| 81. |
Civil-Military Tensions: Letter from Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg to Field Marshall von Hindenburg (1917)
Here, Chancellor of Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg (1856-1921) attempts to impose coordination among....
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| 82. |
Friedrich Meinecke, The German Catastrophe: Reflections and Recollections (1946)
Here, the historian Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1964) reflects on the “Spirit of 1914,” a transient sense of unity felt by Germans during the initial stages of the First World War. Free from romantic....
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| 83. |
Wilhelm II: The Swearing-In of Recruits in Potsdam (1891)
In the monarchical system of Wilhelmine Germany, the army was regarded as an extension of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s own power, and he was legally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. His speech....
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| 84. |
The Krüger Telegram (1896)
On January 3, 1896, Wilhelm II approved the dispatch of a telegram to Paulus Ohm Krüger (1825-1904), who led the Boer Republic of Transvaal against the British, after the latter had attempted to....
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| 85. |
Wilhelm II: "Hun Speech" (1900)
Wilhelm II delivered this speech in Bremerhaven on July 27, 1900. He was addressing German troops who....
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| 86. |
The Daily Telegraph Affair (October 28, 1908)
An interview that Kaiser Wilhelm II gave in 1908 to the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph created a fiasco. His uncensored and off-the-cuff remarks on British foreign policy angered the....
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| 87. |
Parliament Debates the Zabern Affair (1913)
Tensions between Germany and France were most evident in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine. Seized by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War, the region became a major administrative headache. Its incorporation....
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| 88. |
Caligula: A Study in Roman Imperial Insanity by Ludwig Quidde (1894)
In 1894, the historian, politician, and peace activist Ludwig Quidde (1858-1941) published a pamphlet....
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| 89. |
Elections to the Reichstag (1890-1912)
These tables show the evolution of the parliamentary landscape at the turn of the century. Having been abandoned by Bismarck in 1878, the National Liberals declined, whereas the Catholic Center party....
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| 90. |
The Conservatives Embrace Antisemitism: The Tivoli Program of the German Conservative Party (1892)
In 1892, the German Conservatives [Deutschkonservativen] embraced Antisemitism in an attempt to broaden their electoral base. This move marked the ascendancy of the ultra-conservative wing....
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