Bismarck and Germany, 1862-1890 - D. G Williamson

This study provides students with a concise, analytical account of Bismark's role in modern German history. The author guides the readers through the complex events leading to the defeats of Austria and France in 1866 and 1870 and the subsequent creation of a united Germany in January 1871. He then explores the domestic and foreign problems Bismarck faced up to in 1890 in consolidating unification.;The book offers coverage of the period 1862 to 1890, with equal weight given to events before and after 1871. It contains material on the relationship between economics and Bismarck's diplomacy, the social and constitutional history of Germany after 1871, and the current historical debates surrounding Bismarck. The study also considers Bismarck's relations with the Catholics and Socialists, the consequences of the Great Depression and whether there really was a "second foundation" of the Reich in 1878-9; Bismarck's attempts to reconcile Austrian and Russian interests in the Balkans; and the creation of the German colonial empire in Africa and the Far East.