History of Germany, 1780-1918: The Long Nineteenth Century (Blackwell Classic Histories of Europe)
David Blackbourn
Language: English
Pages: 480
ISBN: 063123196X
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
This history offers a powerful and original account of Germany from the eve of the French Revolution to the end of World War One.
- Written by a leading German historian who has transformed the historiography of modern Germany over the past two decades.
- Covers the whole of the long nineteenth century and emphasizes continuities through this period.
- Brings together political, social and cultural history.
- Combines a comprehensive account with a feel for the human dimension and the history of everyday life.
- Accessible to non-specialists, thought-provoking and entertaining.
- The updated second edition includes a revised bibliography.
Reichstag - unlike the Prussian parliament or many other state parliaments - was elected by a franchise that was universal, direct and equal for males over the age of twenty-five. Add to this the fact that elections were almost entirely free of interference or chicanery, and it is not surprising that the national parliament acquired a genuine popular legitimacy. There is a striking contrast here with Italy. The Reichstag became a focal point for those (national minorities, Catholics, socialists)
earnings from services, such as the large German contribution to international construction projects like the Gotthard pass and Baghdad railway. German engineers and architects acquired a higher profile in the world during these decades: the celebrated architect Hermann Muthesius worked during the late 188os in the Japanese office of the architects Ende & Bockmann, where he was construction supervisor. These were all signs of growing German capital investment outside the country. True, Germany
rural to urban areas under this national scheme, especially from the agricultural east of Prussia to the industrial west. Agricultural districts understandably jibbed at having to pay for the support of migrants whose departure was causing their own depopulation. They persistently tried to alter the system, but were no more successful than they were in their efforts to roll hack freedom of movement, the underlying principle that drove this Dunker subsidy towards the formation of the urban working
1917), p. 44. The remark may be apocryphal. z4. H. Rosenberg, Bureaucracy, Aristocracy and Autocracy. The Prussian Experience 166o-x815 (Cambridge, Mass., 1958), p. 40. z5. C. Ingrao, `The Problem of "Enlightened Absolutism" and the German States', and E. Weis, `Enlightenment and Absolutism in the Holy Roman Empire', both in journal of Modern History, 58 (1986), supplement, pp- 161-97- z6. W. Hagen, 'The Partitions of Poland and the Crisis of the Old Regime in Prussia', Central European
have mainly insisted that it was not, arguing that revolution was the pious dream of a few isolated zealots - when it was not a figment of some frightened ruler's imagination. It is hard to quarrel with this verdict, although the case is less openand-shut than it might appear. The revolution in France was a singular occurrence, the product of a particular combination of social stress, fiscal crisis, noble intransigence, mounting opposition, and loss of confidence in the political system. Some of