A stunning overall presentation and reinterpretation of the Wilhelmine Empire, which will be discussed for a long time.

With great foresight, Rainer F. Schmidt narrates and interprets the story of the rise and fall of the German Empire in the European context: a long-overdue, brilliantly written account and reinterpretation of Wilhelmine Germany on its path - culminating in its end in World War I.

The Wilhelmine Empire still does not enjoy a good reputation today. Labels such as crypto-absolutism, special path, and aspirations for world power are attached to it. An erratic emperor, incompetent chancellors, foreign world and naval policies, and the stubborn defense of the dominance of the old elites internally: all of this led to a path that ended in World War I and sealed its own downfall. Rainer Schmidt's brilliantly written account offers an alternative perspective to this prevailing image. He comprehensively describes the Wilhelmine Empire in its most important structures, as well as in its modern elements. In a grand panorama, the author depicts and interprets international relations between 1890 and 1918 not solely from a Berlin-centric view, but embeds them in the broader European context. This leads to the finding of a complex situation that culminated in war in 1914: misjudgments from Berlin that led to isolation, but also a deliberate encirclement and coercion strategy from other powers, making the great catastrophe almost inevitable. A stunning overall presentation and provocative reinterpretation of one of the most controversial epochs in German history, which will be discussed for a long time.