Hitler’s Germany: Origins, Interpretations, Legacies Second Edition by Roderick
Stackelberg, aims to go where no other historian has gone. In the author’s own words, the purposes of his book include, “to provide an accurate and reasonably complete narrative of the period of Nazi Rule, the events leading up to it, and its aftermath; and equally important, to provide an interpretive framework that makes some sense out of this extraordinary episode in German and European history.” (iv) This is a tough goal to achieve given the all of the relevant events and the chronology of them.
After having taught a college course for over 30 years on Hitler’s Germany, Roderick
Stackelberg felt compelled to write a comprehensive history of Germany. He planned
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Although he has achieved his goal, he did so narrowly. He does a great job at describing and building up the rising of the Nazi party and how so many followed them to help understand Nazism at its core. The development of Germany is traced from its roots in eighteenth-century Prussia all the way to its unification under Bismarck and growth under Kaiser Wilhelm II. Stackelberg then goes to describe the upheaval of the First World War and the distressed and unsettled period of the Weimar Republic helped to create the perfect storm for Hitler to obtain power. He shows a well-rounded view of Hitler’s Germany discussing the social, economic, political, military, and ideological aspects of the Third Reich. He makes sure to focus on World War II …show more content…
He uses a variety of sources and comes at the reader through different angles and perspectives. It is important to note that his book looks at German history with respect to the Nazi regime and is his interpretation of the past. Another historian is likely to have another opinion on this same subject with the same sources. It would have been interesting to read about how the effects of Hitler’s Germany are still present in Germany today. He should have gone more into depth on Germany after the war during the middle and late nineteenth- century than just a couple of paragraphs in the last chapter. If he does another edition, it would be fascinating to read about if he believes Germany is coming close to the same depressing economic circumstances that led them Nazism with the current global