Germany's way to defeat the World War II historical revisionism
After World War II, the German government and society's reflection on Nazi history was widely praised by the international community and also helped realize European integration. In recent years, Professor Sun Wenpei has been dedicated to studying Germany's "overcoming the past," aiming to present the grand process of Germany's reflection on Nazi and World War II history more clearly to Chinese readers. His research is divided into three parts.
War reparations are the external manifestation of Germany's reflection on World War II responsibilities. The German government and enterprises have "atoned" for World War II crimes through continuous reparations to the victorious countries and victims. His monograph "History of German War Reparations after World War II," published in 2023, is the first comprehensive study in domestic and international academia on "victor reparations" and "victim reparations" paid by Germany after World War II. It argues that Germany's World War II reparations are the longest-lasting, most wide-ranging, and highest-paying war reparations in history, with "victim reparations" replacing "victor reparations" as the focus of war reparations.
Germany is the only country in the world that has set "reflecting on guilt" as the main tone of historical education. Historical education is the fundamental driving force behind Germany's reflection on World War II responsibilities, explaining why generations of Germans born after World War II are still willing to bear "collective guilt." Starting from the "re-education" during the occupation period, he studies historical education ideas, educational systems, educational activities, and teaching methods focusing on Nazism and the Holocaust.
World War II historical revisionism is a pan-politicized historical thought and social trend. It reflects that Germany's reflection on World War II responsibilities was neither immediate nor smooth sailing but a major issue of long-term debate within Germany. After Dresden declared a "Nazi emergency" in 2019, the applicant began to focus on and research German World War II historical revisionism, proposing for the first time in academia the "three-step argument" of German right-wing World War II historical revisionism: the theory of military and civilian innocence, the theory of relative guilt, and the theory of bombing massacres.
During his stay at the ZZF Professor Sun is a visiting fellow of the directorate.
Sun Wenpei is a professor at the School of Marxism at China University of Geosciences. He received his PhD in History from Wuhan University in 2010 and was appointed a professor at China University of Geosciences in 2021. His main research areas are modern German history, German history education, German historical thought, and modern Chinese history. He has presided over several scientific research projects of the Chinese government and the Ministry of Education, participated in the translation and publishing projects of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, and is currently serving as the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Society for the Study of German History.
He has visited Germany twice for study. From 2003 to 2004, he studied at the Department of Law and Economics of the University of Mainz, and from 2012 to 2013, he conducted postdoctoral research at the Department of Education of the University of Cologne.