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The article presents an analysis of the contents of the periodical "Historische Zeitschrift" (HZ) with respect to articles dealing with German historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries. Post World War I focus on secret agendas was one key theme, as well the effects of Bismarck's foreign policy in fostering unnecessary confrontations. Another topic involved the tension between the Prussian military state tendencies and the democratic stirrings of the Weimar Republic. National character and race become topics during the National Socialist era. Other modern trends are noted.

Does citizenship exist beneath the level of the nation-state? An enduring historiography insists on the essentially national character of modern citizenship, but this article argues on the contrary that locally defined identities have continued to exercise an important influence on the social and political rights of citizens. These local identities are not just relics of composite states with different membership criteria; rather, spatially complex citizenship is the norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]