The Unification Of Germany

In this vivid fifty-year history of Germany from 1871-1918—which inspired events that forever changed the European continent—here is the story of the Second Reich from its violent beginnings and rise to power to its calamitous defeat in the First World War. Before 1871, Germany was not yet nation but simply an idea. Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring thirty-nine individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser? How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France—all without destroying itself in the process? In this unique study of five decades that changed the course of modern history, Katja Hoyer tells the story of the German Empire from its violent beginnings to its calamitous defeat in the First World War. This often startling narrative is a dramatic tale of national self-discovery, social upheaval, and realpolitik that ended, as it started, in blood and iron.

This title examines 19th century German history in terms of the factors that most significantly affected the movement towards national unity. Social, cultural, religious, and economic changes in Germany are discussed, including the revolutionary movements of the 1840s and the rise of Prussia.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading When invoking the term "German unification," many might initially think of the tumultuous period at the end of the 20th century when communist East Germany and democratic West Germany came together to form the modern German state. However, that was technically a "reunification," because Germany was first unified as a nation-state in 1871. That unification formed a state much larger than today's Germany, stretching from Strasbourg in the Alsace region in today's France almost 1,500 kilometers to Königsberg, now Kaliningrad in contemporary Russia, on the Baltic Sea. This unified Germany was an experiment with few historical precedents. The 19th century was, indeed, the "Age of Nationalism," but German speakers had traditionally been spread out across Europe, including the Austrian Empire, loose confederations such as the Holy Roman Empire, and many other countries. German unity was a seemingly impossible dream held by nationalists for many years, but it became a reality when Prussia, the largest state in the German Confederation, pursued a deliberate and aggressive strategy to bring as many German-speaking territories under its control. That is not to say most Germans resisted unification, because even as life in an assortment of German states had some advantages, an underlying insecurity prevailed in principalities lacking overarching authority. German-speaking lands had been the sites of some of the continent's most brutal wars. Moreover, there was a growing sense of German cultural and linguistic togetherness fostered by nationalists, artists, writers, and composers. Not surprisingly, German unity in 1871 caused geopolitical ripples that reverberated for decades. Other larger European powers, such as Britain, France, and Russia, came to feel threatened by the rise of Germany. These tensions were still prevalent at the outbreak of World War I in 1914, and it became even more important in World War II. In part this was because Germany also became an economic powerhouse, fundamentally altering the global economy. Alongside the rapid expansion of the United States, trade went through a transformation that still has ramifications today. The forces driving Germany's unification in the 19th century were similar to other trends of the era, but there were many specific and contingent factors playing out before 1871. In this respect, the unification of Germany is both an unusual and unfamiliar story. The Unification of Germany: The History and Legacy of the German Empire's Establishment looks at the life and work of Germany's most famous politician and how Germany was unified. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about German unification like never before.

Analyzes the achievements of Frederick the Great and Otto von Bismarck, and explains how Bismarck, a Prussion prime minister, was able to unite all of the German states into a single empire nearly one hundred years after the death of Frederick the Great.

This book explores the role of France in the events leading up to the end of the Cold War and German unification. --from publisher description.

This study of the integration of East and West German education following the collapse of the German Democratic Republic in 1989 focuses on policy formation and implementation during this period of great social and political turbulence. It is the result of a research project undertaken shortly after the unification. The authors lived in East Germany for a full year, looking carefully at individual schools, vocational training centers, teacher colleges, and universities. They asked macro analytic questions: What are the conditions in which educational policy is successfully formulated? How is this educational policy implemented? What are the consequences of this policy? From the start, West Germany demanded a complete dismantling of the educational system in the former German Democratic Republic. West German political leaders insisted as a condition of unification that all important agreements concerning education made by the GDR states be accepted by the new states. The authors' research shows that even before the unification East Germans had already opted for a system consistent with West German education law. However, the West Germans disregarded these changes and imposed their own version of reform on East Germany. The study reveals that in this period of confusion the East Germans did not fully analyze the implications of the imposed conditions, which now have unforeseen negative consequences. The German situation is of great interest to all educators, particularly students of educational policy making, as well as researchers in political science, economics, and sociology.