List of figures, maps and tables -- Acknowledgments -- List of abbreviations -- Introduction -- Friendly preconditions -- Political friendship and state repression, 1851-1858 -- Political friendship in power, 1858-1862 -- Political friendship and political crisis, 1863-1866 -- Personal pasts as national history -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary
"Between periods of revolution, state repression, and war across Central and Western Europe from the 1840s through the 1860s, German liberals practiced politics beyond the more well-defined realms of voluntary associations, state legislatures, and burgeoning political parties. Political Friendship approaches 19th century German history's trajectory to unification through the lens of academics, journalists, and artists who formed close personal relationships with one another and with powerful state leaders. Michael Weaver argues that German liberals "thought with their friends" by demonstrating the previously neglected aspects of political friendship were central to German political culture"-- Provided by publisher