UCSB Hist 133C Prof. Marcuse
German History since 1945 Jan. 13, 2000

Lecture 2: What is Germany?: Three Reichs, Three Democracies

  1. Preliminary
  2. The Farmer in the Dell theory of causality in history
  3. Overview of "German" History
    1. "Holy Roman Empire" (800) "of the German nation" (1200)

    2. Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation (1520s)
      Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
      Habsburg (Austria) and Hohenzollern (Prussia) dynasties
      Dissolved by Napoleon in 1806, resurrected Congress of Vienna in 1815
    3. 1848 revolution; "large German" and "small German" solutions

    4. Attempt to establish a "democratic" constitutional monarchy
    5. 1866-71: Bismarck establishes the "Second Reich" through three wars

    6. "Second industrial revolution" and long economic depression, 1874-1893
      Rise of mass participation in politics, especially Social Democrats
      Imperial aspirations of Kaiser (Emperor) William II, 1888-1918
    7. 1918 sailor's mutiny turns into a popular revolution, Weimar democracy

    8. Incomplete Revolution, elites retain their status
      Economic difficulties: treaty terms and hyperinflation, Great Depression
    9. 1933-34 Adolf Hitler undermines republic and establishes 'Third Reich"
    10. 1949: Founding of two nominal democracies under US and Soviet auspices
  4. Small groups: What are the five most important events in German history?