Bread and Democracy in Germany

Gerschenkron, Alexander. Bread and Democracy in Germany. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1943. First edition. Quarto. VIII, [2], 238pp. Original printed dust-jacket over cloth with gold lettering on spine. The primary purpose of this study is to show how before 1914, the machinery of Junker protectionism in agriculture, coupled with the Junker philosophy – the true forerunner of the Nazi ideology – delayed the development of democratic institutions in Germany; and second, how the Junker contrived to escape almost unscathed the German revolution of 1918 and how this fact contributed to the constitutional weakness and subsequent disintegration of the Weimar Republic. The main conclusion of this analysis is that democratic reconstruction of Germany after the victory of the United Nations and insurance of world peace call for a radical elimination of the Junkers as a social and economic group. Spine of dust-jacket sunned. Dust-jacket in overall good+, binding in very good condition. vg. Hardcover. (32218) $75