Description
Book Synopsis In this compact and tightly argued essay, the author maintains that the French Third Republic - and European history during this period in general - can only be understood if particular attention is paid to the special relationship that existed between France and Germany. The experience of the French people was so intimately related to that of its closest neighbor that a bilateral perspective becomes unavoidable. Without the unifying theme of Germany's crucial role in acting upon and within the French Republic, this story would become a much more random tale of events. After 1870, an autonomous national history of France is no longer possible.
Trade Review...very well written [and] highly informative. It has originality [and] presents stimulating and thoughtful images of the Third French Republic.A" * Joel Blatt, University of Connecticut - an excellent interpretive essay - this short book, long on ideas and filled with useful information, is highly recommended to specialists in German and French history alike, as well as anyone interested in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century European history.A" * H-German
Table of Contents Preface
Chapter 1. An Unstable Past
Chapter 2. An Improvised State
Chapter 3. A Voluntarist Ethic
Chapter 4. A Flagging Demography
Chapter 5. A Stagnant Economy
Chapter 6. A Sexist Tradition
Chapter 7. An Educated Elite
Chapter 8. A Xenophobic Style
Chapter 9. A Socialist Revival
Chapter 10. A Strange Defeat?
Epilogue
Further Reading
Index
