Imperial Germany 1867-1918
Politics, Culture, and Society in an Authoritarian State
Description:... The German Empire owed its existence to a 'revolution from above', but in time its citizens came to perceive it as the embodiment of the German nation state. The imperial period saw the formation of the principal institutional structures that have continued to govern life in Germany, and thefoundations of present-day cultural life. Yet the German Empire never broke free from the shackles of its origins; it remained a state distorted by authoritarianism. All areas of life were affected and a widening gulf opened between the political system and society, putting at risk the verygovernability of the Empire. It was in these conditions that Germany went to war in 1914, a conflict that ended with the collapse of the Hohenzollern monarchy and revolution. The studies in this book are the harvest of more than 20 years intensive research into the history of the German Empire byone of Germany's leading historians. Taken together, they offer a cogent analysis of the main developments and issues in a formative and portentous period of Germany's history. Key features: Mommsen has important things to say on well-worn topics, such as the Origins of World War I, and freshinsights to offer on less familiar topics, such as Wilhelmine political and artistic culture Imperial Germany is the subject of a lively and continuing debate amongst historians Mommsen is one of the foremost scholars in the field
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