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Nineteenth Century German History: Rise and Fall of a New Empire (1850-1918)
By midcentury a fairly clear picture was beginning to emerge that unification of the German states was going to be inevitable in one form or another. One of the largest and more pressing hurdles yet to overcome, however, was which state was going to dominate and lead this unified Germany. The key players in this … more →
Nineteenth Century German History: Revolution in Nineteenth Century Germany (1848-1849)
By the end of the fifth decade of the nineteenth century, the prevailing atmosphere in Germany was that of extreme change. The people were tired of oppression, censorship and of the ruling class thinking of themselves as immune to these issues. Hans Joachim Hahn sums it up nicely when he writes that “a general feeling … more →
Nineteenth Century German History: Consequences of the Fall of the Holy Roman Empire (1806-1848) – Part 2
Part 1 of “Consequences of the Fall of the Holy Roman Empire (1806-1848)” Less than ten years after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire and after Napoleon was sent into exile after his defeat by the British, a congregation of monarchs and statesmen gathered together in Vienna in order to restructure Europe. This congregation … more →
Nineteenth Century German History: Consequences of the Fall of the Holy Roman Empire (1806-1848) – Part 1
The fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 had drastic consequences for nineteenth century German history. For about a millennium a loose conglomeration of several different semi-autonomous German-speaking kingdoms under the Latin name of Sacrum Romanum Imperium 1 had controlled a vast region in Central Europe which is now composed of Germany, the Netherlands, … more →
Nineteenth Century German History: Introduction
No century has played quite a role in modern Germany history like the nineteenth century. It was during this time which the area now known as Germany went from being the Holy Roman Empire which it had been for almost a millennium to what we consider to be more or less the modern boundaries of … more →
Nineteenth Century German History
Despite having just begun another series, I am going to be embarking on a second multi-part series which has to do with nineteenth century German history. The goal of the project will be to give a survey of nineteenth century German history. You may ask why I am going to be pursuing such a project … more →
Life in Nineteenth Century Mining Towns
One of my biggest fascinations with the Old West is with what life in a Rocky Mountain mining town in nineteenth century would have been like. It would have been a life full of filth, rough characters and hard work combined with drinking, fighting and gambling as pastimes. Of course these are stereotypes of any … more →
The Johnson County War
The Johnson County War has gone down in history as one of many Wild West legends about range wars. Some accounts claim various famous gun slingers like Jesse James were involved, however, this was certainly not the case. The real range war occurred in April 1892 and was the result of tensions, brewing between small … more →
The Battle of the Washita
Last Friday I gave a talk about the Battle of the Washita to a group of undergraduate students and because of that I thought I would create a post here about this particularly interesting battle. The Battle of the Washita was a battle that took place in the morning of November 27, 1868. The Seventh … more →
George Custer on the Origins of the Indians
It is really quite amazing to read through some of the theories produced during the 19th century about the origin of the Native Americans. As I talked about in my last post, I am currently reading the memoirs of George Custer about his life on the plains and his personal experiences with the Indians. The … more →