The Great Train Race

Railways and the Franco-German Rivalry, 1815-1914
1. Auflage 2006
ISBN: 978-1-84545-136-3
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 356 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 516 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mitchell, Allan

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Illustrations

Preface

Introduction: The Conundrum of Comparative History

PART I: LAUNCHING THE RAILWAY AGE

Chapter 1. France, 1815–1870

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Liberalism and the Legrand Star

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The Emergence of the Great Railway Companies

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The Surge of the Second Empire

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Trains and Free Trade

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The Military Implications

Chapter 2. Germany, 1815–1870

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The Dilemmas of Political Diversity

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Particularism Unbound

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Prussia and the Push for Unification

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Before the Take-Off

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Strategic Thought and Military Action

Chapter 3. Comparisons, 1815–1870

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Administrative Organization

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Economic Competition

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Military Strategy

PART II: THE SIGNALS ARE SET

Chapter 4. France, 1870–1890

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After the Fall

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The Counterattack of the Companies

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The Failure of Centralism

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A Condition of Troubling Inferiority

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Railways and the Republican Army

Chapter 5. Germany, 1870–1890

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Bismarck’s Railroad Policy

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The Reassertion of States’ Rights

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Germany Transformed

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The Age of St. Gotthard

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The Consolidation of Military Predominance

Chapter 6. Comparisons, 1870–1890

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Administrative Organization

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Economic Competition

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Military Strategy

PART III: INTERNAL AND INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS

Chapter 7. France, 1890–1914

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Recovery and Controversy

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The Companies Face Nationalization

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Private Enterprise or Public Service?

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The Long Stagnation

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France Prepares for War

Chapter 8. Germany, 1890–1914

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The Specter of Prussification

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Flirting with Unification

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Low Expectations and High Finance

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Railroads and the German Take-Off

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The Consequences of Escalation

Chapter 9. Comparisons, 1890–1914

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Administrative Organization

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Economic Competition

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Military Strategy

Epilogue: From Trains to Trenches

List of Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Name Index

Subject Index

Über Autor(innen)

Mitchell, Allan
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.