Many individuals and institutions have helped to further my interest in European topics, though only a few can be acknowledged here. For instance, the political scientists Gary Marks, the late Ruth Pitts, and I cofounded the Center for European Studies at the University of North Carolina. A working group of the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung, including Thomas Lindenberger and Martin Sabrow, helped inspire a critical approach to European development. Colleagues in the EURHISTXX-network such as Henry Rousso broadened my view of contemporary history, while Hannes Siegrist and Rüdiger Hohls invited me to participate in constructing of a Web portal of sources on modern European history and Bo Strath prodded me to confront issues of European memory culture. While Christoph Kleßmann stressed the importance of Eastern Europe, Michael Geyer and Matthias Middell kept insisting on the global embeddedness of European problems. Jürgen Kocka, director of the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin, Paul Nolte of the Free University, and Christian Ostermann of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington provided precious writing time. Andreas Kunz made the maps of the Institut für Europäische Geschichte available, and Kelly McCullough helped with the search for images. Victoria Pardini and Kristen Dolan aided with the preparation of the manuscript, Michal Skalski prepared the index, while Brigitta van Rheinberg provided invaluable editorial guidance. Finally, Hannelore Louise Flessa proved to be a patient guide to the French difference.
I would like to dedicate this volume to my grandchildren Tyson and Charlotte Ober Jarausch as well as Anneliese and Johanna Tracey Jarausch. May its pages provide them with some sense of their European heritage.