Carl E. Schorske (1915–2015)

This collection of essay’s that all shed a different light on Vienna in the second half of the 19th century touched me in several ways.

First, Schorske is able to give cultural analyses of artists, politicians and scientist and thereby communicating a certain zeitgeist. A zeitgeist that values aestheticism and introspection, but at the same time a time where irrational-emotional mass politics are entering the stage and where the old aristocracy and intellectuals no longer are able to order show more society. By taking a few thinkers or works per essay he is able to go into depth regarding the individuals, but at the same time giving the reader a general sense of the time.

Secondly, the topics that are getting shape in Vienna society that time are recognizable. Topics like, nationalism, democracy, racism, the role of intellectuals, narcissistic behavior of the rich and lethargy in the face of diversity and complexity -- all these topics and more have the quality to evoke vivid reflection on these same topics today.

This book is not the most easy to read. First of al because of the jargon used. Secondly because of the namedropping. If you new to Vienna or the artistic, political and scientific events of this period I recommend you first watch some documentaries before digging into this book.

Still I highly recommend this book. I've had the luxury of traveling to Vienna while reading Fin-de-siècle and especially the chapters about architecture made the city speak while walking there. show less

"Politics and culture" means that the author is relating developments in culture (art, architecture, literature, psychoanalysis and more) with each other as well as to the "liberal" ascendancy and then decline in the politics of Vienna and Austria-Hungary in the second half of the nineteenth century. The description of the interactions between political trends, cultural trends and different cultural manifestations (such as psychoanalysis and art) make for complexities that challenge the show more reader. Schorske often uses binary comparisons/contrasts to bring out the changes taking place (Schnitzler/von Hoffmanstahl, Sitte/Wagner, Schoenberg/Kokoschka). He also introduces the three political figures who led the movements which undercut liberal politics (Georg von Schoenerer/Pan-Germanism, Karl Lueger/Christian Socialism), and Herzl/Zionism)). It is a fascinating book well worth the investment of reading it, especially the long chapter on Klimt. The reader who wants some more background on Vienna itself could read the short work by Arthur May, Vienna in the Age of Franz Josef. show less

No political parties of present-day Germany are separated by a wider gulf than the two parties of labor, one democratic and reformist, the other totalitarian and socialist-revolutionary. Social Democrats and Communists today face each other as bitter political enemies across the front lines of the Cold War; yet they share a common origin in the Social Democratic Party of Imperial Germany. How did they come to go separate ways? By what process did the old party break apart? How did the prewar show more party prepare the ground for the dissolution of the labor movement in World War I, and for the subsequent extension of Leninism into Germany? To answer these questions is the purpose of Carl Schorske's study. show less

This is not merely the best historical account of the dissensions within the German socialist movement, but also contains a bibliographical essay that is a considerable aid to further reading. Central European socialism before and after 1914 is a world in itself, and its understanding requires at least some familiarity with its voluminous literature, including its more important periodicals. [1961]