Germany

Eventually sunk during the defence of Leningrad, the unfinished German cruiser Lützow is a fitting symbol of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.

The German Progressive Party was founded in 1861, writes F.L. Carsten, but “the Liberals desired the unification of Germany so ardently that they were willing to forego their political ambitions when Bismarck gained unification at the point of the sword.”

A man of letters in the German struggle against Napoleon, writes Douglas Hilt, August Wilhelm von Schlegel had many French connexions and is a renowned translator both of Shakespeare and Sanskrit writings.

For over a century, the crowns of Hanover and Great Britain were worn by the same king. While the British public remained largely indifferent to Hanoverian affairs, politicians grew to resent them.

As a minister in the German cabinets of 1921-2, writes David Felix, Rathenau faced formidable problems of post-war reconstruction.

During the opening years of the twentieth century, writes I.F. Clarke, many fantastic forecasts of the coming World War aroused widespread interest and alarm.

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, writes William Verity, the enterprising family of merchant bankers expanded their activities from Frankfurt to London and Paris.

Elizabeth Wiskemann describes how Hitler ruthlessly consolidated his power in Germany by the slaughter of some of his closest former colleagues.

‘The enemy’s resistance was beyond our powers,’ Ludendorff wrote, ‘the German Supreme Command was forced to take the extremely hard decision to abandon the attack on Amiens for good.’ The date was April 5th, 1918. By John Terraine.

John Terraine describes how, late in the First World War, the German Supreme Command launched a massive attack upon the Allied lines in France which very nearly succeeded.