LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF MAPS PREFACE 1 THE FOUNDERS¿ GENERATION, 1871¿1890 The Road to Unification After Unification: Economic and Political Power Structures The Kulturkampf Im Mittelpunkt: Ludwig Windthorst (1812¿1891) Economic and Social Developments Im Mittelpunkt: Gerson Bleichr¿der (1822¿1893) Social Legislation and Antisocialist Laws Foreign Relations The End of the Era and Bismarck¿s Dismissal 2 WILHELMENIAN GERMANY, 1890¿1914 The Structures and Personalities of Modern Politics Economic and Social Developments Literature, Art, and Society Im Mittelpunkt: Heinrich (1871¿1950) and Thomas Mann (1875¿1955) Im Mittelpunkt: Karl May (1842¿1912) Foreign Relations Germany on the Eve of World War I 3 WORLD WAR I, 1914¿1918 The Debate over the Outbreak of the War Military Developments Im Mittelpunkt: Erich Ludendorff (1865¿1937) Domestic Politics: Reform, Repression, and Revolution War and Society Conclusion: The Long-Term Impact of the War 4 REVOLUTION, INFLATION, AND PUTSCHES: THE SEARCH FOR A NEW CONSENSUS, 1918¿1923 Revolution Im Mittelpunkt: Rosa Luxemburg (1870¿1919) Im Mittelpunkt: Friedrich Ebert (1871¿1925) The Weimar Constitution The Treaty of Versailles Economic and Social Problems Im Mittelpunkt: Walther Rathenau (1867¿1922) Everyday Life under Extreme Duress Counterrevolution Foreign Relations Conclusion 5 FOOLS¿ GOLD: THE WEIMAR REPUBLIC, 1924¿1930 The Search for the Elusive Political Consensus Economic and Social Developments Weimar Culture Im Mittelpunkt: Marlene Dietrich (1901¿1992) Im Mittelpunkt: Kurt Weill (1900¿1950) Foreign Relations The Depression and the End of Parliamentary Democracy 6 FROM AUTHORITARIANISM TO TOTALITARIANISM, 1930¿1938 The Rule of the New Conservatives Im Mittelpunkt: Heinrich Br¿ning (1885¿1970) Im Mittelpunkt: Franz von Papen (1879¿1969) The Nazis¿ Rise to Power Gleichschaltung: The Establishment of Nazi Totalitarianism Social Life and the Concept of the Volksgemeinschaft Foreign Relations Conclusion 7 CONQUEST, DEATH, AND DEFEAT, 1938¿1945 Further Growth of the Nazi F¿hrer State Im Mittelpunkt: Reinhard Heydrich (1904¿1942) The Road to War Nazi Rule in Europe The Holocaust Im Mittelpunkt: Viktor Klemperer (1881¿1960) Economy and Society The End of the Third Reich 8 "CONDOMINIUM OF THE ALLIED POWERS," 1945¿1949 The German Resistance: Strengths and Delusions Im Mittelpunkt: Claus von Stauffenberg (1907¿1944) Allied Visions and Plans, 1941¿1945 The Immediate Legacy of the Third Reich: The Reality of "Zero Hour" Reparations and Economic Recovery "Exorcising the Evil": De-Nazification and Reeducation Revival of Administrative, Political, and Cultural Life The Cold War and the Division of Germany Conclusion 9 THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, 1949¿1990 The Adenauer Era, 1949¿1963 Im Mittelpunkt: Konrad Adenauer (1876¿1967) The Changing of the Guard, 1963¿1974 Im Mittelpunkt: Helmut Schmidt (1918¿2015) Culture and Society Im Mittelpunkt: G¿nter Grass (1927¿2015) 1968 and Beyond: Troubled 1970s and 1980s Conclusion 10 THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, 1949¿1990 The Quest for Viability Im Mittelpunkt: Erich Mielke (1907¿2000) East Germany in the 1960s Culture and Society Im Mittelpunkt: Wolf Biermann (1936¿) Conflicting Signals: East Germany under Erich Honecker, 1971¿1989 1989: The Year of the Ultimate Crisis Im Mittelpunkt: Kurt Masur (1927¿2015) Conclusion 11 EUPHORIA AND DISILLUSIONMENT, 1990¿2005 Political Developments Im Mittelpunkt: Gerhard Schr¿der (1944¿) The End of the Kohl Era Economic and Social Developments Foreign Policy German Society Fifteen Years after Reunification Problems and Prospects 12 THE NEW NORMAL, 2005 to the Present Im Mittelpunkt: Angela Merkel (1954¿) Parties, Politics and Elections Foreign Relations Im Mittelpunkt: Ursula von der Leyen (1958¿) The Refugee Crisis of 2015/16 and the Rise of Anti-Establishment Groups Culture Im Mittelpunkt: Herta M¿ller (1953¿) Problems and Prospects 13 CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING INDEX.