Politics, Radicalism and Anglo-German Relations: The Reception of Ernst Moritz Arndt in Early 19th-Century Britain

Abstract

This essay presents the early reception of Ernst Moritz Arndt in Britain. Retrieving this largely forgotten engagement with Arndt, and engagement of Arndt as it turns out, provides two insights. On a more general level it illustrates the influence of political constellations and political expediency on the introduction and reception of authors and texts. On a more specific level, it gives an insight into the engagement of young English liberals with the (radical) political thinking of the German Wars of Liberation, especially with its liberal and spiritual aspects, and its efforts to exert influence in a growing and increasingly powerful public sphere. 1