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As a foreign minister and chancellor of Weimar Germany, Gustav Stresemann is a familiar figure for students of German history – one who, for many, embodied the best qualities of German interwar liberalism. However, a more nuanced and ambivalent picture emerges in this award-winning biography, which draws on extensive research and new archival material to enrich our understanding of Stresmann’s public image and political career. It memorably explores the personality of a brilliant but flawed politician who endured class anxiety and social marginalization, and who died on the eve of Germany’s descent into economic and political upheaval.
“…meticulously researched aspects add up to a rich portrayal of one of early twentieth-century Germany’s most spectacular individual success stories.” • Journal of Modern History
Praise for the German edition:
“[A] substantial contribution … Pohl succeeds admirably in locating the statesman Stresemann within his personal experiences and his reactions to a tumultuous, sometimes fortuitous web of events.” • German History
“Karl Heinrich Pohl’s work will definitely take its place in the existing body of Stresemann literature as an innovative and informative work that deserves serious and widespread scholarly attention.” • Perspectivia
“A very interesting book … Pohl’s book is valuable in inspiring us to revisit the life and work of Gustav Stresemann.” • Sehepunkte
Karl Heinrich Pohl taught history and pedagogy at the University of Kiel before his retirement in 2010. He was awarded the Wolf-Erich Kellner Prize in 2002 and published widely on German history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Chronology
Chapter 1. A Life
Chapter 2. The Will to Rise
Chapter 3. Economic and Social Capital
Chapter 4. Political Capital
Chapter 5. A Life in Turmoil
Chapter 6. German and European Politics
Chapter 7. Afterlife
Conclusion: The Crossover Artist
Selected Works by Gustav Stresemann
Bibliography
Index