A History of Modern Germany Since 1815

Modern Germany continues to fascinate us because, unlike the history or national existence of other European states, its very being has been posed as a question. Why was there no unified German state until late in the nineteenth century? How did Germany become an industrial power? What responsibility does Germany bear for the two World Wars? This accessible yet authoritative study answers these and other fundamental questions through looking at the economic, social, political and cultural forces which have created modern Germany.

The 1848 revolutions ushered in an age of Realism which saw rapid economic development and the creation of the Bismarckian empire. However, by the early twentieth century Germany’s economic expansion and position as a world power began to fracture and growing internal, economic, social and political contradictions led it, with disastrous results, into the First World War and the subsequent Weimar Republic. Hitler and the Nazi movement proposed a ‘revolution’ and the creation of a ‘German style’ and the Second World War/Holocaust is, arguably, the defining event of the twentieth century. The Americanization of the German economy and society, the ‘economic miracle’ and euphoria of reunification have in recent years rapidly given way to disillusionment as the major political parties have failed to master outstanding social and environmental problems.

The ‘German question’ - Germany’s place within the European Union - continues to be unanswered even within an EU where it is the dominant economic power.