History of Germany 1918-2000: The Divided Nation, 2nd Edition

by Mary Fulbrook (University College, London)

• ISBN13: 9780631232087
• ISBN10: 0631232087
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-01
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

This accessible study traces the dramatic social, cultural and political tensions in Germany since 1918. It ranges from the self-destructive Weimar Republic, through the extremes of genocide and military aggression in the Nazi era, to the extraordinary political experimentation of division of the nation in the Cold War, culminating in the collapse of communist East Germany and unification with capitalist democratic West Germany in 1990. The first edition of this book one of the very first to appear after the fall of the Berlin Wall, treating East and West German history in equal depth offered a powerful interpretation of the dynamics of twentieth-century German history. It focused particularly on the role of elites, and on the implications of political dissent and opposition under changing socio-economic conditions and international circumstances. For the second edition, revisions have been made to incorporate the results of recent research, an epilogue covering the years 19902000 has been added, and the suggestions for further reading and the bibliography have been updated.

Author Biography

Educated at Cambridge and Harvard, Mary Fulbrook is Professor of German History at University College, London. She was co-founder and Joint Editor of German History, the journal of the German History Society, and served as Chair of this Society from 1996–9. She has published widely in German and comparative European history, including a number of edited volumes. Her previous publications include A Concise History of Germany (1990), Interpretations of the Two Germanies, 1945–1990 (Second Edition, 2000), Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949–1989 (1995) and German National Identity After the Holocaust (1999).

Table of Contents

List of Plates	vii
List of Maps	viii
Preface to the Second Edition	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
The Course of German History	1	(14)
Part I A Divided Society: The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich
The Weimar Republic: Origins and Orientations	15	(22)
The Collapse of Democracy and the Rise of Hitler	37	(18)
A `National Community'? State, Economy and Society, 1933--1939	55	(24)
War, Extermination and Defeat	79	(28)
Part II The Divided Nation: The Two Germanies, 1945--1990
Occupation and Division, 1945--1949	107	(30)
Crystallization and Consolidation, 1949--1961	137	(23)
Transformation and the `Established Phase', 1961--1988	160	(19)
Diverging Societies	179	(18)
Politics and the State	197	(17)
Dissent and Opposition	214	(21)
Diverging Cultures and National Identities?	235	(22)
The East German Revolution and the End of the Postwar Era	257	(28)
Part III The Divided Century
Tension and Transformation in Twentieth-century Germany	285	(17)
Notes	302	(17)
Select Bibliography of English-language Works	319	(8)
Index	327