The New Germany

In January 1919, George Young went to Berlin as a newspaper correspondent to examine the prospects for German democracy and a lasting European peace. The New Germany gathers his observations and arguments about the unsettled months after the Armistice. He follows the competing forces of revolution and reaction, questioning whether the peace settlement would strengthen reform or leave Europe exposed to further conflict.

The workers' and soldiers' councils receive close attention, especially their uneasy relationship with parliament, political parties and established officials. Young distinguishes between rival socialist positions and traces struggles over who should hold political and economic authority. Chapters on reconstruction, the Treaty of Versailles and the constitution place those disputes within a wider debate about rebuilding Germany. An appendix supplies the German constitution itself. For readers interested in the period, the book offers a contemporary journalist's openly argued view of institutions taking shape under pressure.