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DROYSEN, JOHANN GUSTAV (1808—1884)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 596 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DROYSEN, JOHANN GUSTAV (1808—1884) , See also:German historian, was See also:born on the 6th of See also:July 18o8 at Treptow in See also:Pomerania. His See also:father, Johann Christoph Droysen, was an See also:army See also:chaplain, in which capacity he was See also:present at the celebrated See also:siege of See also:Kolberg in 1806-7. As a See also:child See also:young Droysen witnessed some of the military operations during the See also:War of Liberation, for his father was pastor at See also:Greifenhagen, in the immediate neighbourhood of See also:Stettin, which was held by the See also:French during the greater See also:part of 1813. The impressions of these See also:early years laid the See also:foundation of the ardent See also:attachment to See also:Prussia which distinguished him, like so many other historians of his See also:generation. He was educated at the gymnasium of Stettin and at the university of See also:Berlin; in 18.29 he became a See also:master at the Graue Kloster (or See also:Grey Friars), one of the See also:oldest See also:schools in Berlin; besides his See also:work there he gave lectures at the university, from 1833 as privat-dozent, and from 1835 as See also:professor, without a See also:salary. During these years he was occupied with classical antiquity; he published a See also:translation of See also:Aeschylus and a See also:paraphrase of See also:Aristophanes, but the work by which he made himself known as a historian was his Geschichte See also:Alexanders See also:des Grossen (Berlin, 1833, • and other See also:editions), a See also:book which still remains probably the best work on the subject. It was in some ways the See also:herald of a new school of German See also:historical thought, for it shows that idealization of See also:power and success which he had learnt from the teaching of See also:Hegel. It was followed by other volumes dealing with the successors of See also:Alexander, published under the See also:title of Geschichte des Hellenismus (See also:Hamburg, 1836—1843). A new and revised edition of the whole work was published in 1885; it has been translated into French, but not into See also:English. In 184o Droysen was appointed professor of See also:history at See also:Kiel. He was at once attracted into the See also:political See also:movement for the See also:defence of the rights of the See also:Elbe duchies,. of which Kiel was the centre. Like his predecessor F.

C. See also:

Dahlmann, he placed his historical learning at the service of the estates of See also:Schleswig-See also:Holstein and composed the address of 1844, in which the estates protested against the claim of the See also:king of See also:Denmark to alter the See also:law of See also:succession in the duchies. In 1848 he was elected a member of the See also:Frankfort See also:parliament, and acted as secretary to the See also:committee for See also:drawing up the constitution. He was a determined supporter of Prussian ascendancy, and was one of the first members to retire after the king of Prussia refused the imperial See also:crown in 1849. During the next two years he continued to support the cause of the duchies, and in 1850, with Carl Samwer, he published a history of the dealings of Denmark with Schleswig-Holstein, See also:Die Herzogthumer Schleswig-Holstein and das Konigreich Danmark seit dem Jahre 18o6 (Hamburg, 185o). A translation was published in See also:London in the same See also:year under the title The Policy of Denmark towards the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. The work was one of See also:great political importance, and had much to do with the formation of German public See also:opinion on the rights of the duchies in their struggle with Denmark. After 1851 it was impossible for him to remain at Kiel, and he was appointed to a professorship at See also:Jena; in 1859 he was called to Berlin, where he remained till his See also:death. In his later years he was almost entirely occupied with Prussian history. In 1851 he brought out a See also:life of See also:Count Yorck von Wartenburg (Berlin, 1851-1852, and many later editions), one of the best See also:biographies in the German See also:language, and then began his great work on the Geschichte der preussischen Politik (Berlin, .1855—1886). Seven volumes were published, the last not till after his death. It forms a See also:complete history of the growth of the Prussian See also:monarchy down to the year 1756.

This, like all Droysen's work, shows a strongly marked individuality, and a great power of tracing the manner in which important dynamic forces worked themselves out in history. It was This characteristic quality of comprehensiveness that also gave him so much See also:

influence as a teacher. Droysen, who was twice married, died in Berlin on the 19th of See also:June 1884. His eldest son, Gustav, is the author of several well-known historical See also:works, namely, Gustav Adolf (See also:Leipzig, 1869-187o); See also:Herzog Bernhard von See also:Weimar (Leipzig, 1885); an admirable Historischer Handatlas (Leipzig, 1885), and several writings on various events of the See also:Thirty Years' War. Another son, Hans Droysen, is the author of some works on See also:Greek history and antiquities. See M. See also:Duncker, Johann Gustav Droysen, ein Nachruf (Berlin, r885); and Dahlmann-See also:Waitz, Quellenkunde der deutschen Geschichte (Leipzig, 1906). U. W.

End of Article: DROYSEN, JOHANN GUSTAV (1808—1884)

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