{"product_id":"shouldering-the-burdens-of-defeat-west-germany-and-the-reconstruction-of-social-justice-9780807871614","title":"Shouldering the Burdens of Defeat: West Germany and the Reconstruction of Social Justice","description":"World War II and its aftermath brought devastating material losses to millions of West Germans. Military action destroyed homes, businesses, and personal possessions; East European governments expelled 15 million ethnic Germans from their ancestral homes; and currency reform virtually wiped out many Germans' hard-earned savings. These war damaged individuals, well over one-third of the West German population, vehemently demanded compensation at the expense of those who had not suffered losses, to be financed through capital levies on surviving private property.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMichael Hughes offers the first comprehensive study of West Germany's efforts to redistribute the costs of war and defeat among its citizenry. The debate over a \u003ci\u003eLastenausgleich\u003c\/i\u003e (a balancing out of burdens) generated thousands of documents in which West Germans articulated deeply held beliefs about social justice, economic rationality, and political legitimacy. Hughes uses these sources to trace important changes in German society since 1918, illuminating the process by which West Germans, who had rejected liberal democracy in favor of Nazi dictatorship in the 1930s, came to accept the social-market economy and parliamentary democracy of the 1950s. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Michael L. Hughes\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of North Carolina Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/09\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 280\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.90lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807871614\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHughes, Michael L.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Michael L. Hughes is professor of history at Wake Forest University and author of \u003ci\u003ePaying for the German Inflation\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of North Carolina Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":40618874699891,"sku":"9.78081E+12","price":71.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_81aa6c26-78a2-47ec-910d-1bb025c18219.jpg?v=1670424434","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/shouldering-the-burdens-of-defeat-west-germany-and-the-reconstruction-of-social-justice-9780807871614","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}