Nazi Empire
German Colonialism and Imperialism from Bismarck to Hitler

Examines the history of Germany from 1871 to 1945 as an expression of the 'tension of empire'.

Shelley Baranowski (Author)

9780521674089, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 September 2010

382 pages, 27 b/w illus. 11 maps
22.6 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.53 kg

'In this ambitious book, Shelley Baranowski, an expert on the history of Nazi Germany, defines for readers what was distinctive about the Nazi version of racial empire. At the same time, she offers a valuable guide to the growing literature on German colonialism and its links to Nazism.' Lora Wildenthal, Rice University

Drawing on recent studies of the links between empire, colonialism and genocide, Nazi Empire examines German history from 1871 to 1945 as an expression of the aspiration to imperialist expansion and the simultaneous fear of destruction by rivals. Acknowledging the important differences between the Second Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, Shelley Baranowski nonetheless reveals a common thread: the drama of German imperialist ambitions that embraced ethnic homogeneity over diversity, imperial enlargement over stasis and 'living space' as the route to the biological survival of the German Volk.

Introduction
1. From imperial consolidation of global ambitions: imperial Germany, 1871–1914
2. From dominion to catastrophe: imperial Germany during World War I
3. From colonizer to 'colonized': the Weimar Republic, 1918–33
4. Empire begins at home: the Third Reich, 1933–9
5. The Nazi place in the sun: German occupied Europe, 1939–41
6. The final solution: total war and genocide, 1941–5.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]