Focusing on the activity of Great Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz after 1914, Scheck presents a fascinating combination of biographical and contextual analysis explaining the predicament of the conservative German right in the troubled transition period before the Third Reich.

Germany, 1871-1945 presents an original, lucid, and thought-provoking history. Its aim is to inspire readers to weigh the historical evidence. At the end of the Second World War, the first unified German state collapsed, a disintegration with European and global ramifications. Ever since, historians have sought to explain what went wrong in German history. Many have focused on the violence which forged unification; others have highlighted the clash of authoritarian, anti-democratic, and anti-Semitic traditions with rapid industrialization and modernization. Germany, 1871-1945 presents a pragmatic interpretation of German history, from the unification to the end of the Nazi regime. This more open approach acknowledges the strong trend in German society towards modernization and democratization, particularly before 1914, while also highlighting the factors which propelled Germany toward World War I. The rise of the Nazis also demands a close analysis of the economic and political instability of the 1920s and early 1930s. Finally, a detailed assessment of the Third Reich explains how the regime's early successes fostered a loyalty and acceptance that remained hard to shake until disaster was obvious and unavoidable.

What role did right-wing women play in the Nazi rise to power?Mothers of the Nation analyzes the work of women in the German Peoples Party and the German National Peoples Party - parties that covered the range from the moderate to the radical right. Looking at politics on both the local and national level, the author discusses issues ranging from social welfare to foreign policy. He shows that right-wing women, in keeping with the tradition of the German bourgeois womens movement, refused to sta nd up primarily for womens interests and instead invoked the Volksgemeinschaft (community of the people), a vision of harmony and cooperation of the groups involved in production.These right-wing campaigners believed that German women should use thei r newly won political rights to strengthen the Volksgemeinschaft by reconciling the divided nation and by infusing it with a higher morality. This stance proved to be both a liability and an asset. The emphasis on the Volksgemeinschaft made it diffic ult for female conservatives to fight for specific womens rights. Yet it also allowed them to paste over the conflicts between interest groups that tore apart Germanys bourgeois parties prior to 1933 and that divided politically active women as well. The ways in which women sought to contain the fragmentation that ultimately rendered their parties defenceless against the Nazis sheds new light on Weimar politics.Bringing the controversial story of right-wing women to life, this book offers a comp elling account of gender and politics during a crucial period in German history.

Focusing on the activity of Great Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz after 1914, Scheck presents a fascinating combination of biographical and contextual analysis explaining the predicament of the conservative German right in the troubled transition period before the Third Reich.

Publisher description

This book contains some 600 entries on a range of topics from ancient Chinese warfare to late 20th-century intervention operations. Designed for a wide variety of users, it encompasses general reviews of aspects of military organization and science, as well as specific wars and conflicts. The book examines naval and air warfare, as well as significant individuals, including commanders, theorists, and war leaders. Each entry includes a listing of additional publications on the topic, accompanied by an article discussing these publications with reference to their particular emphases, strengths, and limitations.

This important contribution to the successful textbook series New Approaches to European History explores the comprehensive impact of the First World War on Imperial Germany. It examines military aspects of the conflict, as well as the diplomacy, government, politics, and industrial mobilization of wartime Germany. Unlike other existing surveys, however, Roger Chickering also offers a rich portrait of life on the home front: the pervasive effects of 'total war' on wealthy and poor, men and women, young and old, farmers and city-dwellers, Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. This excellent, well-illustrated study of the military, political and socio-economic effects of the First World War is essential reading for all students of German and European history, as well as for those interested in the history of war and society. Now appearing in a second edition, first published in 2004, this accessible book reflects important scholarship in the field and boasts an expanded and revised bibliography.