This book explores the influence of Helmuth von Moltke, Germany's Chief of the General Staff between 1906 and 1914. Based largely on previously-unknown primary sources, it shows that Moltke's influence on the Kaiser and on Germany's political decision-making to have been decisive, helping to foster an increasingly confrontational mood. The book also takes issue with the common perception of Moltke as a reluctant military leader, concluding that he was both bellicose and ambitious and played a crucial role in the outbreak of the First World War.

A narrative of political struggles at the Russian court during Peter the Great's reign.

This thoroughly researched book on the Second Empire examines how Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was able to secure election as President of the Republic and subsequently to launch a coup d'etat to establish a Second Empire. It considers the ways in which power was exercised by the new empire and how Napoleon III engaged in a difficult process of transition towards more liberal policies only to experience catastrophic defeat and the destruction of the regime because of war against Prussia.

Julian Swann analyzes the organization, membership and powers of the Estates General of Burgundy during the classic period of absolute monarchy. Swann explores the activities of their administration and their struggles for power with rival institutions as well as their relationships with the crown and with the Burgundian people. His study reveals much about the government of Louis XIV, the history of Burgundy and the wider political history of eighteenth-century France, including the origins of the French Revolution.

This book seeks to explain the origins of the Catholic identity of the population of southwest Germany between 1550 and 1750. Many studies of this subject credit rulers and church leaders with creating and enforcing religious identity in Germany "from above." In contrast, this study argues that there were important local and religious reasons why people came to consider themselves loyal Catholics; and in order to understand the origins of Catholic identity, it examines the nature of "Baroque Catholicism"--including the significance of pilgrimages, processions, confraternities, and other...

This "comparative micro-historical" study for the transitional period between the old and the new France, (1760-1820) analyzes six small localities. It explains how country dwellers disengaged themselves from the congeries of local societies that made up the ancien regime, and attached themselves to the wider polity of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic state. The result is a strikingly new perspective on the rural history of France during an epoch of momentous change.

This book examines the role of royal families in European diplomacy before the outbreak of the First World War. It argues against the prevailing orthodoxy that has sought to marginalize the role of monarchs, and shows that monarchs remained significant political actors in pre-1914 Europe. Much attention is paid to relations among royal courts, notably those of Britain, Prussia-Germany and Russia (led by Edward VII, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II), but the book also contains case studies that probe the extent of royal diplomatic influence in a wider context.

Examining the politics of the French Revolutionary tradition during the nineteenth century Bourbon Restoration and early July Monarchy, Robert Alexander argues that political struggle was not confined to the elite. The Restoration Liberal Opposition developed a reform tradition based on legal organization and persuasion, which would prove far more effective in achieving progressive change than the revolutionary tradition of conspiracy and insurrection. Alexander analyzes relations among the Liberal Opposition, ultra-royalists and the state to support his claims.

Napoleon's contribution to Germany's development was immense and nowhere was the transformation more profound than in the Rhineland. Based upon an extensive range of German and French archival sources, this study analyzes the Napoleonic influence in this region within a broader chronological framework encompassing the Old Regime and Restoration. It analyzes not only politics, but also culture, identity, religion, society, institutions and economics in its examination of Napoleon's impact on Germany.

This book examines the role of royal families in European diplomacy before the outbreak of the First World War. It argues against the prevailing orthodoxy that has sought to marginalize the role of monarchs, and shows that monarchs remained significant political actors in pre-1914 Europe. Much attention is paid to relations among royal courts, notably those of Britain, Prussia-Germany and Russia (led by Edward VII, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II), but the book also contains case studies that probe the extent of royal diplomatic influence in a wider context.