The German empire was founded in triumph in 1871 and crashed in disaster at the end of the First World War. Imperial Germany focuses on the domestic political developments of the period, putting them into context through a balanced guide to the economic and social background, culture and foreign policy. It explores the tensions caused within an empire which was formed through war, against the prevailing liberal spirit of the age.Recent debates raised by German scholarship are made accessible to English speaking readers, and the book summarises the important controversies and competing interpretations of imperial German history.This important study poses many questions: was the desire to unify Germany the cause of the aggressive foreign policy leading to the First World War? To what extent was Bismarck's Second Reich the forerunner of Hitler's Third? * Did Bismarck's authoritarian rule permanently hinder the political development of Germany?Chronologically structured, this textbook is an ideal source for undergraduates and for those teaching the subject at all levels. It is also indispensable background reading for those studying more specific aspects of German history.