Product Description

The seminal event of the 20th century, the origins of the First World War have always been difficult to establish and have aroused deep controversy. Annika Mombauer tracks the impassioned debates as they developed at critical points through the twentieth century. 
The book focuses on the controversy itself, rather than the specific events leading up to the war. Emotive and emotional from the very beginning of the conflict, the debate and the passions aroused in response to such issues as the ‘war-guilt paragraph’ of the treaty of Versailles, are set in the context of the times in which they were proposed. Similarly, the argument has been fuelled by concerns over the sacrifices that were made and the casualities that were suffered. Were they really justified?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178714 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"essential reading" BBC History "readable, informative and lucid ... the book [has] a passionate feel that makes for a good read and provides a clear line of argument" Matthew Hughes, Reviews in History

"a valuable and essential analysis that should be studied with care by anyone trying to understand not just the war itself but much of twentieth century historical writing.' Contemporary Review

"Mombauer's book is to be welcomed... [she] manages to provide even the most seasoned scholar in this field with much else to think about."
Gaynor Johnson, Bolton Institute, History

From the Back Cover

The origins of the First World War have occupied us for decades. Nearly ninety years after its outbreak, the cause of the war continues to pose challenging questions. In this innovative book, Annika Mombauer explains why the search for an explanation of the outbreak of the war has been both obsessive and challenging, and why it remains difficult to establish the precise reason for war breaking out in 1914. The origins of the First World War are a particularly telling example of the connection between history-writing and contemporary political concerns, in which the past is viewed through the lens of the present, and vice versa.

Germany necessarily occupies a central part in this account. Having been blamed for causing the war, it was here that most effort was expended to counter such allegations. However, the actions of other belligerents are also under scrutiny, and interpretations of the role of Britain, France, Russia and Serbia in the events that led to war are examined.

Opening with an overview of the events that led to the outbreak of war in 1914, followed by an analysis highlighting the debate during and immediately after the war, the author also covers the reactions to the Treaty of Versailles, both in Europe and in the USA; the new consensus following the Second World War; and the challenges posed to that new orthodoxy by Fritz Fischer and his theses. She brings the story up to the present with current views of the significance and meaning of the origins of the First World War.

Annika Mombauer is Lecturer in European History, The Open University. She is the author of Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War (2001).

About the Author
Annika Mombauer lectures in Modern European History at The Open University. Her publications include the recently published Helmuth von Motke and the Origins of the First World War CUP (2001).

Customer Reviews

Absolutely essential reading for the Historiography of WW1
This book is not about the First World War per se. It is more about the controversies over war guilt - who was to blame. It is an absolutely excellent book on this front - detailing all of the major controversies from the start of the war until the present day.
Areas covered include: Versailles, the inter-war consensus of everyone to blame, revisionists, the Fischer controversy, AJPT, and modern research into the culpability of other (i.e. non-German) nations.

I cannot recommend it highly enough!

Written in a clear, concise and interesting way
Not a title or a subject to grab everyone's imagination perhaps, but Mombauer's analysis of the origins of WW1 and the historiography of how those origins have been explained by historians is vivid and fascinating. She has a particularly lucid written style and I found myself turning pages with a speed and enjoyment that I do not expect of the average learned academic text.

Not only does Annika Mombauer provide a comprehensive analysis of the political origins of the war, she also illustrates how the "truth" of those origins was manipulated to suit the political climate of every C20th era, whether it be the interwar years, the rise of fascism, the years following WW2, the Cold War years, or the years following the collapse of the iron curtain. She deals particularly with post-Versailles revisionism and German rejection of war-guilt, and the way that this explains the rise of Hitler and helped cause WW2.

This book is a must for those interested in WW1, but would be a "good read" even for someone who does not have that special interest.

Highly recommended.

Who started it? - the First World War.
Excellently written and very readable account of the huge historiography of the First World War argument about "who started it?" Very important because Germany "got its retaliation in first" by claiming its innocence for both moral and economic reasons - the huge reparations the victorious Entente powers put on her. And it took Britain and France some time to realise that they had to respond even though they felt that there was no case that needed an answer. Immediate problems of believing they had nothing to respond to included American feeling that they should have stayed out and, indeed, that they would next time!
Excellent.