Contesting Conquests: Nineteenth-Century German and Polish Historiography of the Expansion of the Holy Roman Empire and the Polish-Lithuanian Union
Adam Kożuchowski
SummaryThe problem of conquests and territorial expansion, including their interpretation, evaluation, legitimisation, has been crucial for European national historiographies. Consequently, attempts by the Holy Roman emperors, particularly Saxon Hohenstaufen dynasties, to control Italy Burgundy were hotly debated among nineteenth-century German historians, while Poland's union with Lithuania, annexation vast territories east which followed, was a central topic Polish historians time. Modern historiography in both countries have carefully analysed these narratives, emphasising ideological political contexts, such as involvement Grossdeutsch versus Kleindeutsch controversy between so-called Cracow Warsaw historical schools. In this paper I propose comparative analysis two discourses dealt analogical issues and, demonstrate, developed parallel dynamic. Such an analysis, argue, allows escape from paradigm exceptionalism, discovery what typical or, perhaps, constitutive discourse on expansion time, instead focusing uniqueness context. This embraces conceptualisation, argumentation, rhetoric those discussing medieval Empire early-modern Poland. Moreover, it locates interpretations within international context broader Western historiographical tradition, involving domination, cultural transfer, colonialism. Finally, examines mechanism searching for, advocating, perpetuating idea history.
History of European Ideas