Band 298, Heft 2

Evidently even dating back to Solon we can witness a political consciousness of freedom, which marked the opposite of tyranny. Yet, the decisive impetus for the usage of the term „eleutheria“ originated in Sparta where the elitist full citizens considered themselves as „eleutheroi“ – similar to the full citizens of Gortyn. This „eleutheria“ implicated amog others also the freedom from tyranny. On the basis of this self-concept Pausanias transformed in Plataiai in 479 BC the cult of Zeus Soter into the cult of Zeus Eleutherios. Consequently the focus of this „eleutheria” shifted from internal to external independence and Pausanias placed Plataiai under the protection of all Greek federal allies. Due to extending „eleutheria“ from internal to external independence the comprehensive concept of political freedom was established. It initially was not yet of great importance for Sparta, however it was step by step – though hesitatingly – adopted by all Greeks. While in Greece freedom was initially conceived as independence from the Persian Empire the emphasis in Sicily shifted after fighting off the Carthaginians and the Etruscans to freedom from tyranny. The political concept of freedom did not reach its complete unfolding since 478 when Athens went to war against the Persian Empire, but rather around the middle of the 5th century, when the thetes had achieved political equality in Athens. And only slightly later it came to a symbiosis with the term „demokratia“. The political „eleutheria“ became a part of Greek identity. This also gave rise to the Greek claim to power over the „barbarians“ around the end of the 5th century.

Recent political events in Mali drew international attention to the ancient libraries in the Niger Belt and beyond. The archives, most of them in private hands, contain tens, if not hundreds of thousands of manuscripts, books, letters, notes, charters and other records going back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. They spread light on political events and on the intellectual, religious, social and economic history of that part of Africa. Once they are catalogued, translated and edited, their full consideration will open new perspectives for and new areas of African historiography. Their very existence demonstrates that Africa is not a case apart from universal history in which access to the past can mostly be gained only through oral tradition.

Research thus far has presumed that Bismarck was a crucial feature in Hitler’s propaganda. Conversely, this article reaches the conclusion that Bismarck merely played a subordinate role in Hitler’s remarks. There were two reasons for this. For one, the dominant Bismarck myths were largely incongruent with National Socialist ideology. Furthermore, Hitler sought to make National Socialism appear as a new and dynamic political „movement“ in an effort to distinguish it from other groupings on the right and the DNVP in particular. For the DNVP, the past and Bismarck were guiding principles, whereas Hitler strove to make the future the most important category of his propaganda.