Joachim Radkau on Wilhelmine society

In conversation with Roger Köppel the historian Joachim Radkau attempts to relativise the image of Wilhelmine society, which according to him has been wrongly described as belligerent and totally militarised. "What I find most surprising is how non-belligerent and sentimental the mentality was which prevailed in extensive regions of Wilhelmine Germany. It was more peaceful than one would think looking back to those times, and people were a lot more paranoid about their health. The fear of illness was widespread. People worried about things like damaging their nervous systems if they spent more than a couple of minutes bathing in the sea - ridiculous things that normal people wouldn't think twice about nowadays. It certainly doesn't fit in with the accepted, harsh, militant image we have of that era."

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