Long Nineteenth Century A History Of Ger

In the late eighteenth century, German-speaking Europe was a patchwork of principalities and lordships. Most people lived in the countryside, and just half survived until their late twenties. By the beginning of our own century, unified Germany was the most powerful state in Europe. No longer a provincial "land of poets and thinkers," the country had been transformed into an industrial and military giant with an advanced welfare system.

The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918, is a masterful account of this transformation. Spanning 150 years, from the eve of the French Revolution to the end of World War I, it introduces students to crucial areas of German social and cultural history -- demography and social structure, work and leisure, education and religion -- while providing a comprehensive account of political events. The text explains how Germany came to be unified, and the consequences of that unification. It describes the growing role of the state and new ways in which rulers asserted their authority, but questions clichés about German "obedience." It also looks at the ways in which the factory, the railway, and the movement into towns created new social relations and altered perceptions of time and place. Drawing on a generation of work devoted to migration, housing, crime, medicine, and popular culture, Blackbourn offers a powerful and original account of a changing society, trying to do justice to the experiences of contemporary Germans, both women and men. Informed by the latest scholarship, The Long Nineteenth Century: A History of Germany, 1780-1918, provides a complete and up-to-date alternative to conventional political histories of this period and is essential reading for undergraduates in German history and political science courses.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [527]-547) and index.

List of Maps

List of Tables and Figures

List of Plates

Preface

Acknowledgments

Prologue: Germany in the Late Eighteenth Century

Small Worlds

Political Fragmentation and the Territorial State

The Forces of Social and Cultural Change

PART ONE: The Age of Revolutions, 1789-1848

Chapter 1. In the Shadow of France

The French Revolution in Germany

The Impact of War

Reform from Above

Chapter 2. Germany in Transition

Rulers, States, Identities

A Changing Society

The Development of Political Life

Chapter 3. The Revolutions of 1848-9

From Spring to Autumn

Counter-Revolution and 'Second Revolution'

The Causes of Failure

PART TWO: The Age of Progress, 1849-80

Chapter 4. Economy and Society Transformed

Industrialization

Emigration, Migration, Urbanization

A New Class Structure

Chapter 5. From Reaction to Unification

The Age of Reaction and the New Era

The Making of a United Germany

Division and Consolidation

Chapter 6. Progress and its Discontents

The Culture of Progress

Religion

Doubts and Anxieties

PART THREE: The Age of Modernity, 1880-1914

Chapter 7. 'Made in Germany': A New Economic Order

Agriculture, Industry, Small Business

Germany and the International Economy

Organized Interests, Politics and the State

Chapter 8. Society and Culture

For Better, For Worse

Order and Discipline

Culture and Revolt

Chapter 9. The Old Politics and the New

Elites, Parties and Popular Politics

Nationalism, Imperialism, Racism

Germany and the Coming of War

Epilogue: Germany at War, 1914-18

Front and Home Front

War Aims and Domestic Politics

Revolution and Beyond

Notes

Select Bibliography of English-Language Works

Index