times. For the general reader, the main text presents a picture of the
man, the issues, and the age in the light of modern research.

GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT IS EXTENDED TO the publishers for
permission to quote from the following: Koppel S. Pinson, Modern
Germany: Its History and Civilization ( New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1954), Copyright, 1954, by The Macmillan Company; Fritz Stern
, The Failure of Illiberalism: Essays on the Political Culture of
Modern Germany ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1972), Copyright
© 1955, 1960, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971 by Fritz Stern; Fritz Stern, Gold
and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German
Empire ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1977), Copyright © 1977 by
Fritz Stern.

I am grateful to a great number of people who helped me in the
preparation of this study, among them some anonymous readers whose
comments and criticisms improved earlier drafts and the staff of the
McKeldin Library of the University of Maryland, which provided val-
uable assistance. My greatest indebtedness, however, is to Marthe --
sine ea nihil.

George O. Kent

Washington, D.C.
June 1977

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