Exploring the History of the German Empire: From the Unification of Germany to its Disintegration in the First World War

Key Perspective: A fairly short book which provides a good overview of the period. Probably aimed at the casual reader rather than scholar but none the worse for that.

United Kingdom on Nov 11, 2023

coolroger: So far for me the best hisory of this period!

Germany on Oct 24, 2023

Eduardo: I chose this book because it was written by a German historian. To write an introductory book about the birth of the German Empire up to WWI is a delicate matter, for the shadow of Nazism looms large on this period. Katja Hoyer describes in a readable style the historical facts that led to the creation of the German State and the complex interplay of social, political and cultural forces that shaped the German world during the short but consequential 43 years of existence of the Empire. In her descriptions of the intricate socio-political scenario and its main characters (Otto von Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II) one feels that the writer has the familiarity of someone who belongs to the culture. The same is true for her account of the First World War and the terrible cost it represented for Germany.

United States on Sep 29, 2023

joana: AMAZING book. Very well researched and well written. Great book for those that, like me, love history, as well as very engaging and easy to read.

Germany on Sep 18, 2023

Caleb: Great story of the German Empire and opened the door for me to read other books. I reached out to the author and she recommended more books so I have her to thank for my current reading journey. Easily digestible read and opens the door to a whole world of fascinating history.

Germany on Sep 08, 2023

Kevin L. Nenstiel: When the Holy Roman Empire collapsed before Napoleon in 1806, it left a crazy quilt of German-speaking microstates across central Europe. These little Germanies were vulnerable to French, Russian, and Austrian dominion, but for decades struggled to unify. Their separate traditions, laws, and dialects made working together too difficult. They waited in vain for someone to unify them, until a militant nationalist stepped into the role: Otto von Bismarck.

If your high school World History course resembled mine, Germany largely disappeared from discussion between 1806 and World War I. Maybe an Anton von Werner painting depicting the Empire’s proclamation, or an orphan portrait of Bismarck, but certainly not context. German-born British historian Katja Hoyer steps into the vacuum. Her introductory history is broad and sweeping, and provides a good bird’s-eye view, assuming an introduction is what you need.

Hoyer organizes her history into five long, thematically linked chapters: the years leading to unification, Kaiser Wilhelm I’s reign, the tragedy of Friedrich III and Bismarck’s downfall, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s reign, and finally World War I. She attempts to...

United States on Mar 29, 2023

David Lindsay: Katja Hoyer is a German historian, and her book explains German politics between 1871 and 1918. It is fascinating to get a German perspective on this period. Modern Germany came into existence in 1871 after its victory over France, but it suffered defeat and humiliation in 1918. Hoyer provides a clear narrative of what happened in between. When Wilhelm II became Kaiser, Germany began to antagonize its neighbors and this would eventually lead to a major war. Its generals wanted a preemptive war with Russia, but they declared war on Russia, France, and Belgium in 1914. They also ended up fighting Britain, United States, and Italy. Hoyer does not really explain what Germany was thinking or trying to achieve. It seemed on a suicide mission. Everybody else in 1914 wanted peace. Young Britons like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien volunteered to fight what they saw as German militarism.

Bismarck was a Prussian aristocrat who was chancellor of Germany from 1871-1890, he died in 1898. Until 1871 Germany consisted of 39 separate states. It would have been better for Europe had it remained that way. Bismarck had two objectives: to unite Germany and bring Germany under Prussian control....

United States on Mar 16, 2021

F. DomoneyF. Domoney: Ms Hoyer’s refreshing overview of 19th Century Germany springs from her very 21st Century question that echoes Richard Wagner’s “Was ist deutsch?”

“I was born in Germany and have always found it difficult to make sense of my own national identity. In Germany, regional, cultural and historical differences do not just divide but shape the sense of who you are. I was born in East Germany, which added yet another layer of identity over the top. Does that make me a German, an East German, a Prussian, a Brandenburger? There was no national narrative. The very same history teachers who told me in the 1990s that Germany had finally arrived at its natural place as a Western European nation would have told the students a few years above me that Germany had finally defeated the evils of imperialism, the highest stage of capitalism. My nation did not make any sense to me.”

Her choice of a hundred year period is very sensible as history seems to have cycles that last 70 and 100 years. This leaves us with a readable and manageable 230 pages to read in contrast to Christopher Clark’s nearly 700 pages of narrative on the Rise and Downfall of Prussia from 1600 to 1947....

United Kingdom on Jan 19, 2021