The Great Train Race (eBook)

Allan Mitchell† was Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. He served on the editorial boards of The American Historical Review and Central European History. Trained in both France and Germany, he became a distinguished proponent of comparative European History.

List of Illustrations
Preface

Introduction: The Conundrum of Comparative History

PART I: LAUNCHING THE RAILWAY AGE

Chapter 1. France, 1815–1870


Liberalism and the Legrand Star

The Emergence of the Great Railway Companies

The Surge of the Second Empire

Trains and Free Trade

The Military Implications


Chapter 2. Germany, 1815–1870


The Dilemmas of Political Diversity

Particularism Unbound

Prussia and the Push for Unification

Before the Take-Off

Strategic Thought and Military Action


Chapter 3. Comparisons, 1815–1870


Administrative Organization

Economic Competition

Military Strategy


PART II: THE SIGNALS ARE SET

Chapter 4. France, 1870–1890


After the Fall

The Counterattack of the Companies

The Failure of Centralism

A Condition of Troubling Inferiority

Railways and the Republican Army


Chapter 5. Germany, 1870–1890


Bismarck’s Railroad Policy

The Reassertion of States’ Rights

Germany Transformed

The Age of St. Gotthard

The Consolidation of Military Predominance


Chapter 6. Comparisons, 1870–1890


Administrative Organization

Economic Competition

Military Strategy


PART III: INTERNAL AND INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS

Chapter 7. France, 1890–1914


Recovery and Controversy

The Companies Face Nationalization

Private Enterprise or Public Service?

The Long Stagnation

France Prepares for War


Chapter 8. Germany, 1890–1914


The Specter of Prussification

Flirting with Unification

Low Expectations and High Finance

Railroads and the German Take-Off

The Consequences of Escalation


Chapter 9. Comparisons, 1890–1914


Administrative Organization

Economic Competition

Military Strategy


Epilogue: From Trains to Trenches

List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Name Index
Subject Index