1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910465385303321

Titolo

The origins of World War I / / edited by Richard F. Hamilton, Holger H. Herwig [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2003

ISBN

1-139-88303-8

1-107-38574-1

1-107-38391-9

1-107-39034-6

1-107-39875-4

1-107-38742-6

0-511-55017-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiii, 537 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Disciplina

940.3/11

Soggetti

World War, 1914-1918 - Causes

World War, 1914-1918 - Diplomatic history

World War, 1914-1918 - Historiography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 525-531) and index.

Nota di contenuto

World wars: definition and causes / Richard F. Hamilton, Holger H. Herwig -- The European wars: 1815-1914 / Richard F. Hamilton -- Serbia / Richard C. Hall -- Austria-Hungary / Graydon A. Tunstall, Jr. -- Germany / Holger H. Herwig -- Russia / David Alan Rich -- France / Eugenia C. Kiesling -- Great Britain / J. Paul Harris -- Japan / Frederick R. Dickinson -- The Ottoman Empire / Ulrich Trumpener -- Italy / Richard F. Hamilton, Holger H. Herwig -- Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece / Richard C. Hall -- The United States / John Milton Cooper, Jr. -- Why did it happen? / Holger H. Herwig -- On the origins of the catastrophe / Richard F. Hamilton -- ; Appendix A: Chronology, 1914 / Geoffrey P. Megargee -- ; Appendix B: Dramatis Personae -- ; Appendix C: Suggested readings.

Sommario/riassunto

This work poses a straightforward - yet at the same time perplexing - question about World War I: Why did it  happen? Several of the oft-cited



causes are reviewed and discussed. The argument of the alliance systems is inadequate, lacking relevance or compelling force. The arguments of mass demands, those focusing on nationalism, militarism and social Darwinism, it is argued, are insufficient, lacking indications of frequency, intensity, and process (how they influenced the various decisions). The work focuses on decision-making, on the choices made by small coteries, in Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia, France, Britain and elsewhere. The decisions made later by leaders in Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, the Balkans, and the United States are also explored. The final chapters review the 'basic causes' once again. An alternative position is advanced, one focused on elites and coteries, their backgrounds and training, and on their unique agendas.