Download or read book Austria Prussia and The Making of Germany written by John Breuilly and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-11 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is often argued that the unification of Germany in 1871 was the inevitable result of the convergence of Prussian power and German nationalism. John Breuilly here shows that the true story was much more complex. For most of the nineteenth century Austria was the dominant power in the region. Prussian-led unification was highly unlikely up until the 1860s and even then was only possible because of the many other changes happening in Germany, Europe and the wider world.

Download or read book Austria Prussia and The Making of Germany written by John Breuilly and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is often argued that the unification of Germany in 1871 was the inevitable result of the convergence of Prussian power and German nationalism. John Breuilly here shows that the true story was much more complex. For most of the nineteenth century Austria was the dominant power in the region. Prussian-led unification was highly unlikely up until the 1860s and even then was only possible because of the many other changes happening in Germany, Europe and the wider world.

Download or read book Austria Prussia and Germany 1806 1871 written by John Breuilly and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2002 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this survey of an important period in European history, John Breuilly examines the influences and events that resulted in the formation of the German nation state under Prussian dominance.

Download or read book Austria Prussia and Germany 1806 1871 written by John Breuilly and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2002 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this survey of an important period in European history, John Breuilly examines the influences and events that resulted in the formation of the German nation state under Prussian dominance.

Download or read book The Evolution of Prussia written by Sir John Arthur Ransome Marriott and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Formation of the First German Nation State 1800 1871 written by John Breuilly and published by Red Globe Press. This book was released on 1996-03-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author argues that German unification was only one possibility amongst others and observes that Europe was moving towards national states -- book cover.

Download or read book The Kingdom of W rttemberg and the Making of Germany 1815 1871 written by Bodie A. Ashton and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title 2017 This book examines the 1871 unification of Germany through the prism of one of its 'forgotten states', the Kingdom of Württemberg. It moves beyond the traditional argument for the importance of the great powers of Austria and Prussia in controlling German destiny at this time. Bodie A. Ashton champions the significance of Württemberg and as a result all 38 German states in the unification process, noting that each had their own institutions and traditions that proved vital to the eventual shape of German unity. The Kingdom of Württemberg and the Making of Germany, 1815-1871 demonstrates that the state's government was dynamic and in full control of its own policy-making throughout most of the 19th century, with Ashton showing a keen appreciation for the state's domestic development during the period. The book traces Württemberg's strong involvement in the national question, and how successive governments and monarchs in the state's capital of Stuttgart manoeuvred the country so as to gain the greatest advantage. It successfully argues that the shape of German unification was not inevitable, and was in fact driven largely by the desires of the Mittelstaaten, rather than the great powers; the eventual Reichsgründung of January 1871 was merely the final step in a long series of negotiations, diplomatic manoeuvres and subterfuge, with Württemberg playing a vital, regional role. Making use of a wealth of primary sources, including telegrams, newspaper articles, diary entries, letters and government documents, this is a vitally important study for all scholars and students of 19th-century Germany.

Download or read book The Austro Prussian War written by Geoffrey Wawro and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a history of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866, which paved the way for German and Italian unification. It is based upon extensive new research in the state and military archives of Austria, Germany, and Italy. Geoffrey Wawro describes Prussia's successful invasion of Habsburg Venetia, and the wretched collapse of the Austrian army in July 1866. Although the book gives a thorough accounting of both the Prussian and Italian war efforts, it is most notable for the light it sheds on the Austrians. Through painstaking archival research, Wawro reconstructs the Austrian campaign, blow-by-blow, hour-by-hour. Blending military and social history, he describes the terror and panic that overtook Austria's regiments of the line in each clash with the Prussians. He reveals the unconscionable blundering of the Austrian commandant and his chief deputies who fumbled away key strategic advantages and ultimately lost a war - crucial to the fortunes of the Habsburg Monarchy - that most European pundits had predicted they would win.

Download or read book Making Prussians Raising Germans written by Jasper Heinzen and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-31 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An investigation into why the creation of nation-states coincided with bouts of civil war in the nineteenth-century Western world.

Download or read book The Rise and Fall of Prussia written by Sebastian Haffner and published by Plunkett Lake Press. This book was released on 2019-08-16 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sebastian Haffner regarded himself as “a Prussian with a British passport.” In this overview of Prussia’s 170-year history as an independent state, he depicts Prussia’s evolution from a sensational 18th century success story – “a state based on law, one of the first in Europe” – to its absorption into the Third Reich where “the rule of law was the first thing that Hitler abolished.” In this succinct and readable book, Haffner argues that Hitler’s racial and nationality policy was the opposite of Prussia’s and Hitler’s political style, the very opposite of Prussian. “In his short book The Rise and Fall of Prussia Haffner combines a critical examination with a declaration of love for a state which always lived beyond its means ... but which managed to combine material poverty with intellectual grandeur.” — Michael Stürmer,Welt am Sonntag “Haffner sees Prussia’s history as the 'tragedy of a purely rational state'. An agglomeration of arbitrary territories, it made a virtue of its artificiality, adapting to the enlightenment and then to romanticism, but finally also to nationalism, betraying the basis of its statehood and leading to its ultimate destruction.” — Chrisian Roth,Akademische Blätter “Haffner long regarded himself as a 'Prussian with a British passport'. He identified with Prussia and its achievements: general compulsory schooling (1717), the abolition of torture (1740), the establishment of religious toleration (1740), Bismarck’s welfare state (1883), the medical giants Virchow, Koch, von Behring, the intellectual giants Kant, von Humboldt and von Schlegel, and much more. At the end of his book he recounted the (often-ignored) expulsion of millions of Prussians from their homeland in 1945. 'It was an atrocity, the final atrocity of a war which had more than its share in atrocities, admittedly begun by Germany under Hitler.' His message is very relevant today, when he praises those expelled for rejecting revenge and having the courage to say, 'This is enough.'” — David Childs, The Independent

Download or read book The Kingdom of W rttemberg and the Making of Germany 1815 1871 written by Bodie Alexander Ashton and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The traditional discourse of the German unification maintains that it was the German great powers - Austria and Prussia - that controlled German destiny, yet for much of this period Germany was divided into some thirty-eight states, each of which possessed their own institutions and traditions. In explaining the formation of Germany, the orthodox view holds that these so-called Mittel- and Kleinstaaten existed largely at the whim of either Vienna or Berlin, and their policies, in turn, were dictated or shaped by these two power centres. According to this reading of German history, a bipolar sociopolitical structure existed, whereby the Mittelstaaten would declare their allegiances to either the Habsburg or Hohenzollern crowns. The present work rejects this model of German history, through the use of the case study of the southwestern Kingdom of Württemberg. It demonstrates that Württemberg's state government was dynamic and fully in control of its own policy-making throughout most of the nineteenth century. While it did often align itself with Vienna, it did so for pragmatic reasons of self interest; sometimes, it would forsake that alignment in favour of ties with Prussia, or its neighbouring Mittelstaaten, or even France, if it felt that such ties were in the state's best interests. Keenly involved in the national question, successive governments and monarchs in Stuttgart manoeuvred the country so as to gain the greatest advantage. These manoeuvres included decades-long attempts by Stuttgart, in conjunction with state ministers in Munich, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, and sometimes Dresden, Kassel, and Hanover, to unite the smaller German states to form a southern 'bloc' (the so-called 'Third Germany') against the aspirations of Austrian or Prussian hegemony in the German hinterland. This thesis demonstrates that the shape of German unification was not inevitable, and was in fact to a great extent driven by the particularist desires of the Mittelstaaten, rather than the great powers. The eventual Reichsgründung of January 1871 was merely the final step in a long series of negotiations, diplomatic manoeuvres, and subterfuge, with Württemberg playing a vital, regional role.

Download or read book Nineteenth Century Germany written by and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Breuilly brings together a distinguished group of international scholars to examine Germany's history from 1780 to 1918, featuring chapters on economic, demographic and social as well as cultural and intellectual history. There are also chapters on political and military history covering the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, the post-Napoleonic period, the revolutions of 1848-1849, the unification of Germany, Bismarckian Germany and Wilhelmine Germany, and Germany during the First World War. This new edition, which retains the helpful further reading suggestions for each chapter and a chronology, has been completely updated to take account of recent historiography. The statistical data has been expanded, more maps and images have been introduced, and there are two new chapters on transnational approaches and gender history. Finally, the editor has added a conclusion which reflects on the key developments in the history of Germany over the “long nineteenth century”. Providing clear surveys of the central events and developments and addressing major debates amongst historians, Nineteenth-Century Germany is vital reading for all those wishing to understand this crucial period in modern German history.

Download or read book The Making of Modern Germany written by Ferdinand Schevill and published by . This book was released on 1916 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Iron Kingdom written by Christopher Clark and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 816 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Of the "Great Powers" that dominated Europe from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, Prussia is the only one to have vanished ... Iron Kingdom is not just good: it is everything a history book ought to be ... The nemesis of Prussia has cast such a long shadow that German historians have tiptoed around the subject. Thus it was left to an Englishman to write what is surely the best history of Prussia in any language' Sunday Telegraph

Download or read book The Making of Prussia written by Gertha von Dieckmann and published by Texianer Verlag. This book was released on 2020-05-06 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So many heroes have been lost to history and this book attempts to bring the reader's attention to two great men who by working in harmony were able to transform the fate of Prussia. Gertha von Dieckmann originally wrote this book in German in 1930. Today, the book contains so many intimate insights into the workings in the administration of the Prussian states during and after the French occupation that it has become relevant for the modern reader. For the first time this work has been now translated into English and will provide valuable insights into the background which undoubtedly led up to the catastrophic events of the twentieth century. To make it even more informative, a considerable number of additional notes about personalities and events have been added in this English edition.This book is the result of considerable effort and research and I hope the reader will become fascinated when learning of how these two gentlemen rubbed shoulders with the kings and emperors of their time and even married into royalty. Karl Stein's wife was even the granddaughter of the King of England, he was a friend of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia. Hated by Napoleon, he fled Prussia as his close friend Sack closely escaped execution. Nevertheless, their efforts were finally to change the face of Prussia, Germany and Europe and probably the world.

Download or read book The First Day on the Somme written by Martin Middlebrook and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2006-05-25 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the British Army’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener’s call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook’s research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers. Praise for The First Day on the Somme “The soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words.” —The Guardian (UK)

Download or read book The Austro Prussian War and Franco Prussian War written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-09-14 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading Locked in a balance of power since the 1815 Congress of Vienna, the world was dominated by the great European powers of Britain, France, Russia, and Austria, and at the Congress of Vienna itself, Prussia had been a minor concern. Though the Prussians had come through in time to assist the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo, they were nevertheless taken for granted at the conference, with the major powers instead preferring to deal with the more historically powerful Austrian Hapsburgs. In his scathing commentary on Prussian culture, When Blood is Their Argument, Ford Maddox Ford attempted to explain the sudden rise of Prussian political and economic status from 1849-1880, writing, "She [Prussia] had pushed herself from being a bad second in the comity of Germanism into a position of equality with, if not of predominance over, Austria, amongst the German peoples." Prussian leaders, especially Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor and advisor to Prussia's king, believed Prussia could be a united and respected power, but only without the traditional Austrian dominance. At the time, the Austrian empire was a collection of ethnically diverse peoples and had been dominated by a socio-political conservatism that sought to keep the empire ruled in Hapsburg tradition. After Prussia was victorious in the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck played a waiting game where the unification of Germany was concerned, as the joining of the southern states - initially resistant to Prussian rule, friendly with Austria, and bent on independence - would have to be overcome. What was needed was "a clear case of French aggression" toward either Prussia or the southern states. Not only would such a move by Emperor Napoleon III trigger the terms of the treaty between the German states, but it would keep the remaining world powers out of the conflict. The Franco-Prussian War started in August 1870, and a number of victories followed for the Prussians in battles in northeast France. By September, the strategic city of Metz was under siege, and forces fought a major battle at Sedan. Led by Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, the Prussians forced the French to surrender at Metz, and then at Sedan. Emperor Napoleon III, commanding his country's forces at Sedan, was taken prisoner, humiliating France and its impetuous leader. The Prussians immediately marched on Paris, but the capital refused to submit, and a separate siege was mounted that ended up lasting 130 days. Obviously, French society was in tumult, but a Third Republic and Government of National Defence was pronounced in place of the French Empire. An uprising subsequently took place in the stricken city, dubbed the "Paris Commune," which sought to establish a radical alternative to the status quo and was itself put down by French troops. On January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I was crowned Kaiser of the German Empire, and though the Franco-Prussian War was still taking place, this moment was essentially the point at which Germany was unified. The other German states had to agree to this profound constitutional change, but they acquiesced after the clear victory of the Prussian-led forces. German unification was the territorial expansion of Prussia by another name, but Berlin demonstrated it could protect the interests, or at least the safety, of German-speakers under their watch. Despite the campaigns of nationalists and liberals over the previous decades, it was ultimately a victory on the battlefield that united the German states. This was the real-world application of Bismarck's "Blood and Iron" concept. From this position of strength during war, Prussia achieved an unassailable position. During the relatively short wars of 1864, 1866, and 1870-71, Bismarck roused nationalist sentiment, and in so doing, he achieved the long awaited goal of German unification.