German foreign policy from Bismarck to Adenauer : the limits of statecraft /

A readable translation of Staatskunst oder Systemzwang, in which a noted German historian discusses historic German foreign policy problems within the framework of statesmanship versus system-imposed constraints. The first section deals with Britain's attitude toward Bismarck's unification efforts, European disarmament attempts following that unification, German-British relations before WW I, and the outbreak of that conflict in 1914. The second part analyzes Hitler's policy toward France; the upheavals of the 1930s with passing reference to the US, which allegedly "wanted either to rule the world or to escape it"; and foreign-policy concepts of the German resistance. A third section is concerned with Franco-German relations in the later 1960s, retired Chancellor Adenauer's thoughts on Soviet intentions, and Germany's Eigenweg and the consequences of this uniqueness. Hildebrand expresses strong views, based on his scholarship. A number of his findings may be of historic interest only; however, the general reader should derive from this book a clearer understanding of some of the current events in Central Europe and how they originated. -W. S. G. Kohn, Illinois State University