Overview

On the eve of the First World War, the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) was the largest and most powerful socialist party in the world. German Social Democracy through British Eyes examines the SPD's rise using British diplomatic reports from Saxony, the third-largest federal state in Imperial Germany and the cradle of the socialist movement in that country. Rather than focusing on the Anglo-German antagonism leading to the First World War, the book peers into the everyday struggles of German workers to build a political movement and emancipate themselves from the worst features of a modern capitalist system: exploitation, poverty, and injustice. The archival documents, most of which have never been published before, raise the question of how people from one nation view people from another. The documents also illuminate political systems, election practices, and anti-democratic strategies at the local and regional levels, allowing readers to test hypotheses derived only from national-level studies. This collection of primary sources shows why, despite the inhospitable environment of German authoritarianism, Saxony and Germany were among the most important incubators of socialism.

Full Product Details

Author:   James Retallack
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.90cm , Height: 3.20cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.760kg
ISBN:  

9781487527471

ISBN 10:   1487527470
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   23 December 2021
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Temporarily unavailable  
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Table of Contents

List of Tables List of Figures List of Maps Preface Note on the Documents Introduction Historical Overview Documents Part I: 1870–1877 Part II: 1878–1889 Part III: 1890–1897 Part IV: 1898–1909 Part V: 1910–1914

Reviews

Here is a perfect reminder of why we need scholars who will do the unsung work of editing document collections and university presses that will publish them. This engaging volume looks at German Social Democracy in its earliest decades through the reports of British diplomats, especially the enjoyably opinionated George Strachey in Dresden. No one is better qualified to assemble this documentary history than James Retallack, who contributes an excellent introduction and notes to this richly rewarding book. - David Blackbourn, Cornelius Vanderbilt Distinguished Chair of History, Vanderbilt University Impeccably edited and helpfully annotated and introduced by James Retallack, this is a wonderful collection of detailed reports that has a great deal to tell us about Social Democracy in a leading industrial area of Imperial Germany from its rise in the 1870s up to the outbreak of the First World War, as well as throwing new light on the British consuls who wrote them, their acute observations, their detailed knowledge of local and regional affairs, and their biases and prejudices: an indispensable source for historians of Imperial Germany as well as the British Foreign Office and Anglo-German relations. - Sir Richard Evans, Regius Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cambridge James Retallack's selections from the reports of British envoys, along with his historical contextualization, detail the rise of the socialist party in the German Second Empire, especially industrial Saxony. Add to this a critical portrayal of German parliamentary and ministerial politics as seen by knowledgeable British diplomats, and the result is a rich representation of popular and elite politics, and of contrasting class and national political cultures. - John Breuilly, Professor Emeritus of Nationalism and Ethnicity, London School of Economics and Political Science James Retallack's work on the struggles for democracy in Saxony is essential reading for anyone interested in Imperial Germany. This rich, well focused, and skilfully edited collection is a valuable window into the topic, which will be rewarding for anyone with an interest in nineteenth-century Germany, labour movement history, or the history of contests over democracy. - Andrew Bonnell, Associate Professor in History, University of Queensland Renowned as a leading scholar of Imperial Germany and for his special expertise on modern Saxony, James Retallack has done a stellar job editing this collection of British diplomatic reports on Social Democracy. His passion for discovering archival documents and his profound knowledge of Germany's most industrialized federal state shine through in his erudite introduction and insightful historical contextualization. The book is a treasure trove for researchers and students seeking primary sources in English and, indeed, for anyone who wishes to go beyond the Prussian view of German history before 1914. - Simone Lassig, Professor of Modern History at University of Braunschweig and Director of the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC The history of Social Democracy, class conflict, and German politics looks different when seen through the eyes of British diplomats who, between 1870 and 1914, regularly reported back to London from Saxony's capital, Dresden. Their surveys shed new light on the German Empire, which has recently become controversial again. James Retallack has done an excellent job in editing and introducing them to a broader audience. - Jurgen Kocka, Professor Emeritus of the History of the Industrial World, Free University of Berlin

Here is a perfect reminder of why we need scholars who will do the unsung work of editing document collections and university presses that will publish them. This engaging volume looks at German Social Democracy in its earliest decades through the reports of British diplomats, especially the enjoyably opinionated George Strachey in Dresden. No one is better qualified to assemble this documentary history than James Retallack, who contributes an excellent introduction and notes to this richly rewarding book. - David Blackbourn, Cornelius Vanderbilt Distinguished Chair of History, Vanderbilt University Impeccably edited and helpfully annotated and introduced by James Retallack, this is a wonderful collection of detailed reports that has a great deal to tell us about Social Democracy in a leading industrial area of Imperial Germany from its rise in the 1870s up to the outbreak of the First World War, as well as throwing new light on the British consuls who wrote them, their acute observations, their detailed knowledge of local and regional affairs, and their biases and prejudices: an indispensable source for historians of Imperial Germany as well as the British Foreign Office and Anglo-German relations. - Sir Richard Evans, Regius Professor Emeritus of History, University of Cambridge James Retallack's selections from the reports of British envoys, along with his historical contextualization, detail the rise of the socialist party in the German Second Empire, especially industrial Saxony. Add to this a critical portrayal of German parliamentary and ministerial politics as seen by knowledgeable British diplomats, and the result is a rich representation of popular and elite politics, and of contrasting class and national political cultures. - John Breuilly, Professor Emeritus of Nationalism and Ethnicity, London School of Economics and Political Science James Retallack's work on the struggles for democracy in Saxony is essential reading for anyone interested in Imperial Germany. This rich, well focused, and skilfully edited collection is a valuable window into the topic, which will be rewarding for anyone with an interest in nineteenth-century Germany, labour movement history, or the history of contests over democracy. - Andrew Bonnell, Associate Professor in History, University of Queensland Renowned as a leading scholar of Imperial Germany and for his special expertise on modern Saxony, James Retallack has done a stellar job editing this collection of British diplomatic reports on Social Democracy. His passion for discovering archival documents and his profound knowledge of Germany's most industrialized federal state shine through in his erudite introduction and insightful historical contextualization. The book is a treasure trove for researchers and students seeking primary sources in English and, indeed, for anyone who wishes to go beyond the Prussian view of German history before 1914. - Simone Lassig, Professor of Modern History at University of Braunschweig and Director of the German Historical Institute, Washington, DC The history of Social Democracy, class conflict, and German politics looks different when seen through the eyes of British diplomats who, between 1870 and 1914, regularly reported back to London from Saxony's capital, Dresden. Their surveys shed new light on the German Empire, which has recently become controversial again. James Retallack has done an excellent job in editing and introducing them to a broader audience. - Jurgen Kocka, Professor Emeritus of the History of the Industrial World, Free University of Berlin

Author Information

James Retallack is a University Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto.

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