Germany 1916 23

During the last four decades the German Revolution 1918/19 has only attracted little scholarly attention. This volume offers new cultural historical perspectives, puts this revolution into a wider time frame (1916-23), and coheres around three interlinked propositions: (i) acknowledging that during its initial stage the German Revolution reflected an intense social and political challenge to state authority and its monopoly of physical violence, (ii) it was also replete with »Angst«-ridden wrangling over its longer-term meaning and direction, and (iii) was characterized by competing social movements that tried to cultivate citizenship in a new, unknown state.

This multi-volume series in six parts is the first English-language translation of Der Weltkrieg, the German official history of the First World War. Originally produced between 1925 and 1944 using classified archival records that were destroyed in the aftermath of the Second World War, Der Weltkrieg is the inside story of Germany’s experience on the Western front. Recorded in the words of its official historians, this account is vital to the study of the war and official memory in Weimar and Nazi Germany. Although exciting new sources have been uncovered in former Soviet archives, this work remains the basis of future scholarship. It is essential reading for any scholar, graduate student, or enthusiast of the Great War. This volume, the second to be published, covers the outbreak of war in July–August 1914, the German invasion of Belgium, the Battles of the Frontiers, and the pursuit to the Marne in early September 1914. The first month of war was a critical period for the German army and, as the official history makes clear, the German war plan was a gamble that seemed to present the only solution to the riddle of the two-front war. But as the Moltke-Schlieffen Plan was gradually jettisoned through a combination of intentional command decisions and confused communications, Germany’s hopes for a quick and victorious campaign evaporated.

This new Companion covers one of the most devastating conflicts in modern history. The Great War traumatised a generation and shaped the whole of the twentieth century. Speaking as loudly as any first-hand account, the facts and figures laid out in this volume reveal the sheer massive destruction caused by the war. Covering all aspects of the conflict from its origins and course to the peace settlements and the crises they generated, Colin Nicolson unravels historical controversies and also considers the social, cultural and economic consequences of the war for the whole of Europe. Containing all the essential facts and figures this Companion will be greatly welcomed by teachers, academics and students alike.

Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Foreword -- Overview of the Armenian Genocide -- Bibliography -- Notes On Using the Documents -- The Documents -- Glossary -- Index

How did millions of middle-class Germans come to support extreme nationalist and anti-democratic groups during the Weimar Republic? This troubling and pointedly argued book addresses this question through a targeted case study of Hof, a small Bavarian town, in the five years after the First World War. During this tumultuous period, a series of devastating crises and violent confrontations discredited the representatives of democratic liberalism and handed the initiative to a reinvigorated radical Right. Crucially, these crises were understood by Hof’s inhabitants as part of a broader “European Civil War” unleashed by the Russian Revolution and Treaty of Versailles. This detailed and disturbing study will be read with profit by students and scholars of modern history who seek new insights into the rise of the Nazis, and into the processes of popular radicalisation that did so much to bring about the destruction of the Weimar Republic.

This unique account of the Jutland story is the first to deal exclusively and in depth with the German perspective of the battle which took place on 31 May to 1 June 1916. The author has used a wealth of original untapped source material on German views and accounts. Illustrated with detailed action charts representing ship movements, together with accurate scale drawings and silhouettes of all major warships and classes from both sides, this book fills an important gap in the history and understanding of this great action.