This book charts the history of the last fifty years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867 to 1918. it reveals that the Habsburg Monarchy, though not in a healthy state before 1914, was not in fact doomed to collapse. The author examines foreign and domestic policies and reveals the weaknesses inherent in the Empire.He also shows how the Austro-Hungarian Empire attempted to satisfy the claims of eleven distinct national groups.

A major re-examination of Habsburg decision-making from 1912 to July 1914, the study argues that Austria-Hungary and not Germany made the crucial decisions for war in the summer of 1914. Based on extensive new archival research, the book traces the gradual militarization of Austro-Hungarian foreign policy during the Balkan Wars. The disasters of those wars and the death of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-apparent and a force for peace in the monarchy, convinced the Habsburg elite that only a war against Serbia would end the South Slav threat to the monarchy's existence. Williamson also describes Russia's assertive foreign policy after 1912 and stresses the unique linkages of domestic and foreign policy in almost every issue faced by Habsburg statesmen.

This new Seminar Study surveys the history of U.S. territorial expansion from the end of the American Revolution until 1860. The book explores the concept of 'manifest destiny' and asks why, if expansion was 'manifest', there was such opposition to almost every expansionist incident. Paying attention to key themes often overlooked - Indian removal and the US government land sales policy, the book looks at both 'foreign' expansion such as the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the war with Mexico in the 1840s and 'internal' expansion as American settlers moved west . Finally, the book addresses the most recent historiographical trends in the subject and asks how Americans have dealt with the expansionist legacy.

Probably no other single individual has had such a profound impact on the development of modern France and on that of nineteenth century Europe as Napoleon. Clive Emsley brings the subject up-to-date historiographically and provides an accessible introduction to the post revolutionary period in European history of 1799 to 1815.

The First World War was the first modern, total war, one requiring the mobilisation of both civilians and combatants. Particularly in Europe, the main theatre of the conflict, this war demanded the active participation of both men and women. Women and the First World War provides an introduction to the experiences and contributions of women during this important turning point in history. In addition to exploring women’s relationship to the war in each of the main protagonist states, the book also looks at the wide-ranging effects of the war on women in Africa Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. Topical in its approach, the book highlights: the heated public debates about women’s social, cultural and political roles that the war inspired their varied experiences of war women’s representation in propaganda their roles in peace movements and revolutionary activity that grew out of the war the consequences of the war for women in its immediate aftermath Containing a document section providing a wide range of sources from first-hand accounts, a Chronology and Glossary, Women and the First World War is an ideal text for students studying the First World War or the role of women in the twentieth century.

The establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885 marked a turning point in modern South Asian history. At the time, few grasped the significance of the event, nor understood the power that its leader would come to wield. From humble beginnings, the Congress led by Gandhi would go on to spearhead India s fight for independence from British rule: in 1947 it succeeded the British Raj as the regional ruling power. Ian Copland provides both a narrative and analysis of the process by which Indians and Pakistanis emancipated themselves from the seemingly iron-clad yoke of British imperialism. In so doing, he goes to the heart of what sets modern India apart from most other countries in the region its vigorous democracy.

Retaining all the well-loved features from the previous editions, International Relations and Global Conflict c1890-1941 has been approved by AQA and matched to the 2015 specification. With a strong focus on skills building and exam practice, this book explores in depth a period in which political ambitions and rivalries between nations plunged the world into major wars. It focuses on key ideas such as nationalism, militarism, and the balance of power, and covers events and developments with precision. Students can further develop vital skills such as historical interpretations and source analyses via specially selected sources and extracts. Practice questions and study tips provide additional support to help familiarize students with the new exam style questions, and help them achieve their best in the exam.

From the hardening grip of Soviet domination under Brezhnev to the collapse of communism and its aftermath, Bulent Gokay provides the essential introduction to Eastern Europe in the last quarter of the twentieth century. The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 spelt the end of reformist communism and the tightening of Soviet control throughout Eastern Europe. In spite of this, several countries within the Soviet Bloc managed to retain varying degrees of independence over the next two decades. Focusing on the struggle towards economic and social modernisation in the region and the competing influences of East and West in a dangerous Cold War. Bulent Gokay shows how individual circumstances and diverse national characteristics made a uniform application of the Soviet model impossible, and charts the growing resistance to domination and the momentous events which finally toppled Soviet power in the region.

‘The Redl Affair had everything: sex, espionage, betrayal, a fall from greatness and a sensational climax in which Redl went to his death like a figure of high tragedy.’ The New York Times ‘A story like that is truer than history.’ István Szabó ‘The army was shocked to the core. All knew that in case of war this one man might have been the cause of the death of hundreds of thousands, and of the monarchy being brought to the brink of the abyss; it was only then that we Austrians realised how breathtakingly near to the World War we already had been for that past year.’ Stefan Zweig, The World of Yesterday During the night of 24 to 25 May 1913 three high-ranking military officials wait for hours outside a hotel in the centre of Vienna. At around 2am they hear the shot of a Browning. They know that one of their own has just ended his life: Colonel Alfred Redl, the former deputy head of the Evidenzbüro, the Austro-Hungarian General Staff’s directorate of military intelligence, and confidant of the heir to the throne. His suicide note reads: ‘Levity and passion have destroyed me’. What no one had known: for almost a decade he had betrayed significant and damaging secrets to the Italians, the French and the Russians. But what had been his motives? Redl owed everything to the army he deceived. Was he trapped into treason by blackmail? There were no definite answers for almost 100 years. The true story has only recently been reconstructed, after Austrian historians rediscovered long-lost records. A tragic story emerges – of a man who was forced to hide his homosexuality and used his wealth to please his young lover. The scandal was huge, and it has never completely died down. Myths and legends have spread, and Redl’s story still fascinates today.

The stories of so-called ordinary families and their place in history are important. Though theyre not the stuff of kings and queens or governments or wars, they shed light on how political movements and decisions affect ordinary individuals and how those individuals react to those decisions. In Tales of Loving and Leaving, author Gaby Weiner tells the story of three of her family members: her maternal grandmother, Amalia Moszkowicz Dinger; her mother, Steffi Dinger; and her father, Uszer Frocht. Weiner shares how these peoples lives were profoundly affected by the great movements and isms of the twentieth century that included not only Nazism, but also the Russian Revolution, the rise and fall of Communism, and the displacement and migration of more than 60,000,000 people following the Second World War. The stories, told in chronological slices, tell about ordinary people who were rendered extraordinary by the period through which they lived. The narratives also focus on the treatment and experiences of Jewish migrants before, during, and after the war in different countries and the impact of these countries politics on them. Weiner illustrates the effects of separation and trauma and how human beings, when confronted with horror, respond, get on with life, go on to make different futures, and seek to be ordinary again. Tales of Loving and Leaving shows how, following the impact of the Nazi-led genocide, myths were created, secrets were perpetuated, lies were told, shelter was found, futures were shaped, and hope was rekindled.