German Strategic Thinking: WWI

[Richard Barrett]

I must admit that I am not fully up to speed with the growing literature of the First World War; so much has been published recently. Which aspect were you particularly interested in? I am sure members will have intelligent suggestions to make.

Something fairly general really, I'm just a beginner in this area.

[Historian]

I think Hew Strachan's 'The First World War: A New History' (2003, but recently republished) might be a good place to start. He's somewhat revisionist, but knows far more about the conflict than some other (better-known) historians. Not to be confused with the first volume (of a projected three) with a similar title (published 2001).

[Richard Barrett]

Thanks.

[richardfinegold]

I've just finished reading Christopher Clark's book (is that what people mean when referring to "Colin Clarke" or is that someone else?). I came out with the impression that you really can't summarise the origins of the first world war in fewer than the 500-odd pages he uses. What I find particularly impressive is the way he makes parallels between the period before the war began and the present time, for example in comparing the Austrian ultimatum delivered to the Serbian government in 1914 with that from NATO in 1999, both clearly intended to make unacceptable demands so that a previously-planned attack could take place. Something that struck me throughout was the grotesquely jingoistic attitudes of almost all the principal players, whether politicians, soldiers or crowned heads, and how indifferent they all were to the death and destruction caused by war, as opposed to the extent to which profit and/or power could be gained from it.

Yes, that was my mistake on Christopher Clark. I didn't correctly remember his first name when I made that post.
Otherwise I agree completely with RB post. It is amazing and depressing to realize how much all the participants were actually yearning for war. It is equally depressing to realize how unfair the Versailles treaty was. The Germans behaved barbarically at times (for example, the sack of the Belgian town of Louvain and the torching of it's historic library) but shared no more blame for the start of the war than the French, Russians and the English. A more fair treaty at the end of WWI may have dried up the resentment that led to the rise of the Nazis.

[richardfinegold]

Something fairly general really, I'm just a beginner in this area.

There is no shortage of good books about the Great War, at least in terms of describing the events once hostilities commenced. It is much more difficult to explain the build up to the war, and that is why the books cited here are so
Valuable.
Hastings will get you through 1914 and explores some of the points that you raise as to why the slaughter was not stopped once the futility became apparent ( or not) to all sides. Barbara Tuchman explores some of the same ground in The Guns Of August. John Keagan wrote a comprehensive book of the entire war.

[Roehre]

Yes, that was my mistake on Christopher Clark. I didn't correctly remember his first name when I made that post.
Otherwise I agree completely with RB post. It is amazing and depressing to realize how much all the participants were actually yearning for war. It is equally depressing to realize how unfair the Versailles treaty was. The Germans behaved barbarically at times (for example, the sack of the Belgian town of Louvain and the torching of it's historic library) but shared no more blame for the start of the war than the French, Russians and the English. A more fair treaty at the end of WWI may have dried up the resentment that led to the rise of the Nazis.

Loss of colonies, loss of some home territory to the Belgians [without plesbicite!], the Poles and the Danes, the 1923 hyperinflation caused by French intervention in the Ruhr area, the French effectively stopping the return of Eupen-Malmédy to the Reich though the Belgians would have preferred to do so: it is the unfair Treaty of Versailles plus the aftermath which turned out to be a fertile soil for the success of Nazism.

[richardfinegold]

Loss of colonies, loss of some home territory to the Belgians [without plesbicite!], the Poles and the Danes, the 1923 hyperinflation caused by French intervention in the Ruhr area, the French effectively stopping the return of Eupen-Malmédy to the Reich though the Belgians would have preferred to do so: it is the unfair Treaty of Versailles plus the aftermath which turned out to be a fertile soil for the success of Nazism.

No argument there.

[Tevot]

Yes and this is a point that Clark himself makes in his closing remarks, but, continuing from that moment, once it did become clear that the Western front was basically a pointless bloodbath, you would think that if those in charge of the warring sides had any trace of civilisation they would have tried to find a way to call it to a halt.

Do you happen to know of a good way of continuing the story from where Clark leaves off?

Hello there,

I think 1914 - 1918 by David Stevenson might do the trick. It's on my shelves but I've yet to read it. However from the link below you'll see it gained positive reviews.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1914-1918-History-First-World-War-ebook/dp/B002RI9PPE/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413540513&sr=1-2

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[clive heath]

"Might against Right" by Bella Woolf

Here's an oddity of a book I've just come across readable in a way I imagined was standard on a Kindle but didn't know anyone with one to find out.

https://archive.org/details/rightagainstmigh00wooluoft

The book was written in 1914 by Virginia Woolf's sister-in-law presenting her view on the conflict as it then stood. How horrified she was by what followed I shudder to guess.

[richardfinegold]

I don't have my Kindle app on this computer, but I'll check it later.

[Sydney Grew]

... readable in a way I imagined was standard on a Kindle but didn't know anyone with one to find out. ...

https://archive.org/details/rightagainstmigh00wooluoft

Click on "All Files: HTTPS" and then you will be presented with the choice of reading the book in a number of further formats: djvu, epub, gif, pdf, etc, etc. The pdf version (3526261 bytes) is likely to be the most convenient. Download it and read it later (which is what I always do).

[Tevot]

Hello there,

Following on from the comments above - I'd like to spotlight some recent lectures at Gresham College. They cover aspects of the Great War. Speakers include Christopher Clark, David Reynolds, David Stevenson and Richard Evans.

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/category/history/military-history

Thought provoking stuff.

Best Wishes,

Tevot

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Many thanks, Tevot