Synopses & Reviews
This book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of Germany in the twentieth century, a country whose history has decisively shaped the map and the politics of modern Europe and the world in which we live. It is concerned with social change, economic performance and industrial relations, as well as with politics and diplomacy. Professor Berghahn begins with an analysis of the period of rapid industrialisation in the decades before 1914, then traces the social and political consequences of unprecedented economic change through the interwar years and beyond. He also assesses the impact of the First World War and the Great Inflation of 1923, and discusses German foreign policy from Stresemann to Hitler. After 1945, Germany became divided, and the last two chapters are devoted to the emergence of the Federal Republic and the Democratic Republic as separate entities. A good deal of attention is paid throughout the book to the life and feelings of ordinary people. A useful appendix combines in over forty tables statistical information on such important topics as industrial and agricultural production, employment, voting patterns, denominational distribution and education; and there is a chronological table covering the main events of the period. This volume will provide a valuable textbook for students of modern history, which can be read with profit by anyone with a serious interest in the social and economic background of twentieth-century Germany.
Review
"...it is refreshing to read a work that continues the strands of Germany's development up to the present, concluding even with some observations on the political forces led by such leaders as Franz Josef Strauss...Throughout his text, the author carefully uses the most reliable research available to diagnose a Germany that is more than a mere political entity." History of European Ideas
Review
"...well-informed and readable survey of twentieth century Germany...Using a historical structural analysis, Berghahn offers a reasonably well balanced treatment of economic performance, society, domestic and foreign policy." German Studies Review
Synopsis
This book aims to give a comprehensive overview and interpretation of the development of Germany in the twentieth century, a country whose history has decisively shaped the map and the politics of modern Europe and the world in which we live. Professor Berghahn is not concerned merely with politics and diplomacy, but also with social change, economic performance and industrial relations. His appendix contains fifty tables of invaluable statistical information including industrial and agricultural production, employment, voting patterns and education.
Synopsis
Modern Germany presents a comprehensive overview and interpretation of the development of Germany in the twentieth century, a country whose history has decisively shaped the map and the politics of modern Europe and the world in which we live. Professor Berghahn is not merely concerned with politics diplomacy, but also with social change, economic performance and industrial relations. For this new edition Professor Berghahn has broadened and extended his discussion of the two Germanies. He also has updated the tables and bibliography.
Synopsis
A comprehensive updated and expanded overview and interpretation of the development of Germany in the twentieth century, a country whose history has decisively shaped the map and the politics of modern Europe and the world in which we live.
Table of Contents
List of maps; Preface; Abbreviations; Glossary; Part I. Wilhelmine Germany, 1900-1914: Rapid Industrialisation and its Impact on Society; 1. Stratification and social mobility; 2. The Prusso-German political system and its political culture; 3. Weltpolitik and the spectre of encirclement; Part II. War and Civil War, 1914-1923: The Political and Military Situation at the Beginning of the War; 4. The strains of total war; 5. Reaction, reform and revolutionary ferment; 6. The Revolutions of 1918-19; 7. Economic dislocation and counter-revolution, 1919-1923; Part III. The Weimar Republic Between Stabilisation and Collapse, 1924-1933: Intellectual and Cultural Activity; 8. Party politics and the problem of parliamentary government; 9. Weimar foreign policy; 10. Economic tensions and the rise of the Nazis; 11. From Brüning to Hitler; Part IV. The Third Reich, 1933-1945: The Face of the Nazi Dictatorship; 12. Economic conditions and mobilisation for war; 13. Nazi foreign policy and war aims; 14. Occupation, exploitation and extermination; 15. Resistance and collaboration during the final years; Part V. Occupation and Division, 1945-1960: Economic and Political Life in the Western Zones of Occupation; 16. The Russian Zone of Occupation, 1945-1949; 17. The shaping of the Federal Republic of germany, 1949-1960; 18. Soviet Western policy and the consolidation of East Germany; Part VI. The Two Germanies Since the 1960s: The Development of the East German Economy, 1960-1985; 19. Society ad politics in contemporary East Germany; 20. West German capitalism and the international economy; 21. Problems of political stability; 22. Culture and society in West Germany; Statistical tables; Chronological table; Select bibliography; Index.