Challenging assumptions about the separation of high politics and everyday life, this book uncovers the important influence of the broad civilian populace, particularly poorer women, on German domestic and even military policy during World War I. As Britain's wartime blockade of goods to Central Europe increasingly squeezed the German food supply, public protests led by "women of little means" broke out in the streets of Berlin and other German cities. These "street scenes" riveted public attention and drew urban populations together across class lines to make formidable, apparently unified demands on the German state. Imperial authorities responded in unprecedented fashion in the interests of beleaguered consumers, interceding actively in food distribution and production. But offcials' actions were much more effective in legitimating popular demands than in defending the state's right to rule. In the end, argues Davis, this dynamic fundamentally reformulated relations between state and society and contributed to the state's downfall in 1918.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Acknowledgments; Introduction;
• 1. Germany from Peace to War;
• 2. Bread, Cake, and Just Desserts;
• 3. Women of Lesser Means;
• 4. Battles over Butter;
• 5. One View of How Politics Worked in World War I Berlin;
• 6. A Food Dictatorship;
• 7. Soup, Stew, and Eating German;
• 8. Food for the Weak, Food for the Strong;
• 9. The End of Faith;
• 10. Germany from War to Peace?; Conclusion; Notes; Abbreviations; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

Challenging assumptions about the separation of high politics and everyday life, this book uncovers the important influence of the broad civilian populace, particularly poorer women, on German domestic and even military policy during World War I. As Britain's wartime blockade of goods to Central Europe increasingly squeezed the German food supply, public protests led by ""women of little means"" broke out in the streets of Berlin and other German cities. These ""street scenes"" riveted public attention and drew urban populations together across class lines to make formidable, apparently unified demands on the German state. Imperial authorities responded in unprecedented fashion in the interests of beleaguered consumers, interceding actively in food distribution and production. But offcials' actions were much more effective in legitimating popular demands than in defending the state's right to rule. In the end, argues Davis, this dynamic fundamentally reformulated relations between state and society and contributed to the state's downfall in 1918.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Title Page; Copyright Page; History; Characters; Production Notes; A Brief Historical Note; PART ONE; Prologue: Evening Meal in a Windstorm; Scene One: Love Scene with Lemon; Scene Two: All Day in the Rain; First Interruption: The Small Voice (Letter to the President); Scene Three: Late Night Struggles on Towards Dawn; Scene Three A: Die Alte (The Old One); Scene Four: Cold and Brutal but Exact and True; Scene Five: Fingerspitzengefuhl (Fingertip Feeling); Scene Five A: It Takes Three Invitations; Scene Six: Demonology; Scene Seven: Scenes from the Life
• First Part.

• Scene Seven: Scenes from the Life
• Second PartScene Eight: Ich Habe Eine Neue Giftsuppe Gekocht (I Made a New Poison Soup); Second Interruption: The Politics of Paranoia; Scene Nine: Love Scene Without Lemon; Scene Ten: The Rent; Scene Eleven: Oranges; Scene Twelve: Furcht Und Elend (Fear and Misery); Third Interruption: German Lessons; Scene Thirteen: Welcome; PART TWO; Fourth Interruptoin: Memories of You; Scene Fourteen: Der Mensch Ist Nicht Gut
• Sondern Ein Vieh! (Man Isn't Good
• He's Disgusting!); FIfth Interruption: Night Bats; Scene Fifteen: Further Demonological Explorations.

• Scene Sixteen: Keep You Keep You I Am Gone Oh Keep You In My MemoryScene Seventeen: Hic Domus Dei Est Et Portae Coelis (This is the House of God, and These Are the Gates of Heaven); Sixth Interruption: From the Book; Scene Eighteen: Berliner Schnause (Berlin Lip); Seventh Interruption: Epitaph; Scene Nineteen: Der Wildgewordene Kleinburger (The Petit-Bourgeois Run Amok); Scene Twenty: An Acid Morning Light; Scene Twenty One: Love Scene Without. . .; Scene Twenty Two: Hands; Scene Twenty Three: Revelations and Farewells; Scene Twenty Four: All That Was Fat and Bright is Perished From You.

• Scene Twenty Five: The Green FrontEpilogue; APPENDIX: Zillah Iterruptions, New York Shakespeare Festival Version; AFTERWORD.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angels in America comes this powerful portrayal of individual dissolution and resolution in the face of political catastrophe. & ldquo; It & rsquo; s brash, audacious and ... intoxicatingly visionary. & rdquo; & mdash; Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune.