Contents	6
	Chronology	10
	Introduction	16
	1 German nationalism between failure and revival 1850–1862	26
	The aftermath of the 1848 revolutions	27
	Economy and society during the restoration	31
	The politics of restoration	34
	The economic struggle between Austria and Prussia	39
	The Crimean War and changes in the European power balance	40
	The New Era in Prussia	43
	The Italian war of 1859	44
	The Prussian constitutional conflict	47
	Bismarck becomes prime minister	49
	2 The wars of unification 1862–1870	53
	The beginnings of the Bismarck regime in Prussia	53
	The Schleswig-Holstein crisis	57
	Revival of conflict between Austria and Prussia	61
	The war of 1866	66
	Domestic consequences of the war of 1866	68
	The establishment of the North German Confederation	69
	The North German Confederation and the South	72
	The war of 1870	77
	The creation of the German empire	82
	3 Imperial Germany – the liberal phase 1870–1879	85
	Constitution and political structure of the Reich	85
	The Kulturkampf	88
	The rise of the socialist movement	95
	Bismarck breaks with the Liberals	97
	Anti-socialist law and protection	101
	Foreign policy during the first decade of the Reich	103
	The dual alliance	107
	4 Bismarck’s system in decline 1879–1890	109
	Bismarck’s social policy	110
	Changes in party alignments	112
	Foreign and colonial policy in the 1880s	115
	The cartel elections	118
	The fall of Bismarck	120
	5 The Wilhelmine age	124
	The growth of economic power	124
	Modernity and cultural pessimism	127
	The changing structure of politics	129
	The SPD and the free trade unions	133
	The liberal parties	136
	The conservative parties	137
	The Centre party	139
	6 Towards Weltpolitik and social imperialism 1890–1909	144
	Domestic policy under Caprivi	144
	The chancellorship of Hohenlohe	150
	Divisive social issues – lex Heinze and lex Arons	152
	Towards Weltpolitik	154
	The Bülow years	159
	Social policy under Posadowsky-Wehner	161
	Bülow’s social imperialism	162
	Domestic politics in the later years of Bülow	167
	Germany’s international position deteriorates	171
	7 Stagnation at home, ‘encirclement’ abroad 1909–1914	176
	The chancellorship of Bethmann Hollweg	176
	The SPD between reformist pragmatism and revolutionary rhetoric	178
	The minority problems of the Reich: Poles and Alsace-Lorrainers	179
	Bethmann Hollweg’s foreign policy	181
	The repercussions of Agadir	183
	Efforts to reduce Anglo-German tension	186
	The Balkan wars	187
	The Zabern affair	191
	The coming of war	195
	8 Germany during the war years 1914–1918	200
	German war aims	203
	The strains of war at the front and at home	205
	Hindenburg and Ludendorff form the third Oberste Heeresleitung	208
	1917: the turning point	210
	The fall of Bethmann Hollweg and the Reichstag’s peace resolution	212
	The Russian collapse	214
	The German army crumbles	216
	Conclusion	222
	Appendix: Tables	224
	Suggestions for further reading	228
	Index	234