The Wars of German Unification

by Dennis Showalter, Hew Strachan (Editor)

Overview

The Wars of German Unification is the definitive account of the three of the most decisive conflicts in the history of modern Europe. In this new edition, Dennis Showalter offers a thoroughly updated look at the wars and their context that will be invaluable for those interested in the military, social and political history of the period.

Showalter explores how the Schleswig-Holstein conflict of 1864; the 'Six Weeks War' of 1866; and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 fundamentally altered the balance of power in 19th-century Europe. They marked the establishment of Prussian hegemony in central Europe, the creation of the Bismarckian Reich in 1871, the reduction of Habsburg influence and the collapse of Napoleon III's Second Empire.

The Wars of German Unification offers a balanced and incisive account of the wars, their origins and their consequences, and firmly embeds these conflicts in their political, ideological and military contexts. This volume traces the transition from the 'cabinet wars' of the 19th century and shows how the conflicts that made up the wars of German unification provided the foundation for the birth of modern warfare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780938080
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/30/2015
Series:	Modern Wars
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Dennis Showalter was Professor of History at Colorado College, USA. He is the author of several books, including Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk, The Turning Point of World War II (2013), Patton and Rommel: Men Of War in the Twentieth Century (2005) and Tannenberg: Clash of Empires 1914 (1991), which won the American Historical Association's Paul M. Birdsall Prize. He was the Founding Editor of the War in History journal and Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Bibliographies Online: Military History. Professor Showalter was also President of the Society for Military History between 1997 and 2000.

Hew Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford, UK

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Confederation and Revolution
2. New Eras
3. Under the Double Eagle
4. Roads to War
5. Iron Dice
6. “Know When to Hold and When to Fold”
7. War against the Empire
8. The Republic Strikes Back
9. War with France
Epilogue
Further Reading
Index

Editorial Reviews

Magisterial. A work that has no equal and is unlikely ever to have any. This book contains all the qualities that have made Dennis Showalter one of the world's finest military historians.” —David Wetzel, University of California, Berkeley, USA

“[A] magisterial synthetic narrative that is accessible to students, historians of Germany, specialists in military history, and even a general readership. Historians who regularly avoid military history and deem the genre too thematically narrow might well consult this wide-ranging synoptic analysis to test such a proposition.” —Journal of Modern History

From the Publisher

Magisterial. A work that has no equal and is unlikely ever to have any. This book contains all the qualities that have made Dennis Showalter one of the world's finest military historians.

David Wetzel