With Andreas Rödder's band, the "Oldenbourg Outline of History" reaches our recent past. 1969 was the year of the first Social Democratic Chancellor; however, the turning point went deeper: it marked the beginning of the end of the post-war era, which ultimately culminated in reunification. Andreas Rödder places his research-oriented comprehensive presentation in a broad European context. The guiding themes include: international politics and the German question; the political system and the welfare state; technological and economic structural change; societal development and the shift in values in the age of postmodernism. As always, the volume is complemented by a detailed, thematically organized bibliography.