The Civil Code and The Transformation of German Society; The Politics of Gender Inequality, 1814-1919

Crosby, Margaret Barber. 'The Civil Code and the Transformation of German Society: The Politics of Gender Inequality, 1814-1919.' PhD Diss., Brown University, 2001.

408 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2021

Date Written: May 1, 2001

Abstract

This dissertation examines the efforts of German liberals to reform Central Europe's legal system from the mid-1810s to 1900. As reactionary conservatives regained power after Napoleon's defeat in 1815, German liberals explored alternative avenues for political expression and reform. Detoured by the Restoration, they weighed the long-term prospects for reform and resolved to pursue a slower yet equally energetic course, by initiating a cultural project to anchor republicanism in the hearts and minds of Germans as well as German law. In this, legal scholars cooperated closely with romantic writers. Accordingly, this study focuses on the development of private law, especially the German Civil Code of 1900, and what the introduction of modern civil law in Central Europe reveals about the course of German liberalism and liberal political theory. Examining the legal institutionalization of 'modern' gender relations, it argues that 'liberals' achieved considerable success in reforming Germany into the republican civil society they envisioned.

Keywords: German Civil Code, private law, liberalism, German history, gender, republicanism

Suggested Citation

Crosby-Arnold, PhD, Margaret, The Civil Code and The Transformation of German Society; The Politics of Gender Inequality, 1814-1919 (May 1, 2001). Crosby, Margaret Barber. 'The Civil Code and the Transformation of German Society: The Politics of Gender Inequality, 1814-1919.' PhD Diss., Brown University, 2001., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3794321

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