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Mark Hewitson reassesses the relationship between politics and the nation during a crucial period in order to answer the question of when, how and why the process of unification began in Germany. He focuses on how the national question was articulated in the public sphere by the press, political writers and key political organizations.

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How, why and when did unification occur in Germany? In the first full-length study of its kind, Mark Hewitson reassesses the relationship between politics and the nation in the critical decades between the revolutions of 1848-9 and unification after 1866.
This comprehensive, original and insightful text:
revises traditional accounts of Bismarck´s role and concentrates instead on the emergence of political parties and a German public sphere
questions the existence of a broad shift from liberal to conservative nationalism
challenges the notion that cultural and ethnic forms of nationalism were particularly pronounced in Germany as a result of late unification
qualifies the idea of a ´revolution from above´.
Ideal for students and scholars alike, Mark Hewitson offers a fresh interpretation of a formative period in modern German history.
A comprehensive reassessment of the relationship between politics and the nation in Germany in the critical period between the revolutions of 1848-9 and unification after 1866

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List of Tables and Diagrams.- List of Maps.- Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- A German Revolution.- The Great Powers and the Austrian Question.- The Habsburg Monarchy and the Germans.- The Third Germany and the Bund .- Prussia, the Nation and the Constitution.- The Struggle for Germany in Schleswig-Holstein.- Conclusion.- Notes.- Bibliography.- Index.

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MARK HEWITSON is Senior Lecturer in German History and Politics at University College London, UK.

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