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This paper tracks the rise of German dominance since Bismarck’s unification of Germany in 1871 and during the 20th century, when the Germans used their economic, demographic, and military power in addition to geopolitical theories, particularly the vital space theory, to support expansionism. The «German question» evolved in the wake of the two world wars as the European States’ main concern was how to maintain a peaceful, powerful Germany. Following the Ukrainian war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared Germany’s goal to have the greatest army in Europe, modernize military industries, and allocate 100 billion Euros for the defense budget. Accordingly, as strong Germany, historically, has always sought to dominate its neighbors, the paper examines the possible scenarios for the rise of Germany and its dominance over the European Union. What will be the repercussions of Germany’s rise on the future of the European Union and its institutions, and the potential incentives for cooperation and collaboration among European nations? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From June 1941 to September 1944, northern Finland was the host for the Finnish–German military alliance and a space of military as well as civilian interaction and interconnections. As such, the space also became a translation space that called for different forms of mediation on both sides of the alliance. One of the translating agencies was Department Ic of the German Staff (Armeeoberkommando 20) that was responsible, for example, for monitoring the Finnish press. This article analyses one seemingly insignificant translation that was produced as a part of Ic’s daily operative routine in December 1942. Immediately after its publication in the local Finnish newspaper, the German translation of a feuilleton circulated in the German units, causing much annoyance on the Finnish side. By adopting Goffman’s dramaturgical approach, translation is discussed as a powerful weapon in the German campaign to realign the performance of brotherhood-of-arms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article investigates the origins of World War I through the correspondence of Ottoman diplomats between 1912 and 1914, namely from the formation of the Balkan League in early 1912 until the Ottoman-German alliance in August 1914. However, the emphasis is on how Ottoman officialdom interpreted 'the Albanian issue' in conjunction with the Austro-Ottoman rapprochement on the eve of the Great War. This close relationship between the Austrians and Ottomans influenced Ottoman decision-making on declaring war on the Balkan allies in October 1912. More significantly, however, on the eve of the Great War, despite the reluctance of German officials, it was again the influence exercised on Germany via the Austrian Embassy in İstanbul that finalised the Ottoman-German alliance on 2 August 1914. With new sources and reasoning, this article hopes to contribute to current debates on the origins of the Great War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1770s and 1780s as many as 40,000 German soldiers were hired to defend British imperial interests on four continents. The vast majority--at least 30,000--saw service in America. This article focuses on British and American public reactions to the plan in the period between 1774, when rumors about the intended use of foreign troops first emerged, and the summer of 1776, after the first contingents of German troops had arrived in North America but before military encounters with the colonists had taken place. In Britain, the reliance on forces from outside the empire in a conflict believed to be about British liberties provoked strong opposition. Critics used the hire of "barbarians" as evidence of a sinister plot to deprive Englishmen of their liberties. In America, news of the plan to hire Germans gave radicals an effective tool in their efforts to unite the colonists against the British. An analysis of these public debates sheds light on conflicting perceptions of Britishness and "foreignness" during the Revolutionary period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a report on a workshop on the application of social network analysis to the history of Germany and Turkey in the 19th and 20th centuries, convened in Heidelberg, Germany, from February 21-22, 2014. Topics of discussion included the Gebr. Bethmann private bank, agricultural subsidies in Eastern Germany during the Weimar Republic, and German military assistance to the Ottoman and Turkish armed forces.

The concept of PRT, although relatively new and subject to criticism in the early stages of international military deployment in Afghanistan, has evolved and it is regarded as an extremely effective means to provide assistance to the Afghan Government to extend its influence in the provinces. As joint teams composed of civilian and military personnel, varying in size and led by different countries, they are deployed in the capitals of certain provinces of Afghanistan providing, in the author's opinion, a viable alternative to international peacekeeping presence. Current ISAF PRTs are led by Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents accounts from German and British officers who experienced the Hessian assault against Fort Mercer on the Delaware River in Red Bank, New Jersey on October 22, 1777. The assault has been regarded by German and British officers as the worst defeat they suffered during their service in the U.S. during the Revolutionary War. Translations of diary extracts, letters, and reports written by those officers are provided.

Over the last few years, German non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have opposed the intents of the German government to place conditions on public project funding that aim to strengthen the cooperation between NGOs and the German armed forces operating in Afghanistan. Analysing NGOs' critiques of civil-military cooperation, the author shows the ambiguities of NGOs' declarations, which tend to oscillate between political abstinence and a critique of the military intervention. The author argues that while NGOs and their networks oppose direct civil-military cooperation at the local level, they avoid clear political position-making with regards to the broader project of international military intervention and state-building. The specific and contradictory political roles of foreign NGOs within the international project of regime change in Afghanistan are analysed and issues that NGOs should debate in order to clarify their political position, despite the probable cost of a common position within „the NGO community", are introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the end of the Kosovo conflict, in June 1999, a study was instigated to evaluate whether there was a cause for concern of health risk from depleted uranium (DU) to German peacekeeping personnel serving in the Balkans. In addition, the investigations were extended to residents of Kosovo and southern Serbia, who lived in areas where DU ammunitions were deployed. In order to assess a possible DU intake, both the urinary uranium excretion of volunteer residents and water samples were collected and analysed using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). More than 1300 urine samples from peacekeeping personnel and unexposed controls of different genders and age were analysed to determine uranium excretion parameters. The urine measurements for 113 unexposed subjects revealed a daily uranium excretion rate with a geometric mean of 13.9 ng/d (geometric standard deviation (GSD)=2.17). The analysis of 1228 urine samples from the peacekeeping personnel resulted in a geometric mean of 12.8 ng/d (GSD=2.60). It follows that both unexposed controls and peacekeeping personnel excreted similar amounts of uranium. Inter-subject variation in uranium excretion was high and no significant age-specific differences were found. The second part of the study monitored 24 h urine samples provided by selected residents of Kosovo and adjacent regions of Serbia compared to controls from Munich, Germany. Total uranium and isotope ratios were measured in order to determine DU content. 235U/238U ratios were within ±0.3% of the natural value, and 236U/238U was less than 2×10−7, indicating no significant DU in any of the urine samples provided, despite total uranium excretion being relatively high in some cases. Measurements of ground and tap water samples from regions where DU munitions were deployed did not show any contamination with DU, except in one sample. It is concluded that both peacekeeping personnel and residents serving or living in the Balkans, respectively, were not exposed to significant amounts of DU. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]