Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871–1918

by Katja Hoyer
@hoyer_kat

In this vivid fifty-year history of Germany from 1871-1918—which inspired events that forever changed the European continent—here is the story of the Second Reich from its violent beginnings and rise to power to its calamitous defeat in the First World War.

Before 1871, Germany was not yet nation but simply an idea.

Its founder, Otto von Bismarck, had a formidable task at hand. How would he bring thirty-nine individual states under the yoke of a single Kaiser?  How would he convince proud Prussians, Bavarians, and Rhinelanders to become Germans? Once united, could the young European nation wield enough power to rival the empires of Britain and France—all without destroying itself in the process?

Interview with the Author

Dan Snow’s History Hit 
Blood and Iron: The German Empire
4/27/21           33 min

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Point of the Spear | Military History 
Author Katja Hoyer, Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871 – 1918
12/8/21            26 min

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New Books Network 
Katja Hoyer, “Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire” (Pegasus Books, 2021)
1/25/22             63 min

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Converging Dialogues
#185 – Blood & Iron: A History of The German Empire: A Dialogue with Katja Hoyer
12/7/22            61 min

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Dublin Festival of History Podcast 
Blood & Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire 1871 – 1918 – Katja Hoyer in Conversation with Roger Moorhouse
3/24/22          56 min

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