Germany after the First World War (Clarendon Paperbacks) Book

"Bessel reminds us that the Germans never came to terms with the fact of German war guilt or with Germany's military defeat...useful in reminding us that history never repeats itself, and that historical parallels and comparisons between German democracy today and German democracy under Weimar are overdrawn."--New York Times Book Review A social history of Germany in the years following the First World War, Germany After the First World War explores Germany's defeat and the subsequent demobilization of its armies, events which had devastating social and psychological consequences for the nation. Richard Bessel examines the changes brought by the War to Germany, including those resulting from the return of soldiers to civilian life and the effects of demobilization on the economy. He demonstrates that the postwar transition was viewed as a moral crusade by Germans desperately concerned about challenges to traditional authority; and he assesses the ways in which the experience of the War, and memories of it, affected the politics of the Weimar Republic. This original and scholarly book offers important insights into the sense of dislocation, both personal and national, experienced by Germany and Germans in the 1920s, and its damaging legacy for German democracy.Read More