German History Books

German History Books and Reports

• Bismarck and the German Empire ~Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
-Erich Eyck / Paperback 388 pages / Published January 1964
This history of the political career of Otto von Bismarck explains how Bismarck united the loose collection of weak German states during the mid 1800s by skillfully manipulating international relations and domestic politics. This is a thorough analysis of German history that demonstrates how Bismarck emerged as the premier European statesman of his day and what that meant to German development. Bismarck became the preeminent individual in international politics. Bismarck was also the master of German domestic politics, manipulating the various parties for his own ends. Eventually no one in Europe would dare leave Bismarck out of their calculations. But Bismarck finally wore out his welcome when the times he had created changed and he did not change with them. Bismarck used alliances with Austria, France, Italy, and Russia at various times to further Prussian or German objectives, then subsequently dissolved many such alliances as Bismarck's ambitions changed. However, part of Bismarck's genius was knowing when to stop wars of aggression and decide instead to pursue diplomatic channels. This book remains a credible scholar work proven by the fact that it is still in print in spite of the fact that it was published nearly forty years old.
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• The Course of German Nationalism: From Frederick the Great to Bismarck 1763-1867 ~Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
-Hagen Schulze, Sarah Hanbury-Tenison (Translator)
Paperback 192 pages / Published March 1991
Covers the period from during the Holy Roman Empire to Bismarck's German Empire of 1871. Includes coverage through revolutions, wars and economic upheavals, but also through the cultural splendor of German Classicism and Romanticism. The author takes a fresh look at late eighteenth and nineteenth century German history, explaining it in terms of economics, politics, and culture. None of the results were predetermined, and yet their outcome was of momentous significance for all of Europe, if not the world.
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• Blood and Iron : From Bismarck to Hitler the Von Moltke Family's Impact on German History
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- Otto Friedrich / Paperback 448 pages / Published June 2000
The Von Moltke family epitomized Prussian nobility and the upper-class vanguard of a society in the newly created German state. Theirs is a story of 100 years of German history in which Von Moltke family members played crucial roles in turbulent European diplomacy and power struggles In the turbulent history of modern Germany the name of Moltke has stood for military power and also enduring moral strength.
The history of this family is important to the understanding of the history of modem Germany. For the Germany of the von Moltkes was also the Germany of Bismarck and Hitler, Wagner and Strauss, Nietzsche, Mann, and Brecht. This absorbing historical chronicle is full of characters and events on a broad canvas along with personal histories, anecdotes, and gossip within and without the corridors of power.
The von Moltke family's impact actually reaches back before the Reich into the history of Prussia. The first of three men Otto Friedrich focuses on, Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891), was Prussia's key military strategist during the Franco-Prussian War, and possibly Germany's greatest strategist ever, surpassing even his friend and mentor, Clausewitz. His nephew and namesake, General Helmuth von Moltke (1848-1916), on the other hand, was nervous, indecisive, and largely unable to deal with the responsibilities of command that came to him in part due to his famous name. The third Helmuth, Count Helmuth James von Moltke (1907-1945), was one of nature's noblemen. A liberal (in the European sense), he was actively involved in the opposition to Hitler and Nazism -- a fact that led to his execution shortly before the Reich's own collapse.
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• The Rush to German Unity ~Usually Ships Within 7 to 8 Days
-Konrad H. Jarausch / Paperback 304 pages / Published February 1994
The bringing down of the Berlin Wall is one of the most vivid images and historic events of the late twentieth century. The reunification of Germany has transformed the face of Europe. In one stunning year, two separate states with clashing ideologies, hostile armies, competing economies, and incompatible social systems merged into one. The speed and extent of the reunification was so great that many people are still trying to understand the events. Initial elation has given way to the realities and problems posed in reuniting two such different systems.
This historical reconstruction of the momentous event provides informed analyses for both students of German history and historians requiring more information on the reunification process.
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• A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950 ~Usually Ships Within 24 Hours
-Alfred-Maurice De Zayas, Charles M. Barber
Paperback 179 pages / Published October 1994
This gripping book outlines the tragedy of the largest ethnic-cleansing event in history, and presents evidence of the expulsion of 13 million ethnic Germans from three eastern German states and other countries in which their families had inhabited for eight centuries.
This book recounts the events that unfolded during 1944/45 in Germany's historic eastern provinces, and and continued until 1950. This book describes the horror that the 13 million eastern Germans faced: the largest ethnic-cleansing of human beings, the largest maritime evacuation of civilians, and the most horrific naval disasters in history. They were robbed of their homes and land, businesses, possessions, put into camps, beaten, rapped and where millions starved to death.
The author presents evidence that proves that this all that happened because the Allies allowed it to happen. The treaty of Potsdam, in which relocation of all German populations living in the three eastern states and those outside of Germany was approved. Millions suffered because of they were Germans and more than 2.5 million Germans just vanished. Most cruelest of all punishment for a people who were not Nazis but just farmers, merchants, and other German citizens who wanted to live a peaceful life.
Today, the survivors and relatives of these German expellees account for more than 20% of the present German population. This book will be instrumental in understanding the future evolution of Polish-German, Czech-German, and Russian-German affairs.
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• The Vanished Kingdom: Travels Through the History of Prussia
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-James Charles Roy, Amos Elon / Paperback 398 pages / Published June 2000
This excellent book does a great job in covering the history about the former German state, from its 12th-century origins to 1945. Founded by Christian knights of the Teutonic Order, Prussia and its hereditary rulers, the Hohenzollerns, reached their political zenith in 1871, when they effectively ruled the Second German Empire. After World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II (the last ruling Hohenzollern), Prussia ceased to exist as a political entity and its territory was incorporated into a greater Germany. Combining historical documentation with travel narrative and personal interview, Roy's prose is frequently heavy on narration and light on history. The Vanished Kingdom succeeds, however, in succinctly chronicling significant events in Prussian history, such as Bismarck's rise to power and Germany's World War I victory at Tannenberg.
An introduction by Amos Elon brings the history of Prussia up to the present day with its examination of East Prussia's former capital, Königsberg, which was incorporated into Russian territory in 1945. The fate of the city, today physically and economically devastated, remains precarious. The question remains, will it return to Germany or remain a Russian territory? Together, Roy and Elon provide a comprehensive overview of Prussia's past, present, and future. Topics including the importance to Germany of Konigsberg, and the "ethnic cleansing" of the German territories after the war. Includes maps, historical and contemporary photographs, and an extensive bibliography.
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