The Great Train Race
Berghahn Books (Verlag)
978-1-84545-136-3 (ISBN)
From their origins, railways produced an intense competition between the two major continental systems in France and Germany. Fitting a new technology into existing political institutions and social habits, these two nations became inexorably involved in industrial and commercial rivalry that eventually escalated into the armed conflict of 1914. Based on many years of research in French and German archives, this study examines the adaptation of railroads and steam engines from Britain to the continent of Europe after the Napoleonic age. A fascinating example of how the same technology, borrowed at the same time from the same source, was assimilated differently by the two continental powers, this book offers a groundbreaking analysis of the crossroads of technology and politics during the first Industrial Revolution.
Allan Mitchell (1933-2016) was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. He served on the editorial boards of The American Historical Review and Central European History. Trained in both France and Germany, he became a distinguished proponent of comparative European History.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction: The Conundrum of Comparative History
PART I: LAUNCHING THE RAILWAY AGE
Chapter 1. France, 1815–1870
Liberalism and the Legrand Star
The Emergence of the Great Railway Companies
The Surge of the Second Empire
Trains and Free Trade
The Military Implications
Chapter 2. Germany, 1815–1870
The Dilemmas of Political Diversity
Particularism Unbound
Prussia and the Push for Unification
Before the Take-Off
Strategic Thought and Military Action
Chapter 3. Comparisons, 1815–1870
Administrative Organization
Economic Competition
Military Strategy
PART II: THE SIGNALS ARE SET
Chapter 4. France, 1870–1890
After the Fall
The Counterattack of the Companies
The Failure of Centralism
A Condition of Troubling Inferiority
Railways and the Republican Army
Chapter 5. Germany, 1870–1890
Bismarck’s Railroad Policy
The Reassertion of States’ Rights
Germany Transformed
The Age of St. Gotthard
The Consolidation of Military Predominance
Chapter 6. Comparisons, 1870–1890
Administrative Organization
Economic Competition
Military Strategy
PART III: INTERNAL AND INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS
Chapter 7. France, 1890–1914
Recovery and Controversy
The Companies Face Nationalization
Private Enterprise or Public Service?
The Long Stagnation
France Prepares for War
Chapter 8. Germany, 1890–1914
The Specter of Prussification
Flirting with Unification
Low Expectations and High Finance
Railroads and the German Take-Off
The Consequences of Escalation
Chapter 9. Comparisons, 1890–1914
Administrative Organization
Economic Competition
Military Strategy
Epilogue: From Trains to Trenches
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 1.3.2006 |
|---|---|
| Verlagsort | Oxford |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 476 g |
| Themenwelt | Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Schienenfahrzeuge |
| ISBN-10 | 1-84545-136-8 / 1845451368 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-84545-136-3 / 9781845451363 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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