Epstein Klaus. The Genesis of German Conservatism

Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1966. — 743 p. — ISBN: 0-691-05121-6; 0-691-10030-6Although Conservative parties did not exist in Germany until after the Napoleonic Wars, there did emerge, around 1770, traceable organized political activity and intellectual currents of a clearly Conservative character. The author argues that this movement developed as a response to the challenge of the Enlightenment in the fields of religion, socioeconomic affairs, and politics - and that this response antedated the impact of the French Revolution. Believing that Conservatism cannot be treated properly as a specialized phenomenon, or simply as an intellectual movement, Professor Epstein correlates it with the political and social forces of the time.The origins of conservatism (to 1790)The Enlightenment, the Constellation of Social Forces, and the Rise of Conservatism
Masons, llluminati, and Rosicrucians
Religious Controversies
Social Controversies
Political Controversies
Justus Moser: Portrait of a Prerevolutionary Conservative[b]The challenge of the French Revolution and Napoleon (1790-1806)Prussia from Frederick the Great to Frederick William III
The Habsburg Monarchy from Maria Theresia to Francis II
The Challenge of the French Revolution
The Conspiracy Theory of the Revolution
Rehberg and the Hannoverian School
The Napoleonic Revolution in Germany: The End of the Ecclesiastical States and the Imperial Knights
The Napoleonic Revolution in Germany: The End of the Imperial Cities and the Final Agony of the Empire
The End of the Imperial Cities.
Conclusion and ProspectusBibliographical Essay