German Historical Perspectives - Böcker

This book is an impressive collection of essays that examines the economic crisis and political collapse that took place in Weimar Germany from 1924 to 1933.

The origins of the First World War continue to be a matter of controversy even a generation after the Fischer Debate. This volume excels in the breadth of its approach and will be indispensable to those teaching and writing on pre-1914 Europe.

Edited by Klaus J. BadeThis volume summarises the debate about the causes of population changes, labour and migration in Germany. The authors show that the large influx of foreign workers during the last twenty-five years is only the latest manifestation of a long-term trend whose roots can be traced as far back as the early 19th century.

Examining the social, cultural and political foundations of German political parties past and present, this book concentrates on the social context in which the parties operate. German political parties are examined both at regional level and in historical perspective.

This book is a collection of essays by West German political scientists showing the processes which led to the unification of Germany in 1990. The authors analyse in detail the sequence of events from the opening of the Berlin Wall to the incorporation of East Germany in the Federal Republic. There are also detailed discussions of economic unification and the implications of German unification for the future of the European Community and defence arrangements in Europe.

This book presents the views of a number of distinguished German military historians on the problems of civil-military relations in Germany and France in the period from the Franco-Prussian War to the French occupation of Germany after 1945. It compares the origins, recruitment and political attitudes of the respective countries' officer corps and considers the impact of defeat on both of them - in the French case after 1940, and in the German case after 1918. The authors discuss the role of the French and German navies in politics and the impact of the military on foreign policy in both nations during the period between the two world wars.

Twentieth-century Europe, especially Central Eastern Europe, has been largely defined by Russia and Germany. In this century, cultural and economic exchanges between the two countries were as active as the fires of hatred intense. The smaller states in between, with their unstable borders and internal minorities, suffered from the powers' alliances and their antagonisms. This volume of new research in political and cultural history examines the two powers' turbulent relationship, including the pre-1914 era of exchange and cooperation; the projects of modernity in post-revolutionary Russia and Weimar Germany; the struggle for dominance over Central Europe in World War II; and mutual views of Germans and Russians after 1945. In the wake of the crucial events of 1989 and the transformation of German-Russian relations, it asks whether the configuration of Russian-German relations that once dominated twentieth-century Europe has now dissolved, leaving us to find new ways of cooperation between 'New Russia' and 'New Europe'.

This book aims to broaden readers' understanding of the issues now facing the European Union by explaining the motivation underpinning the process of integration in Western Europe after 1945. The contributors discuss: - the part played by the Federal Republic of Germany; - the role of ideas and political movements in stimulating policy; - the economic interest of West Germany and West German business; and - the strategic aspects of Germany's policy. Also included is a German view of French and British attitudes toward a unified Europe and a discussion of the social history of integration.

Distinguished German historians and journalists examine Germany's new position in Europe after unification in relation to its neighbouring states since 1871 and its role in furthering European integration since 1949. The authors ask: - Does Germany need a new foreign policy? Have her priorities changed in the light of the end of the Cold War? - Does Germany need to define her own national interests rather than identifying herself with the European Union?Contributors: G. Gillessen, G. Schollgen, J. Fest, J. Thies, J. Joffe, C. Bertram, H.-P. Schwarz

Postwar German culture -- East and West -- and the political implications of various cultural developments are the focus of this provocative study by some of Germany's leading cultural and intellectual historians. Many of the contributors -- Herman Glaser and Kurt Sontheimer, in particular -- have played important roles in the development of cultural activities in the Federal Republic and offer an insider's perspective on the literature, architecture, performing arts, theatre and cinema of this tumultuous period.Another insider, distinguished biomathematical scholar Jens Reich, renowned for his personal struggle for civil rights in the former German Democratic Republic and for his presidential candidacy in the last German elections, analyses the political culture of the former GDR and the relationship between East and West Germans. This book offers students and scholars a vivid picture of politics and culture during a unique period in German history.

This book aims to broaden readers' understanding of the issues now facing the European Union by explaining the motivation underpinning the process of integration in Western Europe after 1945. The contributors discuss: - the part played by the Federal Republic of Germany; - the role of ideas and political movements in stimulating policy; - the economic interest of West Germany and West German business; and - the strategic aspects of Germany's policy. Also included is a German view of French and British attitudes toward a unified Europe and a discussion of the social history of integration.

Professor Hans Mommsen, one of the world's leading experts on the history of the Third Reich, has gathered together a group of historians who are engaged in pioneering research into national socialism. This book covers such topics as the Viennese background to Hitler's career; the development of fascist tendencies amongst the German population during the Weimar period; the nature of popular support for national socialism; the myth of the Nazi economic boom and the ideological concepts and political developments which culminated in the mass murder of European Jews. It makes accessible to a wider public controversial arguments which have resulted from recent reassessments of Hitler's movement and his Nazi regime.

Until very recently Germany has frequently been characterized as the 'country without revolution', and the catastrophies of its recent history have been attributed to the lack of successful modernizing impulses. This series of essays by leading German scholars explores the effects of revolutions upon German history from 1789 to 1989 - the date of Germany's 'peaceful revolution' - and discusses the fundamental questions of reform and revolution, the effects of war, counter-revolution and defeat on the social process of modernization. The book not only examines the revolutions of 1789, 1848, 1918 and 1989, but equally focuses on the great reform periods, the 'revolutions from above'. It analyzes the significance of World War I for revolutionizing German society, the nature of the 'national-socialist revolution', and the effects of the 1945 defeat on new beginnings in a divided Germany. It offers, on the basis of up-to-date research, stimulating debates about fundamental problems of German history.The authors count among the leading German scholars of their generation, including Peter Brandt, Rudiger Hachtmann, Jurgen Kocka, Wolfgang Kruse, Hans Mommsen, Hans-Ulrich Wehler and Heinrich-August Winkler.

How true is it that National Socialism led to an ideologically distorted pseudo-science? What was the relationship between the regime funding 'useful' scientific projects and the scientists offering their expertise? And what happened to the German scientific community after 1945, especially to those who betrayed and denounced Jewish colleagues? In recent years, the history of the sciences in the Third Reich has become a field of growing importance, and the in-depth research of a new generation of German scholars provides us with new, important insights into the Nazi system and the complicated relationship between an elite and the dictatorship. This book portrays the attitudes of scientists facing National Socialism and war and uncovers the continuities and discontinuities of German science from the beginning of the twentieth century to the postwar period. It looks at ideas, especially the Humboldtian concept of the university; examines major disciplines such as eugenics, pathology, biochemistry and aeronautics, as well as technologies such as biotechnology and area planning; and it traces the careers of individual scientists as actors or victims.The striking results of these investigations fill a considerable gap in our knowledge of the Third Reich but also of the postwar role of German scientists within Germany and abroad.

How true is it that National Socialism led to an ideologically distorted pseudo-science? What was the relationship between the regime funding 'useful' scientific projects and the scientists offering their expertise? And what happened to the German scientific community after 1945, especially to those who betrayed and denounced Jewish colleagues? In recent years, the history of the sciences in the Third Reich has become a field of growing importance, and the in-depth research of a new generation of German scholars provides us with new, important insights into the Nazi system and the complicated relationship between an elite and the dictatorship. This book portrays the attitudes of scientists facing National Socialism and war and uncovers the continuities and discontinuities of German science from the beginning of the twentieth century to the postwar period. It looks at ideas, especially the Humboldtian concept of the university; examines major disciplines such as eugenics, pathology, biochemistry and aeronautics, as well as technologies such as biotechnology and area planning; and it traces the careers of individual scientists as actors or victims.The striking results of these investigations fill a considerable gap in our knowledge of the Third Reich but also of the postwar role of German scientists within Germany and abroad.

This book tackles head on the central problems of writing German post-war history in the aftermath of unification. Since 1990, historians have been debating whether the development of the Federal Republic and the East German State constituted separate histories or whether they share what should be considered a joint past. This book addresses the specific forms of segregation and interconnectedness between the 'twoGermanies' and acknowledges the asymmetry of the relationship, as well as the effect that this had on the internal and external policies of both sides. This is a book that confronts the need for historiography to break away from the traditional master narrative. It offers an alternative in the form of the differing points of view necessary to gain a new perspective on the central problem of a separate, yet joint, German post-war history. Drawing on both methodological and historiographicalapproaches, authors tackle this vexed problem in the context of generational and woman's history, secularization, the labour movement, and the legitimization of the "workers' state", and culminate by addressing the perennial question: how does a nation live with catastrophe?'Includes both programmatic statements and examples of work from a German national perspective ...For Klessmann, although the two states were separate entities, their histories were nonetheless inextricably interconnected. He believes that by exploring the influence of each German state on the other, much can be learned about the postwar Germanies ...According to Klessmann,the West was present in the East in a variety of ways, but perhaps most importantly as "an image transmitted via the media and relatives that served as a constant point of reference for East Germans judging their standard of living".'Journal of Modern History, Volume 75, Number 3, September 2003

For many people, urbanization and the growth of big cities promised new lives, employment opportunities and increased prosperity. And in the long run this fundamental process of social change witnessed the spread of a new urban way of life. In the short run, however, the rapid urbanization of German society brought a range of pressing social, political and environmental concerns. Rapidly expanding cities meant overcrowding, sickness, pollution and growing inequality between the rich and poor. While some of these problems were largely overcome in the course of the twentieth century, German cities faced new challenges due to the Nazi dictatorship, the bombing of World War II, and the interventions of city planners in both the GDR and the Federal Republic.This book explores the nature and impact of Germany's urbanization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and emphasizes the range of solutions and reforms, both private and governmental, introduced to address these issues. What did these new cities look like? How did they develop? Who ran them? How were cities perceived by their inhabitants?Exploring these and other key questions, this book makes a vital new contribution to studies of urbanization, one of the most fundamental factors in the creation of the modern era.

Professor Hans Mommsen, one of the world's leading experts on the history of the Third Reich, has gathered together a group of historians who are engaged in pioneering research into national socialism. This book covers such topics as the Viennese background to Hitler's career; the development of fascist tendencies amongst the German population during the Weimar period; the nature of popular support for national socialism; the myth of the Nazi economic boom and the ideological concepts and political developments which culminated in the mass murder of European Jews. It makes accessible to a wider public controversial arguments which have resulted from recent reassessments of Hitler's movement and his Nazi regime.

How did German society perceive the European East during the short twentieth century? What were the mental maps Germans constructed as their images of the European East? How did these images alter over time due to changing political systems and to what extent did those mental perceptions influence political action and the relationship between Germany and Eastern Europe?Tackling questions such as these, this book looks at the complicated relationship between Germany and the European East. Politically significant, this relationship was often fraught with tension, always delicate and never easy. The book looks at the social, cultural and political contexts that shaped the German image of the East during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the Federal Republic. In addition, it charts the mental maps that German society constructed with respect to single constituent parts of Eastern Europe, such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Baltic States and the Soviet Union.The contributors consider how the relationship was transformed from one of hostility to one more conciliatory in character by the end of the twentieth century.