Germany

Jerome Bonaparte: King of Westphalia

The exploits of his youngest brother frequently disturbed Napoleon; but, writes Owen Connolly, of all the brother-kings, Jerome was the most useful to him, the most soldierly and the most loyal.

The Reoccupation of the Rhineland

In deciding on the Reoccupation of the Rhineland, writes D.C. Watt, Hitler said that he went forward “with the assurance of a sleepwalker...” His practical calculations proved to be “entirely justified.”

Mutiny at Wilhelmshaven, 1918

David Woodward describes how the crews of the destroyer flotilla of the German High Sea Fleet mutinied at the end of the First World War.

Ferdinand Lassalle, 1825-1864

Vivian Lewis introduces the life and and career of a gifted demagogue and revolutionary; Ferdinand Lassalle founded the first German Socialist party and was killed in a romantic duel.

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion

Christopher Sykes describes how the last Tsar of Russia, as well as Adolf Hitler and other anti-Semites, were among those taken in by this spurious publication.

The Battle of Amiens

How a resounding British victory convinced the German military leaders that they had lost the First World War. 

Lenin's Journey

Lenin’s return to Russia by German agency in April 1917, writes David Woodward, was one of the turning points in 20th-century history.

The Austro-Prussian War, 1866

The result of the Seven Weeks’ War in 1866 subordinated the Austrian Empire to Prussian ambitions. Brian Bond describes the last lightning victory in the Napoleonic manner, until Hitler’s blitzkrieg of 1940.