An Improbable War?: The Outbreak of World War I and European Political Culture Before 1914Holger Afflerbach, David Stevenson The First World War has been described as the "primordial catastrophe of the twentieth century." Arguably, Italian Fascism, German National Socialism and Soviet Leninism and Stalinism would not have emerged without the cultural and political shock of World War I. The question why this catastrophe happened therefore preoccupies historians to this day. The focus of this volume is not on the consequences, but rather on the connection between the Great War and the long 19th century, the short- and long-term causes of World War I. This approach results in the questioning of many received ideas about the war's causes, especially the notion of "inevitability." |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
EUROPEAN STATESCRAFT AND THE QUESTION | 15 |
CHAPTER 2 | 43 |
CHAPTER 5 | 44 |
CHAPTER 3 | 61 |
CHAPTER 4 | 75 |
Chances and Limits of Armament Control 18981914 | 95 |
CHAPTER 6 | 113 |
CHAPTER 12 | 213 |
CHAPTER 13 | 227 |
The Politics of Satisfaction in PreWar Europe | 233 |
International Solidarity in European and North American Protestantism | 256 |
CHAPTER 15 | 271 |
THE PERSPECTIVE FROM AFAR THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN EUROPE | 285 |
CHAPTER 17 | 303 |
CHAPTER 18 | 320 |
Was a Peaceful Outcome Thinkable? The European Land Armaments | 130 |
The German and AustroHungarian General Staffs and their Reflections | 149 |
HOPES AND FEARS OF WAR AND PEACE SUBJECTIVE EXPECTATIONS | 159 |
CHAPTER 10 | 183 |
CHAPTER 11 | 200 |
Contributors | 335 |
| 341 | |
| 361 | |
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Common terms and phrases
ally ambassador American Anglo-German Annika Mombauer argued armaments arms race army August Austria-Hungary Austrian Austro-Hungarian Balkan Wars Berchtold Berlin Bethmann Hollweg Britain British Chancellor Christian Concert Concert of Europe conference conflict Conrad culture danger decision declared détente Deutsche Dokumente Deutschland developments diplomatic Dreibund elite Empire Entente Epkenhans Ersten Weltkrieg Europäische Europe Falkenhayn foreign policy France Franz Ferdinand Franz Joseph Freiburg French Friedrich German Germany's Habsburg Monarchy historians Holger Afflerbach honor Hopman Ibid Imperial improbable international law international politics international system Japan Japanese July Crisis Kaiser Wilhelm Kaiser Wilhelm II Krieg Kronenbitter leaders London ment military Minister mobilization modern Moltke Mommsen Munich naval race navy nineteenth century norms officers Ottoman Ottoman Empire outbreak pacifist patriotism peace plans Politisches question Reich relations role Russia Sarajevo Serbia social Socialists society Staff Stevenson strategic summer of 1914 tension tion Tirpitz Tisza Tolstoy Triple Entente Vienna World York