general Marxist concept of the history of the German nation, subjected the principles of bourgeois historiography to a principled and reasoned criticism, and successfully summarized a huge amount of factual material. All this testifies to the maturity of historical science in the German Democratic Republic, and to the great capabilities of its Marxist historians.

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