Eric Kurlander received his PhD from Harvard University and is now Assistant Professor of Modern European History at Stetson University. He has published articles on liberalism, anti-Semitism and political culture in Imperial and Weimar Germany, he authored a book studying the fate of bourgeois republicans in the Third Reich, Living With Hitler: Liberal Democrats Between Resistance and Collaboration, 1933-1945 (Yale UP, 2009).

“…the very fact that his book raises so many follow-up questions is testimony to the value of his research and the stimulating tone of his book.” • German Studies Review“Kurlander scrutinizes the role of ethnicity in German liberal thought more acutely than previous studies have done. This angle determines the role of antisemitism in German liberalism anew, which is important and a vital correction to the established image.” • Journal of Contemporary History

• AcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1. The Genesis of Völkisch Liberalism in Schleswig-Holstein, 1898–1918IntroductionVölkisch and Universalist Paradigms of Regional IdentityA National and Social LiberalismThe Schücking Affair and Breaking the Bülow Bloc, 1907–1912Nationalism, Ethnic Preoccupations, and the Coming of WarConclusionChapter 2. Decisive Liberalism and the Challenges of Völkisch-Nationalism in Silesia, 1898-1918IntroductionJews, Poles, and Other Silesians“Decisive Liberalism” Challenged, 1898–1907“A Liberalism Which Does Not Deserve Its Name”The Divisiveness of Total WarConclusionChapter 3. Republican Particularism and the Creation of an Alsatian Liberal Counterculture, 1898-1918IntroductionThe Origins of Republican ParticularismLiberal Unity and the End of Opposition, 1898–1907Striking A Blow for “Progress”: The Fortschrittspartei Takes the ReinsAlsace at WarConclusionChapter 4. The Strengths and Weaknesses of Völkisch Liberalism in Schleswig-Holstein, 1918-1933IntroductionThe Apotheosis of Völkisch LiberalismThe Challenges of Preserving Liberal Democracy, 1918–1924Völkisch Liberalism and the Bürgerblock, 1924–1928Völkisch Liberalism on the Brink, 1928–1933ConclusionChapter 5. The Price of Universalism in Weimar Silesia, 1918–1933IntroductionVölkisch Ideologies and Universalist Minorities within Silesian LiberalismDecisive Liberalism Divided, 1919–1922Solidarity and Decline, 1922–1928The Search for Alternatives: A Last Chance for Silesian LiberalismConclusionChapter 6.The Victory of Republican Particularism in Alsace, 1918–1933IntroductionThe Question of Autonomy: Race, Culture, and Identity in the Third RepublicBe Careful What You Wish For: The Liberals Embrace the RepublicThe Autonomist Challenge 1924–1930The Republican Settlement 1930–1933ConclusionConclusionBibliographyIndex