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A review by sydsnot71
The Shortest History of Germany by James Hawes
5.0
I enjoyed reading this immensely. It's a brisk introduction to the history of Germany and Hawes makes a good case that there have always been two Germanies. A western looking, liberal one and an Eastern looking, illiberal one - which he calls East Elbia. And it is this East Elbia that has been the problem part since 'unification' in 1870 (and before.)
WARNING - this may be a half-arsed understanding of Hawes's approach.
Interestingly, he suggests that the decision by the British to give the Rhineland to Prussia in 1814 is basically a terrible error from which most of the catastrophes of the 20th century spiral out. I have always said that if you're talking about a problematic parts of the world you'll often find British fingerprints all over it, e.g. Pakistan/India, Palestine/Israel (and the Middle East in general) and the artificial borders of Africa. Now I can add Germany to that list.
I'd say though that if you're learning about modern Germany - either at school or not - then read this book before you get to the period you're studying as it gives a really solid context to what follows.
WARNING - this may be a half-arsed understanding of Hawes's approach.
Interestingly, he suggests that the decision by the British to give the Rhineland to Prussia in 1814 is basically a terrible error from which most of the catastrophes of the 20th century spiral out. I have always said that if you're talking about a problematic parts of the world you'll often find British fingerprints all over it, e.g. Pakistan/India, Palestine/Israel (and the Middle East in general) and the artificial borders of Africa. Now I can add Germany to that list.
I'd say though that if you're learning about modern Germany - either at school or not - then read this book before you get to the period you're studying as it gives a really solid context to what follows.