Hello everyone,

I apologize in advance for maybe going into this too blue-eyed but I am just an enthusiast with no historical background. Lately, I have been very interested in the history of the German Empire and WW1. I would like to learn more about how this all 'came to be' and want to look further into the past to get better context. However, there's such a vast selection of books that I'm overwhelmed and I don't know where a good point to start would be. The furthest I went back so far was a biography of Frederick the Great.

My 3 main points of interest are

1. Military History
2. Society (How did people think and feel about current events back then)
3. Geopolitics at the time

Can you recommend books that help me understand better how this patchwork of rural states turned into the German Empire of 1871? I speak German as well so I'm not limited to books in the English language only.

Thank you!