The causes of the First World War were disputed before the first shots had even been fired. Recriminations intensified following the Treaty of Versailles when the victors accused Germany and its allies of having caused the war. This was the start of a heated blame game in which historians and politicians on all sides became embroiled in a war of documents and publications. More than 100 years on, the question of the origins of the First World War still remains contested.
Based on Annika Mombauer’s The Origins of the First World War (2002), this thoroughly revised and expanded volume examines the political and ideological concerns that fuelled these international disagreements and offers an extensive analysis of a complex and unique historical controversy from 1914 to the centenary and beyond. It provides students, teachers, scholars and non-specialist readers with a comprehensive guide through the maze of conflicting interpretations.
Introduction
1.The Beginning of the Blame Game
2. Revisionists and Anti-Revisionists
3. From Scholarly Stagnation to a Paradigm Change: The Question of Continuity in German History
4. Beyond the German Paradigm
5. Centenary Debates and Beyond
Conclusion: The Long Blame Game
Biography
Annika Mombauer is Professor of Modern European History at The Open University, UK. Among her publications on the First World War are The Origins of the First World War: Diplomatic and Military Documents (2013) and Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War (2001).
‘For anyone hoping to understand the controversies surrounding the outbreak of the First World War, this book is the place to start. Scrupulously fair and with an unparalleled mastery of the literature in several languages, Annika Mombauer has produced an indispensable guide to a debate which has gone on for over a century and shows no signs of flagging.’
Margaret MacMillan, University of Oxford, UK
'The war that began in August 1914 is unusual in that, as the first shots were fired, so also began a debate about its causes that has lasted to this day. It has been a long and, more frequently still, a highly charged debate. In this the First World War is quite unlike any other conflict in modern times, perhaps even in all human history. From the beginning the controversy surrounding its outbreak became enmeshed with question of guilt. Later it was rekindled by conflicting interpretations of Germany’s development in the twentieth century. More profoundly still, it touches on the essence of the human condition – what role does contingency play and what ‘lessons’, if any, can be learnt from past experience … Annika Mombauer offers a surefooted guide through the minefield of conflicting political and scholarly arguments. The reader could not be in better, safer (and saner) hands.'
T.G. Otte, University of East Anglia, UK
'Professor Annika Mombauer meticulously and intelligently reconstructs the often highly politicised debate on the origins of the First World War from its beginnings to the present day. In an age when historians tend to look sideways towards their peers, or forwards into the future, she reminds us in vivid terms why the study of historiography – in other words, of what previous generations of scholars contributed to narrative style, empirical knowledge, and new interpretations – is so important for understanding where we are at today.'
Matthew Stibbe, Sheffield Hallam University, UK
