A history of the rise and fall of united Germany, which lasted only 75 years from its establishment by Bismark in 1870. Suitable for A Level and upwards. In the OXFORD HISTORY OF MODERN EUROPE series.
The first of these have essays on the political history of Germany from 1770 to 1866, on new Bismarck biographies by British, American and East German historians, on the reign of William II as seen by the novelist Heinrich Mann and the sociologist Max Weber, on Germany and the First World War, on the architects Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Gottfried Semper, and on Thomas Mann's diaries and new biographies.".
“A fine survey of how a nation came to be recognized for its military supremacy—despite losing two world wars.” —Midwest Book Review In the decades leading up to World War II, the world was in awe of the Prussian-German military, seeking to emulate what esteemed German military history scholar Robert M. Citino has termed “the German Way of War.” Military professionals around the globe became fluent in the tactical jargon: bewegungskrieg, schwerpunckt, auftragstaktik, fingerspitzengefuhl, and of course, blitzkrieg. At the same time, German warfare would become closely associated with the bloodiest and cruelest era in the history of mankind. The German Wars: A Concise History, 1859–1945 outlines the history of European warfare from the Wars of German Unification to the end of World War II. Author Michael A. Palmer looks at political, social, economic, and military developments across Europe and the United States during this crucial period in world history in order to demonstrate the lasting impact of the German Wars on the modern age. “Palmer has succeeded in creating an outstanding short history of the German wars that influenced the development of Europe and the world in the 19th and 20th centuries. It’s a terrific introduction and overview of the subject.” —Armchair General “A provocative look at the methods that Germany used to wage war, and why ultimately they failed.” —Military Heritage “This is an excellent book . . . highly readable. It would be an excellent addition to the library of any military historian, public library, university library as well as personal collection of persons with interest in European or Trans-Atlantic History.” —Kepler’s Military History Book Reviews
Originally published in English in 1986, this book offers a concise summary of the contribution Fritz Fischer and his school made to German historiography in the 20th century and in particular draws attention to continuity in the development and power structures of the German Reich between 1871 and 1945. After 1866 the traditional elites wanted to avoid fundamental changes in society, expecting a victorious war to secure their own position at home and to broaden the European base of the German Reich. Even as the Blitzkrieg expectations foundered, these ambitions persisted beyond 1918. In the face of working-class hostility, these elites were unable to mobilize mass support for their interests, but Hitler fashioned a mass party. The alliance between these unequal partners led to the Third Reich but with its collapse in 1945 the Prusso-German Reich came to an end. Only with the German Federal Republic did the liberal-democratic traditions of German history again come into their own.
First published in Germany to popular and critical acclaim, this is a unique portrait of the life and work of Theodor Fontane, the greatest German novelist of his age, as well as a major poet and theater critic and much loved travel writer. Gordon A. Craig, one of the foremost scholars of German history, interpolates a cohesive historical biography of Fontane with his own reflections on the art, culture, and politics of Fontane's world. The ideas and impressions of Fontane and Craig echo one another throughout the book in compelling and fascinating ways. Fontane's travel accounts of Scotland and Prussia are enriched by Craig's discussion of Germany's increasingly national vision of itself and the world at the time of unification. Similarly, Craig's mastery of German military history dovetails remarkably well with Fontane's reportage on Germany's wars with Denmark, Austria, and France. Interesting are Fontane's ruminations over his great contemporary Otto von Bismarck, whom he revered as founder of the Reich but whose policies he feared would in the end be self-defeating. Although Fontane's Wanderings through the Mark Brandenburg and his novels are more widely read in Germany today than they were in his own time, and although his masterpiece Effi Briest was the basis for a famous Fassbinder film, Fontane remains little known in the English-speaking world. Theodor Fontane is the ideal introduction to this major European writer, a master of social analysis and one of the great letter writers of his age.
Covering the entire period of modern German history - from nineteenth-century imperial Germany right through the present - this well-established text presents a balanced, general survey of the country's political division in 1945 and runs through its reunification in the present. Detailing foreign policy as well as political, economic and social developments, A History of Modern Germany presents a central theme of the problem of asymmetrical modernization in the country's history as it fully explores the complicated path of Germany's troubled past and stable present.
This history of German-speaking central Europe offers a very wide perspective, emphasizing a succession of many-layered communal identities. It highlights the interplay of individual, society, culture and political power, contrasting German with Western patterns. Rather than treating 'the Germans' as a collective whole whose national history amounts to a cumulative biography, the book presents the pre-modern era of the Holy Roman Empire; the nineteenth century; the 1914–45 era of war, dictatorship and genocide; and the Cold War and post-Cold War eras since 1945 as successive worlds of German life, thought and mentality. This book's 'Germany' is polycentric and multicultural, including the multinational Austrian Habsburg Empire and the German Jews. Its approach to National Socialism offers a conceptually new understanding of the Holocaust. The book's numerous illustrations reveal German self-presentations and styles of life, which often contrast with Western ideas of Germany.
They have given mankind unique triumphs in science, literature, philosophy, music, and art. They have also produced Hitler and the Holocaust. They are romantic and conservative, idealistic and practical, proud and insecure, ruthless and good-natured. They are, in short, the Germans. In this definitive history, Professor Gordon A. Craig, one of the world’s premier authorities on Germany, comes to grips with the complex paradoxes at the heart of the German identity. His masterly study explores the roots of many contemporary institutions in German history and closely examines such topics as religion, money, Germans and Jews, women, professors and students, romantics, literature and society, soldiers, Berlin, and the German language. Craig also discusses the events surrounding the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification, while offering invaluable insights into Germany’s pivotal role in world affairs for over a century.