The 18th century in Germany

The 18th century in Germany sees the rise of Prussia, under the rule of the enlightened absolutist Frederick II (1712-86, ruled from 1740-86), also called Frederick the Great. The Seven Years War (1756-63) between Prussia and Austria and their allies Britain, France and Russia enables Prussia to confirm its possession of Silesia. From this point onwards there is an uneasy truce between Prussia and Austria known […]

German Intellectual History

Peter Schröder highlights key publications on Germany’s contribution to the history of ideas from the Enlightenment to the present day. Peter Schröder | Published in History Today Volume 65 Issue 10 October 2015 Weimar’s statue of the poets and dramatists Goethe (left) and Schiller. German intellectual history of the last 300 years is an integral part of the […]

President’s Message​

Most of my life I believed what we were taught in school and university, and that what we were told by the news media was true. I had no reason not to. We were told that we had freedom of speech and freedom of the press. We were told that our democracy was the best system […]