Germany has two histories: one that takes up most of the first half of the 20th century and one before 1900 and after 1945. The first pulls the worst qualities of Germans into the foreground so powerfully that it is easy to forget who Germans were before 1900 and who they are becoming in the post-war period.

Today, Germans are grappling with seemingly insoluble problems of economic and social destiny that every nation shares and must also come to grips with. Their pre-20th century history is the best measure of whether they will be able to put their economic and social houses in order.