This book provides a reappraisal of Germany's military between the mid-nineteenth century and the end of the First World War. At its core is the following question: how 'German' was the imperial German army? This army, which emerged from the Wars of Unification in 1871, has commonly been seen as the 'school of the nation'. After all - so this argument goes - tens of thousands of young men passed through its ranks each year, with conscripts undergoing an intense program of patriotic education and returning to civilian life as fervent German nationalists and ardent supporters of the German emperor, or Kaiser. This book reexamines this assumption. It does not deny that devotion to the Fatherland and loyalty to the Kaiser were widespread among German soldiers in the decades following unification. It nevertheless shows that the imperial German army was far less homogenous and far more faction-ridden than has hitherto been acknowledged. Gavin Wiens completed his PhD at the University of Toronto, Canada, where he teaches modern German and European history, world history, and the Holocaust.

The purpose of this book is to provide a one-volume resource for collectors and historians with an Imperial German army interest. The more we researched, the more we found there were more stories, myths and misunderstandings about Imperial Germany than there were facts. Different authors addressed different aspects: collectors, historians and educators all had their own area of expertise, but there was no readily available resource to give a general overview of Imperial Germany. Though it is convenient to call it "Germany," at the start of the First World War, there was still no united Germany, no German army, and no German officer corps. At 333 pages with 183 pictures and over 670 footnotes, this is an attempt to explain the intricacies of how the country worked -- militarily, politically and socially.

From its creation during the Wars of Unification (1864-71) until its defeat at the end of the First World War, the German army remained a federal institution. To be sure, the imperial constitution recognized the Kaiser as commander-in-chief of Germany's land forces. Under the Kaiser's direction, the Prussian war ministry prepared the military budget and the Prussian General Staff drafted operational plans for future wars. A patchwork of military agreements nevertheless limited the authority of the Kaiser and Prussia's military leaders over nearly one-quarter of the German army. According to these agreements, separate war ministries, cadet schools, and general staffs oversaw the arming, clothing, feeding, housing, and training of Bavarians, Saxons, and Württembergers, while the monarchs of Germany's three smaller kingdoms determined personnel appointments, the deployment of units, and even the design of insignia and uniforms. The army's contingent-based structure ensured that Prussians and non-Prussians served alongside, but only rarely with, one another after 1871. Based on research in archives and libraries in Germany, Austria, England, and the United States, this dissertation explores the means by which the smaller armies of Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg were integrated into Prussia's much larger military structure after 1871 and seeks to understand why the German army, burdened by numerous loyalties and overlapping spheres of control, did not simply fall apart during the First World War. It argues that even though the decentralization of military authority and the presence of dual loyalties among Bavarian, Saxon, and Württemberg soldiers remained serious concerns for Prussian authorities, the German army proved remarkably durable because the empire's monarchs and their advisors preferred compromise, rather than conflict, with one another. This dissertation contributes to ongoing historiographical debates concerning the process of nation-building and the consolidation of state power across Europe since the French Revolution; the evolution of the relationship between monarchs and their militaries in a period characterized by public opinion shaped by parliamentary debates and a mass press; and the ability of multiethnic and multinational empires to mobilize their diverse societies for war at the turn of the twentieth century and on the eve of two global conflicts.

In 1871, after defeating the French, the King of Prussia declared Germany an Empire and crowned himself Kaiser Wilhelm in the Versailles Palace Hall of Mirrors. This began a period of ostentation in society and the arts?La Belle Époque or the Beautiful Age. It would end with the outbreak of 1914?s Great War. In that period Germany greatly expanded its military and in keeping with the ?beautiful age? created a fabulous array of colorful uniforms and equipment for its military. Significantly, the adoption of individual military units by Europe's royalty, led to an ever evolving richness in the insignia used to identify individuals and units in the Prussian and other states and principalities of aristocratic Germany. The armies of the Imperial era were flamboyant in uniforms of every color imaginable. None more so than the armies of the German Empire. Whether they were Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon or Wurttemberg regiments it could not be denied each regiment was impressive looking on maneuvers and especially on parade. One of the ways to identify regiments and their branch were by the particular uniforms worn including the all-important insignia attached to each man's shoulder. One can be sure that every soldier wearing a royal cypher or number was proud of his regiment and its history'past and future. Under Arms for the Kaiser is written for both the collector and historian who are interested in the Imperial German army and the regiments which comprised it. The book covers the shoulder insignia of all regiments with a focus on those which were honored with a royal honorary ?Chef,? or chief, including the wear of their monogram (cypher) on their shoulder straps. The book with over 1800 photos includes regimental information, Chefs, and hundreds of shoulder insignia including descriptions by branch and regiment. This is a reference, which should be in the library of every military insignia collector, especially those with an interest in Imperial Germany.

This book provides a reappraisal of Germany’s military between the mid-nineteenth century and the end of the First World War. At its core is the following question: how 'German' was the imperial German army? This army, which emerged from the Wars of Unification in 1871, has commonly been seen as the 'school of the nation'. After all – so this argument goes – tens of thousands of young men passed through its ranks each year, with conscripts undergoing an intense program of patriotic education and returning to civilian life as fervent German nationalists and ardent supporters of the German emperor, or Kaiser. This book reexamines this assumption. It does not deny that devotion to the Fatherland and loyalty to the Kaiser were widespread among German soldiers in the decades following unification. It nevertheless shows that the imperial German army was far less homogenous and far more faction-ridden than has hitherto been acknowledged.

As assessment of the Kaiser's character and its implications on Imperial German history.