The historical study of Protestantism is often limited to internal or national discussions. Yet a broader, international look means also studying the major upheavals that occurred throughout the world, such as wars and globalisation.This volume first reviews the history of the church in the 20th century from an international and interdisciplinary vantage point and takes a look at the most important themes and conflicts that marked that often tension-filled time, among others the two world wars, globalisation, the broad number of continuities and discontinuities, the influence of the 1960s on social life, and the debate on the role of gender in the history of Christianity.With contributions by H. Lehmann, H. McLeod, A.V. Tønnessen, U. Østergaard, M. Greschat, N. Hope, M. Tomka (), H. Oelke, K.-J. Hummel, D. Thorkildsen, K. Koschorke, K. Ward, E. Gebremedhin and V. Mortensen.

Autorentext
Dr. Harry Oelke ist Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Universität München und Vorsitzender der Evangelischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte. Professor Dr. phil., Dr. theol. h.c. mult. Hartmut Lehmann ist em. Professor für Geschichte der Neuzeit an der Universität Kiel. Hartmut Lehmann war von 1987 - 1993 Gründungsdirektor des Deutschen Historischen Instituts in Washington, D.C. und 1993 - 2004 Direktor am Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte in Göttingen. Seit 1993 ist Lehmann Mitglied der Göttinger Akademie der Wissenschaften und Foreign Honorary Member der American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Dr. theol. h.c. der Universitäten Basel, Helsinki und Lund. Dr. Martin Greschat lehrte als Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Universität Gießen. Prof. Koschorke ist Kirchenhistoriker. Dr. Katharina Kunter ist Professorin für Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Helsinki. Dr. Jens Holger Schjørring ist em. Professor für Kirchengeschichte an der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Aarhus, Dänemark, und Mitglied der Evangelischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte.

Leseprobe
The historical investigation of Protestantism has frequently been confined to an internal national framework; and yet Church history of the twentieth century provides ample evidence for the fact that national tendencies have to be interpreted against the background of international developments, and cannot be adequately assessed in isolation.The present volume is an attempt to take this seriously. It contains contributions by scholars from many countries, mostly European. They represent various disciplines: History, Sociology and Church history. The book has four chapters: (1) Transformations and historical turning points in the twentieth century; (2) The world wars and their repercussions for the churches; (3) The post-war period. Totalitarian ideologies as a challenge for the churches; (4) 'Christian Europe'? - Globalization - internationalization.