The Invention of Realpolitik, 1848–1871

What is Realpolitik? How did the concept come about, and what does it stand for? This book explores the origins and meaning of a core precept of international history and politics. Statesmen, diplomats, and analysts alike deploy the term as if it were a timeless label. Endlessly, they suppose, states compete with each other for power in a zero-sum game. Yet Realpolitik was born in Germany in the mid-nineteenth century. The circumstances of its birth are key to its meaning. Realpolitik emerged am