eBook Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution to the Great War download
by Michael Burleigh

Author: Michael Burleigh
Publisher: Harper; First edition (February 28, 2006)
Language: English
Pages: 544
ePub: 1234 kb
Fb2: 1816 kb
Rating: 4.7
Other formats: mbr lrf azw rtf
Category: History
Subcategory: World
In "Earthly Powers," he traces the history of European secularization from the French Revolution to the First World War. He finds that the 19th century march toward secularization was not as inexorable as legend would have it. Indeed, Europeans were very ambivalent about secularization.
In "Earthly Powers," he traces the history of European secularization from the French Revolution to the First World War. The totalitarianisms of the 20th century - Fascism, Nazism, and Communism - made use of many of the rituals of established religions. They used festivals, spectacles, monuments, statues, loyalty oaths, and so forth to satisfy the religious impulse in societies in which religion had been banished.
I look forward to seeing how Burleigh develops his ideas in the next volume Sacred Causes: The Clash of Religion and Politics, from the Great War to the War on Terror. Publishers - please up your game!.
Prior to the French Revolution, many Continental states suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. Since time immemorial Europe had been dominated by nobles and nobilities. In the 18th century their power seemed better entrenched than ever. Fiscal centralization occurred in most Continental states from 1789 to 1815, resolving the fragmentation problem. Limited government, which resolved the problem of absolutist rule, did not emerge in most Continental states until the 1830s and 1840s, however. But in 1790 the French revolutionaries made a determined attempt to abolish nobility entirely.
In this masterful, stylish, and authoritative book, Michael Burleigh gives us an epic history of the battles over religion in modern Europe, examining the complex and often lethal ways in which politics and religion have interacted and influenced each other over the last two centuries. From the French Revolution to the totalitarian movements of the twentieth century, Earthly Powers is a uniquely powerful portrait of one of the great tensions of modern history†one that continues to be played out on the world stage today. Categories: Religion.
Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution .
Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe, from the French Revolution to the Great Wa. Burleigh weaves together a rich miscellany of themes. A thought-provoking, deeply civilised book' KENNETH o. MORGAN, Independent 'Tackling everyone from Robespierre to Marx and Dostoevsky, the book has a sweeping ambition that is matched by its learning' ANDREW HOLGATE, Sunday Times. Recently Viewed and Featured. Resilient Liberalism in Europe's Political Economy.
In Earthly Powers, Michael Burleigh surveys the roughly 125 years indicated by the book's subtitle and describes the ongoing .
In Earthly Powers, Michael Burleigh surveys the roughly 125 years indicated by the book's subtitle and describes the ongoing struggle between the secular, political powers and the several traditional. It provides a good history of the century or so between the French Revolution and the Great War, but the tone of the book is often more judgmental than analytical.
In this book, Michael Burleigh gives us a history of the battles over religion in modern Europe. The overall effect was a widespread increase in secularism and a demystification of the power of politics. Examining the ways in which politics and religion have influenced each other over the last two hundred years, he reveals that throughout history the two realms have interacted in complex and sometimes lethal ways - just as they still do today. Read associated article: Charles Fourier.
Michael Burleigh was born on 3 April 1955. Earthly Powers: Religion and Politics in Europe from the French Revolution to the Great War (HarperCollins, 2005). He was awarded a first class honours degree in Medieval and Modern History from University College London in 1977, winning the Pollard, Dolley and Sir William Mayer Prizes. Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from the European Dictators to Al Qaeda (HarperCollins, 2006). ISBN 978-0-00-719574-9. Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism (Harper Collins, 2008). Moral Combat: A History of World War II (Harper, 2010). ISBN 978-0-00-719576-3.
In this masterful, stylish, and authoritative book, Michael Burleigh gives us an epic history of the battles over religion in modern Europe. Examining the ways in which politics and religion have influenced each other over the last two hundred years, he reveals that throughout history the two realms have interacted in complex and sometimes lethal ways -- just as they still do today. The overall effect was a widespread increase in secularism and a demystification of the power of politics.
With dazzling scope, Burleigh encompasses the philosophies of the Enlightenment and the influence of thinkers like Maistre and Bonald and Lamennais, painters like Zoffany and David, the Catholic Emancipation hero O'Connell, as well as the pseudo-religious aspects of Marxism. While the nineteenth century saw the replacement of the confessional by the liberal state, it also saw the birth of ideological fanaticisms that would achieve enormous power in the twentieth century. As the state began to colonize areas of existence where it previously hadn't ventured, it laid the foundations for both the soft totalitarianism of the modern bureaucratic welfare state and the more sinister police states of Communists and National Socialists. The most violent and repressive of these systems mimicked many of the functions of religion. Although liberalism was eventually restored to the continent in 1945 and 1989, many of the themes that Burleigh highlights here, notably the need for civic religions, have assumed a terrible relevance as Europe reacts to the threat of Al Qaeda.
Earthly Powers is a magisterial history that sheds new light on the momentous struggles between church and state, from the French Revolution to the totalitarian movements of the twentieth century. Written with astonishing breadth and sophistication, this is a uniquely powerful portrait of one of the great tensions in modern history, one that continues to be played out on the world stage today.