The Question Of German Unification

The course of recent German history has been volatile. Events in Eastern Europe, the collapse of European Communism and German Re-Unification has brought issues of Germany's status into the arena of world politics. The Question of German Unification presents an introduction to the last two hundred years of German history and addresses questions raised by the status of Germany as a single or split national state. Imanuel Geiss: * argues that Germany has fluctuated all too frequently, and catastrophically, between being the power centre of Europe or a power vacuum * describes the special features of German history and looks at Germany within a European framework * analyses the political, economic and social aspects of German Nationalism as well as the impact of the collapse of Communism on Germany, through detailing long-term structures and processes * includes discussion of recent political events as well as a chronology and further reading. Imanuel Geiss reflects on the irrationalities of German history, surveys how they have been explained by historians, and provides a succinct and readable account of the complex issues involved.

In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the victors were unable to agree on Germany’s fate, and the separation of the country—the result of the nascent Cold War—emerged as a de facto, if provisional, settlement. Yet East and West Germany would exist apart for half a century, making the "German question" a central foreign policy issue—and given the war-torn history between the two countries, this was felt no more keenly than in France. Drawing on the most recent historiography and previously untapped archival sources, this volume shows how France’s approach to the German question was, for the duration of the Cold War, both more constructive and consequential than has been previously acknowledged.

An examination of the origins of the wars of German unification which covers such subjects as the international situation and the domestic crisis and gives a detailed account of the wars and their ramifications for Europe and Germany itself. The text pays particular attention to the personality of Bismarck as a leader and his Prussian-centred policy and the ways in which he ensured that no fanatical ideologies would turn the wars into totalitarian conquests.

The 'German Question,' long a subject of debate, is considered here at the close of a turbulent century, after Germany's defeat in two world wars, the Weimar failure and Nazi disaster, Cold War division, and the nation's unexpected recent reunification. This book systematically explores the issue in terms of its four central dimensions: Germany's identity, national unity, power, and role in world politics. Ambitious in conception and meticulous in execution, Dirk Verheyen's wide-ranging analysis incorporates historical and geopolitical considerations in an intellectually rigorous yet accessible discussion.

Focuses on German-American relations since 1945, including discussion of the postwar occupation of Germany by the Western allies and the Soviet Union.

This volume, together with its predeccessor (Ideas and Institutions, 1969), is an examinataion of the social and economic foreces that helped shape Germany in the mid-nineteenth century. The previous volume established the ideological and institutional framework; in Struggles and Accomplishments Mr. Hamerow discussess, within that framework, the forma nd achievement of German unification. Using documentation from business, artisan, and workers' organizations, the press, and government archives, Mr. Hamerow considers the changes effected by the growth of an industrial society: among them, the new, mid-century confrontation between the established order (the crown and aristocracy) and the advocates of change (the propertied and educated bourgeoisie). The German Empire was, lie shows, the product of an unwritten compromise between the two groups, ready now to sacrifice the ideological principles that separated them for economic and political expediency. Originally published in 1972. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.