An Introduction to Historiography

Selected essays on the history of history


History Under the Third Reich

For scholars of the Third Reich, a striking aspect remains the compliance exhibited by the German people. Historians were not exempt in this regard, and held great power in shaping the cultural milieu of the Weimar era. The anti-republican atmosphere they fostered ultimately proved to amenable to takeover by far-right authoritarianism.

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The Dunning School

For a long time after the Civil War, The Dunning School of Thought dominated historical scholarship of slavery and Reconstruction. This deeply racist ideology was often mistaken for the truth because it was written in such a way that upheld the historical industry's highest standards.

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THE GREAT WAR

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The Annales School

Some of the most innovative and influential historiographic changes in the twentieth-century came from a group of French historians known as the Annales School. The methods they introduced challenged traditional historical focus from prominent and powerful individuals and shed light on often overlooked or dismissed populations and cultures.

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Historiography of the British Empire

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Early Soviet Historiography

Historiography in the early years of the Soviet Union was a battle to fit the Marxist ideology into the Communist Party’s idea of what Soviet history should represent.

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Fernand Braudel

Have you ever wondered how *where* you live has influenced *who* you are? Are you a person of the desert, the mountains, the sea? Have you ever questioned the relativity of time or thought of time in terms of its relationship to space?

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Maximilian Karl Emil Weber

Max Weber (1864-1920) is well known for his social theory writings---but less appreciated are his impacts on the writing of history. His emphasis on rationalisation, secularisation, disenchantment, capitalism, and charismatic leaders changed the ways many historians approached their work.

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The Meiji Restoration and Japanese Historiography

History has the power to create nations. 19th century Japan's response to Western colonialism was not only a period of rapid modernization, but a time where the country would reforge its past and construct a new identity.

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Marxist Historiography

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History of Archival Theory

How did we get “from then to now” with the practice of archival record-keeping, and who were the key figures responsible for establishing the modern methods of archival theory? As an essential component of historiography, understanding the development of archival theories and how they impact modern historical research is key to historical writing today.

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Chinese Historiography

Chinese historiography contains a longer continuous tradition than any other on Earth, stretching back to ancient times. The length of this tradition, and the long standing belief by Chinese academics that Chinese historiography is the paramount form of the discipline make it valuable counterpoint to European historiography.

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Creating Narrativity from Source Material

Does creating a story narrative from information distort the true events of history, or will it bring clarity and understanding for today's audience?

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The Historical Value of Film

When watching a film or documentary, the average viewer is immersed in a moment in history in a way that reading a text could never accomplish. When viewing film through a historian’s lens, we can be more objective in our observations of footage from the past.

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Historical Truth

From the scrolls of ancient Greece to the jargon packed books of the modern academic historian, historians have searched for “true histories”. In studying what constitutes history, we must focus on some themes that belong to what we call today historiography.

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The Responsibility of Accuracy

When it comes to creating a historical film, to what degree is the filmmaker responsible as an occassional historian? How does simplification, individual framework, and artistic agency contribute to a filmmakers ability to entertain, then inform?

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Professional History

In mid-nineteenth century Germany, a professor at the University of Berlin would fundamentally change the way history is taught and applied. No individual contributed more to the professionalization of historiography than Leopold Von Ranke.

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