Description
A classic in its field, Bread and Democracy in Germany has been widely praised since its publication in 1943 for its account of German political and economic development. In his preface, Alexander Gerschenkron states: The primary purpose of this study is to show, first, how, before 1914, the machinery of Junker protectionism is agriculture, coupled with the Junker philosophy... delayed the development of democratic institutions in Germany; and second, how the Junkers contrived to escape almost unscathed from the German revolution of 1918 and how this fact contributed to the constitutional weakness and subsequent disintegration of the Weimar Republic.
Emphasizing the importance of the problem of German agriculture in its relation to democratic reconstruction, Gerschenkron asserts that the political attitude of farmers in several European countries had a decisive influence on the fate of European democracy. Nowhere is this more true than in Germany. The German farmers bear their full share of responsibility for the advent of fascism in that country.
Author: Alexander Gerschenkron
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 11/05/2009
Pages: 276
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.92lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.64d
ISBN13: 9780801495861
ISBN10: 0801495865
BISAC Categories:
- Business & Economics | Industries | General
- History | Europe | Germany
- Political Science | Political Economy
About the Author
The late Alexander Gerschenkron (1904-1978) was Walter S. Barker Professor of Economics at Harvard University.