Der Doppelband 11/12 der »Auswärtigen Politik Preußens 1858-1871« schließt die Lücke, die seit 1945 für den Abschluss der Quellenedition bestanden hat. Er belegt, dass der Krieg zwischen Preußen und Frankreich schon 1869 in der Luft lag. Er entzündete sich schließlich an der berühmten spanischen Hohenzollernkandidatur. Da Frankreich den Krieg im Juli 1870 erklärte, gewann Bismarck sofort die Unterstützung der süddeutschen Staaten. Am Ende standen die Gründung des Deutschen Reiches und der problematische Zugewinn von Elsass und Lothringen.

»Prussia's Foreign Policy 1858-1871«: This is the concluding volume of the documentary series on Prussia's foreign policy covering the period from February 1869 to March 1871. It shows how both Prussia and France were ready for war as early as spring 1869. War broke out over the famous Hohenzollern candidature for the Spanish throne. It ended with the proclamation of the German Reich at Versailles in January 1871 and the problematic addition of Alsace and Lorraine to the new Empire.

Autorentext
Winfried Baumgart is Prof. emer. at Mainz University, Germany. He lectured at the universities of Bonn, Mainz, Washington D.C., Paris IV and Riga. He specialises in the history of international relations of the 19th and 20th centuries. His major works are on the peace of Brest-Litovsk in 1918, the peace of Paris in 1856, a handbook on international relations between 1830 and 1878, a bibliography of German history (18 editions) and a dictionary of historical and political terms of the 19th and 20th centuries (in 3 languages). He is also editor of the papers of various prominent figures of German 19th and 20th century history. In 2007 he also published vol. 7 of the »Auswärtige Politik Preußens, April to August 1866«.

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