A History of Germany 1918 - 2008: TheDivided Nation » (3rd Edition)

Mary Fulbrook is Professor of German History at University College London (UCL). She was founding Joint Editor of German History, and has served as Chair of the German History Society. She has published widely in German and comparative European history, including a number of edited volumes. Her books include A Concise History of Germany (Second Edition, 2004), Interpretations of the Two Germanies, 1945–1990 (Second Edition, 2000), Anatomy of a Dictatorship: Inside the GDR, 1949–1989 (1995), German National Identity After the Holocaust (1999), Historical Theory (2002) and The People’s State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker (2005).

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 book also covers events since the end of the Cold War, examining the extent to which Germany remains a divided nation even today.

For the new edition, the author has updated the book throughout, providing more coverage on the early twentieth century and reflecting recent work on the Nazi period, particularly with respect to controversies on the Holocaust. She also provides a new chapter on Germany's development since unification in 1990, with a focus especially on the continuing significance of commemoration and remembrance within Germany at the start of the twenty-first century.

List of Plates.

List of Maps.

Preface to Third Edition.

Preface to the Second Edition.

Acknowledgements.

1. The Course of German History.

Part I: A Divided Society: The Weimar Republic and the Third Reich:.

2. The Weimar Republic: Origins and Orientations.

3. The Collapse of Democracy and the Rise of Hitler.

4. A ‘National Community’? State, Economy and Society, 1933–1939.

5. War, Extermination and Defeat.

Part II: The Divided Nation: The Two Germanies, 1945–1990:.

6. Occupation and Division, 1945–1949.

7. Crystallization and Consolidation, 1949–1961.

8. Transformation and the ‘Established Phase’, 1961–1988.

9. Diverging Societies.

10. Politics and the State.

11. Dissent and Opposition.

12. Diverging Cultures and National Identities?.

13. The East German Revolution and the End of the Postwar Era.

Part III: The Divided Century:.

14. The Berlin Republic.

15. Tension and Transformation in Twentieth-century Germany.

Notes.

Select Bibliography of English-language Works.

Index