Abstract
The mainstream of previous research has tended to regard the beginning of the German Empire in 1870/71 from a Prussian perspective. From that point of view, the formation of the empire was the work of the Prussian elite and in particular of the Prussian Minister President Otto von Bismarck, who was determined to permanently assure Prussia’s influence on the empire. The stubborn southern German states finally had to comply with the masterly Prussian strategy. Bodie A. Ashton wishes to oppose this thesis by examining how the path to the formation of the German Empire developed from the point of view of the southern German states. Ashton uses the Kingdom of Württemberg as his prism because he judges it to be more representative for the former German states than either the Austrian Empire or the Prussian Kingdom. Ashton seeks to establish which opportunities Württemberg had at its disposal to influence German politics and which role nationalism played in Württemberg in the run-up to the foundation of the German Empire.
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