How The First World War Began

Rating:
Summary: A valuable reassessment
Review: McCullough sets forth the premise of his book by stating that it is a comfortable myth to imagine that wars are only started by evil nations "over there", while "we" as peaceful, orderly folk, could not help but respond. This is the traditional flavor of a majority of histories written about the origins of WWI. Germany, held solely responsible for the war in Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, is traditionally held up as the evil empire which plunged an otherwise peaceful world into the horror of modern industrial war. But is that really how things happened? McCullough thinks not. McCullough guides readers through the same pre-war events and issues that other authors have trod, but sheds light on aspects long ignored by mainstream historians. He steers us through the Naval Arms Race issue, for example, revealing how Germany never actually held any threatening naval advantage for Britian to need to respond to -- even to the point of calls for new British warships to be built to counter ships Germany did not have. He also highlighs the role of the Entente in escallating the two Morocco affairs into international crises -- nearly to the brink of war. He minces few words, and does not hide the Entente powers' share of responsibility behind the usual euphemisms. Nor does he excuse the Germans or absolve them of their share of the blame. Instead, his book gives another view of the origins events which does not sugar-coat the Entente's pre-war actions. MuCullough's book is a small (but valuable) counterweight to the bulk of Entente whitewash histories that have filled bookstore shelves for over 80 years -- definitely a valuable addition to the library of any student of the origins of WWI.

Rating:
Summary: a refreshing appraisal of europe at the turn of the century
Review: McCullough was able to pull off an exceptional work of revisionist history because he avoids demonizing the Triple Entente or praising the Central Powers. Rather, he attempts to show that at the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 the primary aim of the German Empire was to maintain a favorable balance-of-power in Europe, not a program of aggressive expansion. On the other hand, France had spent the years since the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 attempting to isolate Germany and form an alliance system that would shift the European balance-of-power back in its favor. It did this by first securing agreements with Russia, and finally Britain, which cemented the Entente. In the meantime, Russia was aiming to expand into the Balkans at the expense of Austria, an already rapidly decaying empire, via its partnership with Serbia. While there are many fine details I could elaborate on, its' best simply to note that the author does a first-rate job at putting it all together and letting it unravel in a very readable, comprehensible fashion. He does an excellent job at explaining how the Bismarkian system is essential to understanding pre-war German foreign policy, and even makes a limited attempt at providing a new perspective on Kaiser Wilhelm's dramatic policy changes, showing that much of it was not completely irrational or unjustified. I do think he goes a bit far when he implies that the Anglo-German naval race was simply another pretext for British naval expansion, since the same "scares" had been evoked before with France and Russia. The Germans may not have been attempting to overturn British naval superiority, but it was certainly not unreasonable for the most enlightened of British statesmen to show real concern and respond by steadily increasing production. Nevertheless, a must read for any history buff yearning for a fresh yet still credible account of the events leading to that great human catastrophe.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent work of scholarship.
Review: This is a very deep and powerfully researched book. Its central arguments seem to me, not an expert by any means, to be unassailable. It is very well organised and written simply and clearly. Do order it.