<P> Paul Monroe, a professor of history at Columbia University, was a member of The Inquiry--a team of American experts at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 . He drew on his experience in the Philippines to assess the educational needs of developing areas such as Albania, Turkey and central Africa . Presenting educational development as instrumental to nation - building and socioeconomic development, Monroe recommended the implementation of a progressive curriculum - with an emphasis on practical, adult, and teacher training - in a national system of education, as a basis for self - development, except in Africa . His approach shaped American cooperation with developing countries in the 1920s and modernisation efforts during the 1920s - 1930s . </P> <P> Kocka (1988) and Sheri Berman are historians who emphasise the central importance of a German Sonderweg ("special path") or "exceptionalism" as the root of Nazism and the German catastrophe in the 20th century . Fritz Fischer and his students emphasised Germany's primary guilt for causing World War I . </P> <P> Hans - Ulrich Wehler, a leader of the Bielefeld School of social history, places the origins of Germany's path to disaster in the 1860s - 1870s, when economic modernisation took place, but political modernisation did not happen and the old Prussian rural elite remained in firm control of the army, diplomacy and the civil service . Traditional, aristocratic, premodern society battled an emerging capitalist, bourgeois, modernising society . Recognising the importance of modernising forces in industry and the economy and in the cultural realm, Wehler argues that reactionary traditionalism dominated the political hierarchy of power in Germany, as well as social mentalities and in class relations (Klassenhabitus). The catastrophic German politics between 1914 and 1945 are interpreted in terms of a delayed modernisation of its political structures . At the core of Wehler's interpretation is his treatment of "the middle class" and "revolution," each of which was instrumental in shaping the 20th century . Wehler's examination of Nazi rule is shaped by his concept of "charismatic domination," which focuses heavily on Adolf Hitler . </P> <P> The historiographical concept of a German Sonderweg has had a turbulent history . Scholars of the 19th century who emphasised a separate German path to modernity saw it as a positive factor that differentiated Germany from the "western path" typified by Great Britain . The stressed the strong bureaucratic state, reforms initiated by Bismarck and other strong leaders, the Prussian service ethos, the high culture of philosophy and music, and Germany's pioneering of a social welfare state . In the 1950s, historians in West Germany argued that the Sonderweg led Germany to the disaster of 1933 - 1945 . The special circumstances of German historical structures and experiences, were interpreted as preconditions that, while not directly causing National Socialism, did hamper the development of a liberal democracy and facilitate the rise of fascism . The Sonderweg paradigm has provided the impetus for at least three strands of research in German historiography: the long 19th century, the history of the bourgeoisie, and comparisons with the West . After 1990, increased attention to cultural dimensions and to comparative and relational history moved German historiography to different topics, with much less attention paid to the Sonderweg . While some historians have abandoned the Sonderweg thesis, they have not provided a generally accepted alternative interpretation . </P>

Who liberated political development from socio economic modernisation