July 1914

July 1914 PDF Author: Sean McMeekin
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465038867
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 482

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Book Description
When a Serbian-backed assassin gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in late June 1914, the world seemed unmoved. Even Ferdinand's own uncle, Franz Josef I, was notably ambivalent about the death of the Hapsburg heir, saying simply, "It is God's will." Certainly, there was nothing to suggest that the episode would lead to conflict -- much less a world war of such massive and horrific proportions that it would fundamentally reshape the course of human events. As acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin reveals in July 1914, World War I might have been avoided entirely had it not been for a small group of statesmen who, in the month after the assassination, plotted to use Ferdinand's murder as the trigger for a long-awaited showdown in Europe. The primary culprits, moreover, have long escaped blame. While most accounts of the war's outbreak place the bulk of responsibility on German and Austro-Hungarian militarism, McMeekin draws on surprising new evidence from archives across Europe to show that the worst offenders were actually to be found in Russia and France, whose belligerence and duplicity ensured that war was inevitable. Whether they plotted for war or rode the whirlwind nearly blind, each of the men involved -- from Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold von Berchtold and German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov and French president Raymond Poincaré- sought to capitalize on the fallout from Ferdinand's murder, unwittingly leading Europe toward the greatest cataclysm it had ever seen. A revolutionary account of the genesis of World War I, July 1914 tells the gripping story of Europe's countdown to war from the bloody opening act on June 28th to Britain's final plunge on August 4th, showing how a single month -- and a handful of men -- changed the course of the twentieth century.

July 1914

July 1914 PDF Author: Sean McMeekin
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465038867
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 482

Get Book Here

Book Description
When a Serbian-backed assassin gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in late June 1914, the world seemed unmoved. Even Ferdinand's own uncle, Franz Josef I, was notably ambivalent about the death of the Hapsburg heir, saying simply, "It is God's will." Certainly, there was nothing to suggest that the episode would lead to conflict -- much less a world war of such massive and horrific proportions that it would fundamentally reshape the course of human events. As acclaimed historian Sean McMeekin reveals in July 1914, World War I might have been avoided entirely had it not been for a small group of statesmen who, in the month after the assassination, plotted to use Ferdinand's murder as the trigger for a long-awaited showdown in Europe. The primary culprits, moreover, have long escaped blame. While most accounts of the war's outbreak place the bulk of responsibility on German and Austro-Hungarian militarism, McMeekin draws on surprising new evidence from archives across Europe to show that the worst offenders were actually to be found in Russia and France, whose belligerence and duplicity ensured that war was inevitable. Whether they plotted for war or rode the whirlwind nearly blind, each of the men involved -- from Austrian Foreign Minister Leopold von Berchtold and German Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Sazonov and French president Raymond Poincaré- sought to capitalize on the fallout from Ferdinand's murder, unwittingly leading Europe toward the greatest cataclysm it had ever seen. A revolutionary account of the genesis of World War I, July 1914 tells the gripping story of Europe's countdown to war from the bloody opening act on June 28th to Britain's final plunge on August 4th, showing how a single month -- and a handful of men -- changed the course of the twentieth century.

War Planning 1914

War Planning 1914 PDF Author: Richard F. Hamilton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521110963
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
This collection of essays by international experts in military history reassesses the war plans of 1914 in a broad diplomatic, military, and political setting.

Europe on the Brink, 1914

Europe on the Brink, 1914 PDF Author: John E. Moser
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469659875
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian nationalist has set off a crisis in Europe. Since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, peace had largely prevailed among the Great Powers, preserved through international conferences and a delicate balance of power. Now, however, interlocking alliances are threatening to plunge Europe into war, as Austria-Hungry is threatening war against Serbia. Germany is allied with Austria-Hungary, while Russia views itself as the protector of Serbia. Britain is torn between fear of a German victory and a Russian one. France supports Russia but also needs Britain on its side. Can war be avoided one more time? Europe on the Brink plunges students into the July Crisis as representatives of the European powers. What choices will they make?

The Generation of 1914

The Generation of 1914 PDF Author: Robert WOHL
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674045300
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
A study of the generation of French, German, English, Spanish, and Italian young men who fought in World War I.

Liaison 1914

Liaison 1914 PDF Author: Edward Spears
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
ISBN: 9781526796905
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 624

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Book Description
Many historians, not least Winston Churchill, agree that The Great War was decided during the first month of fighting. Fortunately a young highly literate and talented British officer was superbly well placed to witness this historic period. Thanks to his fluent French Edward Louis Spears was sent in mid August 1914 to liaise between Field Marshal Sir John French and the French High Command. In the weeks that followed, events moved at lightning speed and decisions were made without consulting or informing their counterparts. It fell to Spears to update the British of their allysmoves. Without modern communication this often involved Spears travelling on clogged roads between head quarters. As the sole British representative at, first, HQ Fifth French Army and then Tenth Army, the influence of this 28 year old author was immense and Spears on many occasions proved unworried about speaking his mind. Clearly his efforts were appreciated; he was made a Chevalier de la Legion dhoneur and awarded the Military Cross (he was wounded four times). Churchill, who became a life long friend, wrote the Foreword to the original edition of this truly extraordinary account which anyone who wishes to understand the events of 1914 must read.

Saving the City

Saving the City PDF Author: Richard Roberts
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199646546
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A week before the outbreak of the First World War, an acute financial crisis surged over London: the Stock Exchange closed; money markets worldwide were paralysed. Drawing on diaries, letters, memoirs, press reports, and official archives, this book tells the extraordinary, and largely unknown, story of the first true global financial crisis.

The First World War, 1914-1918

The First World War, 1914-1918 PDF Author: Gerd Hardach
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 9780520043978
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description


The Crisis

The Crisis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The Crisis, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color. For nearly 100 years, The Crisis has been the magazine of opinion and thought leaders, decision makers, peacemakers and justice seekers. It has chronicled, informed, educated, entertained and, in many instances, set the economic, political and social agenda for our nation and its multi-ethnic citizens.

Catastrophe

Catastrophe PDF Author: Max Hastings
Publisher: HarperPress
ISBN: 9780007467648
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 628

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Book Description
A magisterial chronicle of the calamity that crippled Europe in 1914. 1914: a year of unparalleled change. The year that diplomacy failed, Imperial Europe was thrown into its first modernised warfare and white-gloved soldiers rode in their masses across pastoral landscapes into the blaze of machine-guns. What followed were the costliest days of the entire War. But how had it happened? In Catastrophe: 1914 Max Hastings, best-selling author of the acclaimed All Hell Let Loose, answers at last how World War I could ever have begun. Ranging across Europe, from Paris to St. Petersberg, from Kings to corporals, Catastrophe 1914 traces how tensions across the continent kindled into a blaze of battles; not the stalemates of later trench-warfare but battles of movement and dash where Napoleonic tactics met with weapons from a newly industrialised age. A searing analysis of the power-brokering, vanity and bluff in the diplomatic maelstrom reveals who was responsible for the birth of this catastrophic world in arms. Mingling the experiences of humbler folk with the statesmen on whom their lives depended, Hastings asks: whose actions were justified? From the out-break of war through to its terrible making, and the bloody gambles in Sarajevo and Mons, Le Cateau, Marne and Tannenberg, this is the international story of World War I in its most severe and influential period. Published to coincide with its 100th Anniversary, Catastrophe: 1914 explains how and why this war, which shattered and changed the Western world for ever, was fought.

The Crisis

The Crisis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The Crisis, founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP, is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color. For nearly 100 years, The Crisis has been the magazine of opinion and thought leaders, decision makers, peacemakers and justice seekers. It has chronicled, informed, educated, entertained and, in many instances, set the economic, political and social agenda for our nation and its multi-ethnic citizens.