Wilhelm II and the Germans: A Study in Leadership - Hardcover

Kohut, Thomas A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195061721 ISBN 13: 9780195061727

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 1992

Synopsis

This striking biography of Kaiser Wilhelm II is the most penetrating study to date of his development and personality, as well as an important contribution to our understanding of the crucial period in history that bears his name, `Wilhelmine Germany'.

A skilful, psychoanalytically informed analysis of the Kaiser's character, the book shows how the powerful leader of Germany's `Second Reich' became the slave of public opinion - restless, impulsive, and easily swayed by flattery or by those with stronger wills. It reveals a man both anxiously insecure and brashly arrogant, flamboyant and confident in public, yet vacillating and ineffective in his political decisions. Despite his political ineptitude, however, Wilhelm II was one of the most successful and beloved symbolic leaders of modern times. Professor Kohut argues that, in this nationalistic age, the new German nation wanted to see itself as it saw its Kaiser - strong, self-assured, and surrounded by pomp and splendour.

About this title

From the Back Cover

'An impressive example of what a historian can do in investigating the mixture of unconscious pressures, private motives, and public postures that affect political decisions.'

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0195061721
• ISBN 13: 9780195061727
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352