Description
Furious economic growth and social change resulted in pervasive civic conflict in Imperial Germany. Roger Chickering presents a wide-ranging history of this fractious period, from German national unification to the close of the First World War. Throughout this time, national unity remained an acute issue. It appeared to be resolved momentarily in the summer of 1914, only to dissolve in the war that followed. This volume examines the impact of rapid industrialization and urban growth on Catholics and Protestants, farmers and city dwellers, industrial workers and the middle classes. Focusing on its religious, regional, and ethnic reverberations, Chickering also examines the social, cultural, and political dimensions of domestic conflict. Providing multiple lenses with which to view the German Empire, Chickering's survey examines local and domestic experiences as well as global ramifications. The German Empire, 1871–1918 provides the most comprehensive survey of this restless era available in the English language.
Table of Contents
Preface; Maps; Abbreviations; Prologue; 1. Building the Nation-State; 2. High Industrialism; 3. Region and Faith; 4. Rural Life; 5. Urban Germany; 6. Social Democracy; 7. Bowling Together; 8. Gender Relations; 9. State and Society in the Era of Bismarck; 10. The National Community; 11. 'Our Misfortune'; 12. Wilhelmine Germany; 13. Global Germany; 14. From War to War; 15. The End of the German Empire; Afterlife; Select Bibliography; Index.
