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This is a comprehensive history of political violence during
Europe's incredibly violent twentieth century. Leading scholars
examine the causes and dynamics of war, revolution,
counterrevolution, genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and state
repression. They locate these manifestations of political violence
within their full transnational and comparative contexts and within
broader trends in European history from the beginning of the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth-century,
through the two world wars, to the Yugoslav Wars and the rise of
fundamentalist terrorism. The book spans a 'greater Europe'
stretching from Ireland and Iberia to the Baltic, the Caucasus,
Turkey and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It sheds new
light on the extent to which political violence in
twentieth-century Europe was inseparable from the generation of new
forms of state power and their projection into other societies, be
they distant territories of imperial conquest or ones much closer
to home.
The First World War did not end in November 1918. In Russia and
Eastern Europe it finished up to a year earlier, and both there and
elsewhere in Europe it triggered conflicts that lasted down to
1923. Paramilitary formations were prominent in this continuation
of the war. They had some features of formal military
organizations, but were used in opposition to the regular military
as an instrument of revolution or as an adjunct or substitute for
military forces when these were unable by themselves to put down a
revolution (whether class or national). Paramilitary violence thus
arose in different contexts. It was an important aspect of the
violence unleashed by class revolution in Russia. It structured the
counter-revolution in central and Eastern Europe, including Finland
and Italy, which reacted against a mythic version of Bolshevik
class violence in the name of order and authority. It also shaped
the struggles over borders and ethnicity in the new states that
replaced the multi-national empires of Russia, Austria-Hungary and
Ottoman Turkey. It was prominent on all sides in the wars for Irish
independence. In many cases, paramilitary violence was charged with
political significance and acquired a long-lasting symbolism and
influence.
War in Peace explores the differences and similarities between
these various kinds of paramilitary violence within one volume for
the first time. It thereby contributes to our understanding of the
difficult transitions from war to peace. It also helps to
re-situate the Great War in a longer-term context and to explain
its enduring impact.
Few statesmen in history have inspired the imagination of
generations of Germans more than the founder of the Kaiserreich,
Otto von Bismarck. The archetype of charismatic leadership, the
Iron Chancellor maintained his pre-eminent position in the pantheon
of Germany's political iconography for much of the twentieth
century.
Based on a large selection of primary sources, this book provides
an insightful analysis of the Bismarck myth's profound impact on
Germany's political culture. In particular, it investigates the
ways in which that myth was used to undermine parliamentary
democracy in Germany after the Great War, paving the way for its
replacement by authoritarian rule under an allegedly 'Bismarckian'
charismatic leader, Adolf Hitler.
As one of the most powerful weapons of nationalist agitation
against the Weimar Republic, the Bismarck myth was never contested.
The nationalists' ideologically charged interpretation of Bismarck
as the father of the German nation-state and model for future
political decision-making clashed with rivalling - and thoroughly
critical - democratic and communist perceptions of the Iron
Chancellor. The quarrel over Bismarck's legacy demonstrates how the
clash of ideologies, particularly between 1918 and 1933, resulted
in a highly political fight for the 'correct' and universal
interpretation of the German past.
Essential reading for anyone interested in modern German history,
this book sheds new light on the Weimar Republic's struggle for
survival and the reasons for its failure.
Empires at War, 1911-1923 offers a new perspective on the history
of the Great War. It expands the story of the war both in time and
space to include the violent conflicts that preceded and followed
the First World War, from the 1911 Italian invasion of Libya to the
massive violence that followed the collapse of the Ottoman,
Russian, and Austrian empires until 1923. It also presents the war
as a global war of empires rather than a a European war between
nation-states. This volume tells the story of the millions of
imperial subjects called upon to defend their imperial governments'
interest, the theatres of war that lay far beyond Europe, and the
wartime roles and experiences of innumerable peoples from outside
the European continent. Empires at War covers the broad, global
mobilizations that saw African solders and Chinese labourers in the
trenches of the Western Front, Indian troops in Jerusalem, and the
Japanese military occupying Chinese territory. Finally, the volume
shows how the war set the stage for the collapse not only of
specific empires, but of the imperial world order writ large.
Empires at War, 1911-1923 offers a new perspective on the history
of the Great War, looking at the war beyond the generally-accepted
1914-1918 timeline, and as a global war between empires, rather
than a European war between nation-states. The volume expands the
story of the war both in time and space to include the violent
conflicts that preceded and followed World War I, from the 1911
Italian invasion of Libya to the massive violence that followed the
collapse of the Ottoman, Russian, and Austrian empires until 1923.
It argues that the traditional focus on the period between August
1914 and November 1918 makes more sense for the victorious western
front powers (notably Britain and France), than it does for much of
central-eastern and south-eastern Europe or for those colonial
troops whose demobilization did not begin in November 1918. The
paroxysm of 1914-18 has to be seen in the wider context of armed
imperial conflict that began in 1911 and did not end until 1923. If
we take the Great War seriously as a world war, we must, a century
after the event, adopt a perspective that does justice more fully
to the millions of imperial subjects called upon to defend their
imperial governments' interest, to theatres of war that lay far
beyond Europe including in Asia and Africa and, more generally, to
the wartime roles and experiences of innumerable peoples from
outside the European continent. Empires at War also tells the story
of the broad, global mobilizations that saw African soldiers and
Chinese labourers in the trenches of the Western front, Indian
troops in Jerusalem, and the Japanese military occupying Chinese
territory. Finally, the volume shows how the war set the stage for
the collapse not only of specific empires but of the imperial world
order.
The First World War did not end in November 1918. In Russia and
Eastern Europe it finished up to a year earlier, and both there and
elsewhere in the world it triggered conflicts that lasted down to
1923. Paramilitary formations were prominent in this continuation
of the war. Paramilitary violence was an important ingredient in
the clashes unleashed by class revolution in Russia. It structured
the counter-revolution in central and Eastern Europe, including
Finland and Italy, which in the name of order and authority reacted
against a mythic version of Bolshevik class violence. It also
shaped the struggles over borders and ethnicity in the new states
that replaced the multi-national empires of Russia,
Austria-Hungary, and Ottoman Turkey. It was prominent on all sides
in the wars for Irish independence. Paramilitary violence was
charged with political significance and acquired a long-lasting
symbolism and influence. War in Peace explores the differences and
similarities between these various kinds of paramilitary violence
within one volume for the first time. It contributes to our
understanding of the difficult transitions from war to peace,
re-situates the Great War in a longer-term context, and explains
its enduring impact.
This is a comprehensive history of political violence during
Europe's incredibly violent twentieth century. Leading scholars
examine the causes and dynamics of war, revolution,
counterrevolution, genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and state
repression. They locate these manifestations of political violence
within their full transnational and comparative contexts and within
broader trends in European history from the beginning of the
dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth-century,
through the two world wars, to the Yugoslav Wars and the rise of
fundamentalist terrorism. The book spans a 'greater Europe'
stretching from Ireland and Iberia to the Baltic, the Caucasus,
Turkey and the southern shores of the Mediterranean. It sheds new
light on the extent to which political violence in
twentieth-century Europe was inseparable from the generation of new
forms of state power and their projection into other societies, be
they distant territories of imperial conquest or ones much closer
to home.
A chilling biography of the head of Nazi Germany's terror
apparatus, Reinhard Heydrich-a key player in the Third Reich whose
full story has never before been told "Gerwarth dispassionately
examines Heydrich's rise and assassination, which resulted in a
horrific series of Nazi reprisals in Czechoslovakia. The best
account of Heydrich."-Jacob Heilbrunn, The Daily Beast
"Meticulously takes us inside the Third Reich, . . . revealing as
few texts do how the bureaucracy of evil worked."-Kirkus Reviews
Reinhard Heydrich is widely recognized as one of the great iconic
villains of the twentieth century, an appalling figure even within
the context of the Nazi leadership. Chief of the Nazi Criminal
Police, the SS Security Service, and the Gestapo, ruthless overlord
of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and leading planner of the
"Final Solution," Heydrich played a central role in Hitler's
Germany. He shouldered a major share of responsibility for some of
the worst Nazi atrocities, and up to his assassination in Prague in
1942, he was widely seen as one of the most dangerous men in Nazi
Germany. Yet Heydrich has received remarkably modest attention in
the extensive literature of the Third Reich. Robert Gerwarth weaves
together little-known stories of Heydrich's private life with his
deeds as head of the Nazi Reich Security Main Office. Fully
exploring Heydrich's progression from a privileged middle-class
youth to a rapacious mass murderer, Gerwarth sheds new light on the
complexity of Heydrich's adult character, his motivations, the
incremental steps that led to unimaginable atrocities, and the
consequences of his murderous efforts toward re-creating the entire
ethnic makeup of Europe.
Few statesmen in history have inspired the imagination of
generations of Germans more than the founder of the Kaiserreich,
Otto von Bismarck. The archetype of charismatic leadership, the
Iron Chancellor maintained his pre-eminent position in the pantheon
of Germany's political iconography for
much of the twentieth century.
Based on a large selection of primary sources, this book provides
an insightful analysis of the Bismarck myth's profound impact on
Germany's political culture. In particular, it investigates the
ways in which that myth was used to undermine parliamentary
democracy in Germany after the Great War,
paving the way for its replacement by authoritarian rule under an
allegedly 'Bismarckian' charismatic leader, Adolf Hitler.
As one of the most powerful weapons of nationalist agitation
against the Weimar Republic, the Bismarck myth was never contested.
The nationalists' ideologically charged interpretation of Bismarck
as the father of the German nation-state and model for future
political decision-making clashed with
rivalling - and thoroughly critical - democratic and communist
perceptions of the Iron Chancellor. The quarrel over Bismarck's
legacy demonstrates how the clash of ideologies, particularly
between 1918 and 1933, resulted in a highly political fight for the
'correct' and universal interpretation of
the German past.
Essential reading for anyone interested in modern German history,
this book sheds new light on the Weimar Republic's struggle for
survival and the reasons for its failure.
A concise introduction to European history between 1914 and 1945,
this series of succinct interpretations written by leading scholars
offers a new introduction to the period. Covering historical
developments in all areas within Europe's natural borders--from the
Atlantic to the Arctic Ocean, from the Bosporus to the Urals and
the Mediterranean, the book moves beyond the traditional view that
the history of this period can only be understood in terms of
catastrophe. Instead it argues for a more balanced perspective,
suggesting that both "darker" and "lighter" elements in Europe's
history were capable of evolving simultaneously.
Without neglecting the more familiar stories of war, genocide, and
economic depression, each chapter demonstrates that political
stability and regime collapse, social progress and mass poverty,
the crisis of European civilization and remarkable cultural
achievements, existed alongside each other. With the military
struggles and intense political conflicts also came innovations in
social welfare, the introduction of far-reaching labor laws, the
breakthrough of parliamentary democracy and republicanism, and the
enduring personal networks that resulted from international
migration.
Emphasizing the histories of the smaller states--and the
multifaceted nature of the period--Twisted Paths illuminates the
diversity of Europe's experiences in the first half of the
twentieth century.
The German Revolution of November 1918 is nowadays largely
forgotten outside Germany. It is generally regarded as a failure
even by those who have heard of it, a missed opportunity which
paved the way for the rise of the Nazis and the catastrophe to
come. Robert Gerwarth argues here that to view the German
Revolution in this way is a serious misjudgement. Not only did it
bring down the authoritarian monarchy of the Hohenzollern, it also
brought into being the first ever German democracy in an amazingly
bloodless way. Focusing on the dramatic events between the last
months of the First World War in 1918 and Hitler's Munich Putsch of
1923, Robert Gerwarth illuminates the fundamental and deep-seated
ways in which the November Revolution changed Germany. In doing so,
he reminds us that, while it is easy with the benefit of hindsight
to write off the 1918 Revolution as a 'failure', this failure was
not somehow pre-ordained. In 1918, the fate of the German
Revolution remained very much an open book.
'A breathtaking, magisterial panorama, telling the epic story of
post-war anarchy, dying empires and rising nation states. It makes
us rethink our understanding of Europe's twentieth century' David
Motadel, The Times Literary Supplement For the Western allies 11
November 1918 has always been a solemn date - the end of fighting
which had destroyed a generation, and also a vindication of a
terrible sacrifice with the total collapse of their principal
enemies: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.
But for much of the rest of Europe this was a day with no meaning,
as a continuing, nightmarish series of conflicts engulfed country
after country. In this highly original, gripping book Robert
Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First
World War. 'Lucid, incisive and packed with fascinating details'
Financial Times, Books of the Year 'Important and timely ...
obliges us to reconsider a period and a battlefront that has too
often been neglected' Margaret MacMillan, The New York Times Review
of Books 'This narrative of continent-wide chaos performs a
valuable service by chronicling the postwar turmoil of Europe ...
helps us understand why few wars reach tidy conclusions' Max
Hastings, Sunday Times 'Reminds us, in vivid and often shocking
detail, that only some countries saw killing end on the 11th day of
the 11th month ... leaves a sense of foreboding for our own time'
Robert Tombs, The Times
This is the first systematic pan-European study of the hundreds of
thousands of non-Germans who fought - either voluntarily or under
different kinds of pressures - for the Waffen-SS (or auxiliary
police formations operating in the occupied East). Building on the
findings of regional studies by other scholars - many of them
included in this volume - The Waffen-SS aims to arrive at a fuller
picture of those non-German citizens (from Eastern as well as
Western Europe) who served under the SS flag. Where did the
non-Germans in the SS come from (socially, geographically, and
culturally)? What motivated them? What do we know about the
practicalities of international collaboration in war and genocide,
in terms of everyday life, language, and ideological training? Did
a common transnational identity emerge as a result of shared
ideological convictions or experiences of extreme violence? In
order to address these questions (and others), The Waffen-SS adopts
an approach that does justice to the complexity of the subject,
adding a more nuanced, empirically sound understanding of
collaboration in Europe during World War II, while also seeking to
push the methodological boundaries of the historiographical genre
of perpetrator studies by adopting a transnational approach.
A concise look at European history between 1914 and 1945, Twisted
Paths: Europe 1914-1945 offers a new and alternative introduction
to the period. Featuring a series of succinct interpretations by
expert contributors, this volume covers historical developments in
all areas within Europe's natural borders--from the Atlantic to the
Arctic Ocean, from the Bosporus to the Urals and the Mediterranean.
Moving beyond the view that the history of this period can only be
understood in terms of catastrophe, it argues for a more balanced
perspective, suggesting that both "darker" and "lighter" elements
in Europe's history were capable of evolving simultaneously.
Without neglecting the more familiar stories of war, genocide, and
economic depression, each chapter demonstrates that political
stability and regime collapse, social progress and mass poverty,
and the crisis of European civilization and remarkable cultural
achievements, existed alongside each other.
Emphasizing the histories of the smaller states--and the
multifaceted nature of the period--Twisted Paths illuminates the
diversity of Europe's experiences in the first half of the
twentieth century.
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