Titel der Promotion: The lost intermediaries of 1870? International relations and ambitions of the German monarchs of Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in Imperial Germany (1871-1918).

This thesis examines the international relations and ambitions of three German ruling houses in the period of the German Empire (1871-1918) and contextualizes the development of German federalism in a transnational context. It questions Paul W. Schroeder’s famous thesis that the international significance of the German states and their monarchs as intermediary bodies in the European states system had been rendered obsolete after they had entered the German Empire and had permanently allied themselves with Prussia in 1870. After their entry into the Empire, the German states and their crowned representatives would have lost their value as intermediaries for Austria, France and Russia during international crises, Schroeder asserts. But how valid is this assumption? Until now, there exists hardly any serious research, let alone a comparative study, that centres on the international position of German monarchies in the post-1870 era. Indeed, no study has been produced that can confirm Schroeder’s thesis with archival sources. This dissertation aims to fill this gap. In doing so, it fits in with recent strands of literature on transnational German history, modern monarchy, and diplomacy of non-state actors and of non-central governments. The study is based on research in Austrian, Belgian, British, Dutch, German, and Russian archives.

The project is funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung.