This is a social history of Germany in the years following the First World War. Germany's defeat and the subsequent demobilization of her armies had devastating social and psychological consequences for the nation, which Richard Bessel sets out to explore in this book. Dr Bessel examines the changes brought by the war to Germany, and those resulting from the return of the soldiers to civilian life and the subsequent demobilization of the economy. He demonstrates that the postwar transition was viewed as a moral crusade by Germans desperately concerned about challenges to traditional authority, assessing the ways in which the experience of the War, and memories of it, affected the politics of the Weimar Republic. This is an original and scholarly book which offers us important insights into the sense of dislocation experienced of both personal and national levels by Germany and Germans in the 1920s, and its damaging legacy for German democracy.
Review quote:
splendidly well-documented book ... One of the many things in this book is the way it demonstrates that civilian life in wartime Imperial Germany was indeed very unpleasant.
This is a social history of Germany in the years following the First World War. Richard Bessel's scholarly and original book explores the devastating social and psychological consequences of Germany's defeat and subsequent demobilization. Dr Bessel explores how the experience of the war affected the politics of the Weimar Republic, and he assesses the damaging legacy of this period for German democracy.
Review quote:
splendidly well-documented book ... One of the many things in this book is the way it demonstrates that civilian life in wartime Imperial Germany was indeed very unpleasant.
This is a social history of Germany in the years following the First World War. Richard Bessel's scholarly and original book explores the devastating social and psychological consequences of Germany's defeat and subsequent demobilization. Dr Bessel explores how the experience of the war affected the politics of the Weimar Republic, and he assesses the damaging legacy of this period for German democracy.