GEORGE G. WINDELL. The Catholics and German Unity, 1866-1871. Pp. xii, 312. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1954. $5.00
| Author | Garland Downum |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625530000170 |
| Published date | 01 July 1955 |
| Date | 01 July 1955 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
172
lapse
of
the
National
Socialist
dictatorship
freed
innumerable
human
beings
throughout
the
world
and
in
Germany
from
a
night-
mare
and
left
in
its
wake
unimaginable
devastation.
&dquo;The
very
basis
of
sustenance
seemed
destroyed
and
the
millions
of
dead
and
crippled
made
even
the
biological
sur-
vival
of
the
German
people
doubtful.
But
what
weighed
equally
heavily
was
that
Germany
had
lost
the
confidence
of
the
world.&dquo;
&dquo;
Continuing,
he
does
not
hesitate
to
take
full
credit
on
behalf
of
the
German
people
for
the
country’s
miraculous
comeback,
at
the
same
time
paying
some
tribute
to
the
effect
of
foreign
aid.
Thus,
he
states,
&dquo;In
looking
back
over
the
few
years
that
have
passed ...
the
change
that
has
come
over
Germany
appears
almost
impossible
to
grasp.
Through
the
perseverance
and
dili-
gence
of
the
whole
German
people,
through
the
efforts
of
the
communes,
the
counties
and
the
laender,
and
through
the
painstak-
ingly
(sic)
planning
and
daring
policy
of
the
Federal
Government,
reconstruction
in
all
sectors
has
been
achieved
to
an
extent
nobody
would
have
believed
possible
in
1945.
Foreign
aid
produced
blissful
ef-
fects
on
the
economy
and
food
supply.&dquo;
He
concludes
by
stating
that
the
day
of
the
collapse
of
the
Nazi
dictatorship
&dquo;will
also
be
recorded
by
history
as
the
day
when
the
division
of
Germany
began,
through
which
a
source
of
disquietude
has
been
created
in
the
heart
of
Europe.
The
obliteration
of
the
unnatural
boundary
be-
tween
West
and
Central
Germany
will
be
the
primary
concern
of
every
German
Government.
Reunification
can
only
be
achieved
by
peaceful
means.
Until
this
is
accomplished
the
whole
German
people
will
have
no
peace
and
no
economic
means
of
livelihood
nor
will
the
people
of
the
Soviet
occupation
zone
attain
freedom
from
want
and
liberty
of
thought.&dquo;
With
equal
frankness,
Dr.
Felix
von
Eckardt,
Chief
of
the
Press
and
Informa-
tion
Office,
in
a
Foreword
which
purports
to
state
the
purposes
of
the
book,
asserts
that
it
is
merely
a
record
of
the
sequence
of
events
since
the
collapse
of
the
Reich
in
May
1945.
He
continues,
however,
with
the
statement
that
&dquo;the
government
wishes
to
assure
the
German
people
that
their
po-
litical leadership
has
neglected
nothing
dur-
ing
the
past
to
build
up
their
social,
state
and
economic
life
again,
and
that
its
efforts
will
be
successful
in
the
future
as
well....
To
foreign
countries
who
regard
this
rapid
reascent
of
Germany
with
understandable
doubts
and
often
with
concern,
the
Federal
Government
desires
to
offer,
through
the
dispassionate
reporting
of
facts,
the
possi-
bility
of
checking
and
experiencing
the
successive
stages
of
this
path
in
order
to
arouse
understanding
for
the
German
peo-
ple
and
their
unique
position.&dquo;
Space
does
not
permit
the
quotation
of
a
large
number
of
pithy
remarks
and
char-
acterizations
relative
to
the
Saar
problem,
political
reconstruction,
denazification,
and,
above
all,
Soviet
Russia.
Germany
Reports
is
a
valuable
collection
of
historical
fact,
reliable
statistics,
inter-
esting
narrative,
and
what
may
be
termed
&dquo;justifiable
pride.&dquo;
It
is
the
latest
and
most
complete
factual
picture
of
the
situa-
tion
in
Western
Germany.
Students
of
the
subject
will
find
it
most
useful.
Persons
merely
seeking
information
will
find
a
substantial
amount.
Care
should
be
taken,
however,
to
assess
the
characterizations
which
occasionally
take
on
the
flavor
of
a
chamber
of
commerce
report.
ELI
E.
NOBLEMAN
Washington,
D. C.
GEORGE
G.
WINDELL.
The
Catholics
and
German
Unity,
1866-1871.
Pp.
xii,
312.
Minneapolis:
University
of
Minnesota
Press,
1954.
$5.00.
Here
we
have
a
closely
written,
detailed
account
of
the
role
of
Catholicism
in
the
politics
of
building
the
German
Empire
from
the
Austro-Prussian
War,
1866,
to
the
proclamation
of
the
empire
five
years
later.
This
book
is
well
worth
the
read-
ing.
The
author
writes
with
such
historical
evenhandedness
that
he
conceals
his
own
confessional
preferences.
His
treatment
is
competent;
his
style,
though
not
lively,
is
neither
pedestrian
nor
unclear.
His
lengthy
bibliography,
predominantly
of
German
titles,
shows
how
full
a
book
may
be
pro-
duced
without
recourse
to
archives.
The
usefulness
of
his
extensive
index
would
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