The arming of Europe and the making of the First World War / David G. Herrmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Herrmann, David G., author.

Series:

Princeton paperbacks.

Princeton paperbacks

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War--Causes.

Military readiness.

Arms race.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (334 pages)

Edition:

1. paperback printing.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [2020].

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

David Herrmann's work is the most complete study to date of how land-based military power influenced international affairs during the series of diplomatic crises that led up to the First World War. Instead of emphasizing the naval arms race, which has been extensively studied before, Herrmann draws on documentary research in military and state archives in Germany, France, Austria, England, and Italy to show the previously unexplored effects of changes in the strength of the European armies during this period. Herrmann's work provides not only a contribution to debates about the causes of the war but also an account of how the European armies adopted the new weaponry of the twentieth century in the decade before 1914, including quick-firing artillery, machine guns, motor transport, and aircraft. In a narrative account that runs from the beginning of a series of international crises in 1904 until the outbreak of the war, Herrmann points to changes in the balance of military power to explain why the war began in 1914, instead of at some other time. Russia was incapable of waging a European war in the aftermath of its defeat at the hands of Japan in 1904-5, but in 1912, when Russia appeared to be regaining its capacity to fight, an unprecedented land-armaments race began. Consequently, when the July crisis of 1914 developed, the atmosphere of military competition made war a far more likely outcome than it would have been a decade earlier.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LIST OF MAPS

PREFACE

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1. The European Armies in 1904

CHAPTER 2. The European Armies and the First Moroccan Crisis, 1905-1906

CHAPTER 3. Military Effectiveness and Modern Technology, 1906-1908

CHAPTER 4. The Bosnia-Herzegovina Annexation Crisis and the Recovery of Russian Power, 1908-1911

CHAPTER 5. The Second Moroccan Crisis and the Beginning of German Panic, 1911-1912

CHAPTER 6. The Balkan Wars and the Spiral of Armaments, 1912-1913

CHAPTER 7. The European Armies and the Outbreak of the First World War

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX A. Peacetime Strength of the European Armies, 1904-1913

APPENDIX B. Army Expenditures of the European Powers, 1904-1914

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Published by Princeton University Press.

This book has been composed in Galliard.

Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

Fifth printing, and first paperback printing, with new illustrations, 1997.

Printed in the United States of America.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on: online resource; title from pdf title page (ACLS Humanities, viewed January 12, 2021).

ISBN:

9780691033747

0691033749

9780691201382

0691201382

OCLC:

1227051500