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Royalty and Diplomacy in Europe, 1890-1914
This 2001 book examines the diplomatic role of royal families in the era before the outbreak of the First World War. It argues that previous historians have neglected for political reasons the important political and diplomatic role of monarchs during the period. Particular attention is given to the Prusso-German, Russian and British monarchies. The Prusso-German and Russian monarchies were central in their countries' diplomacy and foreign policy, principally as a result of their control over diplomatic and political appointments. However, the book also argues that the British monarchy played a much more influential role in British diplomacy than has been accepted hitherto by historians. Individual themes examined include relations between Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II, the political significance of the ill-feeling between Wilhelm II and his uncle King Edward VII, the role of Edward VII in British diplomacy, and the impact of royal visits on pre-1914 Anglo-German relations.
Wilhelm II
This final volume of John Röhl's acclaimed biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II reveals the Kaiser's central role in the origins of the First World War. The book examines the Kaiser's part in the Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War, the naval arms race with Britain and Germany's rivalry with the United States as well as in the crises over Morocco, Bosnia and Agadir. It also sheds new light on the public scandals which accompanied his reign from the allegations of homosexuality made against his intimate friends to the Daily Telegraph Affair. Above all, John Röhl scrutinises the mounting tension between Germany and Britain and the increasing pressure the Kaiser exerted on his Austro-Hungarian ally from 1912 onwards to resolve the Serbian problem. Following Germany's defeat and Wilhelm's enforced abdication, he charts the Kaiser's bitter experience of exile in Holland and his frustrated hopes that Hitler would restore him to the throne.
Sudan
In 1898, Kitchener's Anglo-Egyptian army defeated the armies of dervishes at the battle of Omdurman. To commemorate the event, 11 historians have produced a reappraisal of the reconquest and its international repercussions. They examine some of the policies, personalities and issues involved.
Englanders and Huns
A completely fresh look at the culture clash between Britain and Germany that all but destroyed Europe. Half a century before 1914, most Britons saw the Germans as poor and rather comical cousins - and most Germans looked up to the British as their natural mentors. Over the next five decades, each came to think that the other simply had to be confronted - in Europe, in Africa, in the Pacific and at last in the deadly race to cover the North Sea with dreadnoughts. But why? Why did so many Britons come to see in Germany everything that was fearful and abhorrent? Why did so many Germans come to see any German who called dobbel fohltwhile playing Das Lawn Tennisas the dupe of a global conspiracy...
The Pen Confronts the Sword
During 1942, the decisive battles of Stalingrad and El Alamein raged and the Nazi genocide was at its lethal peak. The Pen Confronts the Sword examines the shared motives behind four remarkable texts German exiles began writing that year: Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus (1947); Ernst Cassirer's The Myth of the State (1946); Erich Auerbach's Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (1946); and Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944). Each identified a specific danger in Nazi ideology and mustered new theories, approaches, and sources to combat it. The books aimed to expose the encompassing catastrophes of German culture (Mann), politics (Cassirer), philology (Auerbach), and philosophy and sociology (Horkheimer and Adorno). Their scope, mastery, and sense of urgency constitute a comprehensive Kulturkampf (culture war) against Nazi barbarism. Avihu Zakai cogently analyzes each work, explains the context of its creation, and draws connections between these four landmark books in Western intellectual history.
The Kaiser
This collection of innovative essays examining the role of Wilhelm II in Imperial Germany was first published in 2003, particularly on the later years of the monarch's reign. The essays highlight the Kaiser's relationship with statesmen and rulers; his role in international relations; the erosion of his power during the First World War; and his ultimate downfall in 1918. The book demonstrates the extent to which Wilhelm II was able to exercise 'personal rule', largely unopposed by the responsible government, and supported in his decision-making by his influential entourage. The essays are based on thorough and far-reaching research and on a wide range of archival sources. Written to honour the innovative work of John Röhl, Wilhelm II's most famous biographer, on his sixty-fifth birthday, the essays within this volume will continue to provide an exciting evaluation of the role and importance of this controversial monarch.
A Companion to Europe, 1900 - 1945
This volume brings together a distinguished group of international scholars to discuss the major debates in the study of early twentieth-century Europe. Brings together contributions from a distinguished group of international scholars. Provides an overview of current thinking on the period. Traces the great political, social and economic upheavals of the time. Illuminates perennial themes, as well as new areas of enquiry. Takes a pan-European approach, highlighting similarities and differences across nations and regions.
The Courtiers of Civilization
The professional diplomat frequently takes a back seat in the public imagination to such figures as the great heads of state and leading military figures. In The Courtiers of Civilization, Sasson Sofer aims to restore the importance and reputation of the diplomat in Western civilization. Drawing on an exhaustive reading of the vast literature on diplomacy, from the late Renaissance forward, he fashions an engaging portrait of the diplomat's milieu and lifestyle, his place in diplomatic rituals, and his role in international dialogue. Blending historical evidence, sociological analysis, and political thought, Sofer explores the vocational predicament faced by the diplomat, who must play many roles, including negotiator, honorable spy, horse trader, appeaser, and bureaucrat, while at the same time maneuvering in the world of rulers and warriors. Ultimately, the diplomat is a symbol of peace and a custodian of the virtues and norms of a civilized and functional international society—in sum a "courtier of civilization."
Germany's Second Reich
Despite recent studies of imperial Germany that emphasize the empire’s modern and reformist qualities, the question remains: to what extent could democracy have flourished in Germany’s stony soil? In Germany’s Second Reich, James Retallack continues his career-long inquiry into the era of Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II with a wide-ranging reassessment of the period and its connections with past traditions and future possibilities. In this volume, Retallack reveals the complex and contradictory nature of the Second Reich, presenting Imperial Germany as it was seen by outsiders and insiders as well as by historians, political scientists, and sociologists ever since.
