Hans-Ulrich Wehler was an influential German historian whose work profoundly shaped the understanding of modern German history. As the founder of the Bielefeld School, he was a key proponent of the 'special path' (Sonderweg) thesis. His approach emphasized social and structural history, offering a distinctive lens through which to view Germany's development. Wehler's scholarship is marked by its analytical rigor and commitment to a comprehensive grasp of historical processes.
In the wake of the Fischer Controversy on the origins of WWI, there emerged in West Germany a younger generation of historians, who took a critical 'revisionist' view of the Bismarckian Empire and began to analyze the political development of the Hohenzollern monarchy against the background of the country's social and economic power structures.