Prof. Dr. Boris Barth

At the beginning of September, we received the sad news that our dear colleague, favorite teacher, and versatile historian Prof. Dr. Boris Barth passed away on 4th September after a serious illness. He studied history and philosophy at the Heinrich-Heine-Universität in Düsseldorf. He worked on the so-called Dolchstosslegende as a symbol of political disintegration in Germany after World War I and later habilitated at the University of Konstanz. The thematic spectrum of his work was broad: from economic and political history before and after World War I, through research on the so-called civilizing missions (and the corresponding discourses) of Western empires, to comparative history and interpretations of genocides in the 20th century. His recent work has also focused on the historical context of current economic crises. In addition to teaching at the Universities of Düsseldorf, Konstanz, Bremen, and Prague, he was a historical advisor to the Gerling Group. At the Institute of International Studies of the FSV UK, he was repeatedly a visiting lecturer in the late 1990s, and after a long break, he was then a member of the staff of the Department of German and Austrian Studies from 2016 to 2021. From 2021, he was again a visiting lecturer at IMS.

A selection of monographs by Prof. Dr. Boris Barth:

Die deutsche Hochfinanz und die Imperialismen. Banken und Außenpolitik vor 1914. Stuttgart 1995 

Grenzenlose Märkte? Die deutsch-lateinamerikanischen Wirtschaftsbeziehungen vom Zeitalter des Imperialismus bis zur Weltwirtschaftskrise. Münster 1995

Dolchstoßlegenden und politische Desintegration. Das Trauma der deutschen Niederlage im Ersten Weltkrieg 1914–1933. Düsseldorf 2003

Zivilisierungsmissionen. Imperiale Weltverbesserung seit dem 18. Jahrhundert. Konstanz 2005

Genozid. Völkermord im 20. Jahrhundert. Geschichte, Theorien, Kontroversen. C. H. Beck, München 2006

Europa nach dem Großen Krieg. Die Krise der Demokratie in der Zwischenkriegszeit 1918–1938. Frankfurt am Main / New York 2016

Die IG Metall zwischen Wiedervereinigung und Finanzmarktkrise : Ausgewählte Ereignisse der jüngeren Gewerkschaftsgeschichte. Freiburg/Br. 2016