German Modernities from Wilhelm to Weimar ─ A Contest of Futures

What was German modernity? What did the years between 1880 and 1930 mean for Germany's navigation through a period of global capitalism, imperial expansion, and technological transformation?

German Modernities From Wilhelm to Weimar brings together leading historians of the Imperial and Weimar periods from across North America to readdress the question of German modernities. Acutely attentive to Germany's eventual turn towards National Socialism and the related historiographical arguments about 'modernity', this volume explores the variety of social, intellectual, political, and imperial projects pursued by those living in Germany in the Wilhelmine and Weimar years who were yet uncertain about what they were creating and which future would come. It includes varied case studies, based on cutting-edge research, which rethink the relationship of the early 20th century to the rise of Nazism and the Third Reich.

A range of political, social and cultural issues, including citizenship, welfare, empire, aesthetics and sexuality, as well as the very nature of German modernity, are analyzed and placed in a global context.German Modernities From Wilhelm to Weimar is a book of vital significance to all students of modern German history seeking to further understand the complex period from 1880 to 1930.

Geoff Eley is Karl Pohrt Distinguished University Professor of Contemporary History and Professor of German Studies at the University of Michigan, USA. He is the author ofForging Democracy: The History of the Left in Europe, 1850-2000 (2002), A Crooked Line: From Cultural History to the History of Society (2005) and Nazism as Fascism: Violence, Ideology, and the Ground of Consent in Germany, 1930-1945 (2013).

Jennifer L. Jenkins is Associate Professor of German and European History at the University of Toronto, Canada, where she holds a Canada Research Chair in Modern German History. She is the author ofProvincial Modernity: Local Culture and Liberal Politics in Fin-de-Siecle Hamburg(2003), as well as a number of articles on German culture and politics.

Tracie Matysik is Associate Professor of History at the University of Texas at Austin, USA. She is the author ofReforming the Moral Subject: Ethics and Sexuality in Central Europe, 1890-1930 (2008).