The Decline of Bismarck's European Order

The Decline of Bismarck's European Order PDF Author: George Frost Kennan
Publisher: Books on Demand
ISBN: 9780608027418
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description

The Decline of Bismarck's European Order

The Decline of Bismarck's European Order PDF Author: George Frost Kennan
Publisher: Books on Demand
ISBN: 9780608027418
Category : France
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description


The Decline of Bismarck's European Order

The Decline of Bismarck's European Order PDF Author: George Frost Kennan
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691218277
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 495

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Book Description
In an attempt to discover some of the underlying origins of World War I, the eminent diplomat and writer George Kennan focuses on a small sector of offstage events to show how they affected the drama at large long before the war even began. In the introduction to his book George Kennan tells us, "I came to see World War I . . . as the great seminal catastrophe of this century--the event which . . . lay at the heart of the failure and decline of this Western civilization." But, he asks, who could help being struck by the contrast between this apocalyptic result and the "delirious euphoria" of the crowds on the streets of Europe at the outbreak of war in 1914! "Were we not," he suggests, "in the face of some monstrous miscalculation--some pervasive failure to read correctly the outward indicators of one's own situation?" It is from this perspective that Mr. Kennan launches a "micro-history" of the Franco-Russian relationship as far back as the 1870s in an effort to determine the motives that led people "to wander so blindly" into the horrors of the First World War.

The Fateful Alliance

The Fateful Alliance PDF Author: George Frost Kennan
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719017070
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
An analysis of the Russian-French alliance of 1894 and what went wrong in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century.

Bismarck's Institutions

Bismarck's Institutions PDF Author: Beatrice Scheubel
Publisher: Mohr Siebeck
ISBN: 9783161522727
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The decline in birth rates in advanced economies is not a new phenomenon. Between 1880 and 1900 birth rates dropped from 5.5 children per woman to 2.5 children per woman. A further decline from 2.5 to 1.5 or even 1.3 children took much longer - about 80 years. One of the most apparent causes is, however, widely ignored. Beatrice Scheubel tries to fill this gap. According to the so-called Social Security Hypothesis, insurance against the risks of life (i.e. poverty for all sorts of reasons, in particular, age) by the state crowds out all types of private insurance. One of the (vast) different possibilities to privately insure oneself against poverty is having children. That is why it should not be surprising to witness falling birth rates given the sheer magnitude of the welfare state. In this book, Beatrice Scheubel analyses the effects of the first comprehensive system of social security, which was introduced between 1883 and 1891 in Germany.

Germany

Germany PDF Author: Hagen Schulze
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674005457
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
A history of Germany, covering two thousand years from the revolt of the indigenous tribes against Roman domination to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Ailing Empire: Germany from Bismarck to Hitler

The Ailing Empire: Germany from Bismarck to Hitler PDF Author: Sebastian Haffner
Publisher: Plunkett Lake Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 116

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Book Description
Using his skills as a journalist, historian, and memoirist, Sebastian Haffner (author ofThe Meaning of Hitler) traces the development of the German Empire (1871-1945) and the central role of warfare that characterized the Reich. Haffner contends that Germany’s unfavorable geographic position had much to do with the state’s belligerence and that, from its inception, created the conflicts that culminated in two world wars. “The fruit of decades of study, the moving and sometimes very personal testament of an author whose works more than any others have influenced public opinion and challenged academic historians.” — Die Zeit “A brilliant work from the top hat of a powerful historical magician.” — Rudolf Augstein, Der Spiegel “A thoroughly successful work.” — Wiener Tagblatt “A book with more historical insights than a whole pile of learned volumes.” —Münchner Abendzeitung “The history of the Third Reich in just 43 pages? Impossible to do more than discuss a few features superficially. But not with Sebastian Haffner. This brilliant thinker — a journalist turned historian — reveals the fundamental lines of development in a way that anyone can follow. The pages bristle with questions and unexpected answers. The 300 pages of ‘The Ailing Empire’ contain more clever and original insights into German history between 1871 and 1945 than many a weighty tome.” — Dieter Wunderlich “This illuminating survey by a German journalist focuses on the continuities and discontinuities of the modern German Reich ... Haffner argues that the founding of the state was never regarded as a climactic achievement but rather as a springboard for expansion, and that Germany’s unfavorable geographic position had much to do with the state’s armed belligerence. The author also contends that the Reich was self-destructive almost from the beginning, creating a host of enemies who brought it to its knees in two world wars and eventually divided it. He describes how Hitler accelerated the catastrophic finish of the Reich by inopportunely taking on both the Russians and Americans, then tried to turn military defeat into the annihilation of the German people with his Nero Directive of March 18-19, 1945.” — Publishers Weekly “[The Ailing Empire] tells the story of yesterday’s Germans who made today. It is a story Americans must understand.” — San-Diego Union “Sebastian Haffner has written a book that traces the path of Germany’s political self-destruction, and offers a realistic account of the war’s real causes ... It is a highly readable analysis of the road from Bismarck to Hitler ... This book, based on many previously unpublished accounts, is a devastating portrait of human society.” —Chattanooga Times “This is a highly readable analysis of German history over the last century. A long-time journalist, Haffner asserts that the foundations of the German Reich were an inadequate basis for a modern nation state and contained the seeds of its own destruction. Though lacking documentation, Haffner’s first-hand recollections of the Nazi era are most interesting. Particularly noteworthy are his observations on daily life during the regime and his judgment regarding those literary and artistic ‘antis’ who chose ‘internal emigration’ within the Hitler state.” — Library Journal

Blood and Iron

Blood and Iron PDF Author: Katja Hoyer
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1643138383
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
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.

A Duel of Giants

A Duel of Giants PDF Author: David Wetzel
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
ISBN: 9780299174941
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
Combining impeccable scholarship and literary elegance, David Wetzel depicts the drama of machinations and passions that exploded in a war that forever changed the face of European history.

Europe

Europe PDF Author: Brendan Simms
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465065953
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 722

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Book Description
With "verve and panache," this magisterial history of Europe since 1453 shows how struggles over the heart of the continent have shaped the world we live in today (The Economist). Whoever controls the core of Europe controls the entire continent, and whoever controls Europe can dominate the world. Over the past five centuries, a rotating cast of kings, conquerors, presidents, and dictators have set their sights on the European heartland, desperate to seize this pivotal area or at least prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. From Charles V and Napoleon to Bismarck and Cromwell, from Hitler and Stalin to Roosevelt and Gorbachev, nearly all the key power players of modern history have staked their titanic visions on this vital swath of land. In Europe, prizewinning historian Brendan Simms presents an authoritative account of the past half-millennium of European history, demonstrating how the battle for mastery of the continent's center has shaped the modern world. A bold and compelling work by a renowned scholar, Europe integrates religion, politics, military strategy, and international relations to show how history -- and Western civilization itself -- was forged in the crucible of Europe.

The End of the German Monarchy

The End of the German Monarchy PDF Author: John Van der Kiste
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 358

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Book Description