Paving the Road to Hell: The Origins of World War I
Study Grant proposal for Fall 2015
To the Members of the Study Grant Review Committee:
Reflecting our nation's short-term and unsatisfying involvement in World War I, US history courses usually give short shrift to this European cataclysm. It was quite an epiphany for me then to discover the war's awesome legacy in at least 2 capacities: 1) its definitive influence on all world history since its occurrence and 2) its demonstration of the inertia of history, where long gone people, long past events and age-old institutions mold, even dictate, the human experience for generations until some new upheaval forces a divergence from that order.
I have three goals in pursuing this study. First, I mean to benefit from a broad andin-depth study of the events, personalities, national institutions, social movements, etc. that contributed to the war's outbreak. This is an extremely complicated story, traversing nations and time. Some precipitating factors go back decades, creating what one historian called "the long fuse." I will concentrate on the major nations (8), consulting monographs for each on this topic, so as to sort out their particular interests, leadership, insecurities, cultural inclinations, as well as the sequence of events leading to the general conflict. I teach two courses (US II and Western Civilization I) that include World War I. This course of study will significantly enhance (perhaps, correct!) my treatment of it in the classroom.
Second, I am intrigued by situations in which "events must take their course," situations where leaders cannot lead and are reduced tobeing bystanders. At the last hour, the Kaiser of Germany tried to limit the German mobilization in the east. He was overruled. An observer queried, "Who rules in Berlin?" How was it that the war no one wanted happened anyway and national leaders seemed stunned as hostilities began? I hope my reading will illuminate the relationship of individuals to "the system," and how that system may have facilitated the agenda of some.
Third, in hindsight, this war was a calamity better avoided. I am curious to see when an opportunity for peace may have existed. Were there junctures where that "long fuse" could have been extinguished? What unforeseen or unintended consequences may have obstructed good intentions and pervertedthe noble virtues of honor, duty, and patriotism that ended up paving the road to hell?
I am applying for the fall semester of 2015, but if it serves the program's allocation of grants better, I would happily accept an assignment for the spring 2016 semester, if my proposal is accepted. Thank you for your consideration of it.
Weekly Work-plan for Study Grant
Paving the Road to Hell: The Origins of World War I
Beginning with general overviews of pre-war Europe, its international relations and the events leading to the war's outbreak, I will proceed to particular studies of each of the major nations involved in the fight and restoration of the peace.
Study and comparison of general overviews
These will identify and sort out the major players, issues, institutions, social movements, etc. in this complicated story, establishing a foundation for the following more particular in-depth studies. I also have a historiographic goal here. Tuchman's book is a classic (1962) and I would like to see if there are significant differences in tone, emphasis, or information in the two studies (Clark, 2014).
Weeks 1-4 Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August.
Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914.
Study of the failure of the established system of European peace-keeping
This work may identify earlier opportunities for stability and peace that were ignored or rejected.
Week 5 Langhorne, Richard. The Collapse of the Concert of Europe: International
Politics, 1890-1914.
Study of the Dual Alliance/Central Power nations
The precipitating event attacked the House of Habsburg already allied with the newly unified and ardently nationalistic Germany. Their choice of action set up reactions from the other powers. As I have no knowledge of the role of the Ottoman Empire in the crisis, Aksakal's book will address a major deficiency in my understanding.
Weeks 6-9 Hewitson, Mark. Germany and the Causes of the First World War.
Williamson, S. Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War.
Aksakal, Mustafa. The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War.
Study of the Franco-Russian Alliance (later Allied Powers)
As these are strange bedfellows for allies (Republic and Absolute Monarchy), I hope to gain a fuller understanding of the origins and terms of this fateful alliance.
Weeks 10-11 Lieven, DCB. Russia and the Origins of the First World War.
Keiger, John. France and the Origins of the First World War.
Study of the "holdouts" and their eventual commitment to the fight
I will consult the relevant chapters in Martin's book as the bibliographies I consulted did not identify a source specific to Italy and the origins of the war.Italy began in the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria, but joined the Allies and ultimately held a seat at the peace conference at Versailles, an interesting diplomatic turn-about I'd like to understand better.
I look to Gregory's book to broaden my knowledge of US interests.
Weeks 12-14 Steiner, Zara. Britain and the Origins of the First World War.
Martin, Clark. Modern Italy, 1871-1995.
Gregory, Ross. The Origins of American Intervention in the First World War.
Study of the lessons of peace-keeping demonstrated in the Versailles negotiations
The ramifications of these talks and resultant treaties guaranteed that World War I would define the century. I'm especially interested in the reception of Wilson's proposals by the nations whose diplomacy failed so utterly before the conflict and what appears to be Wilson's insight as to the limitations of the nation-state in keeping the peace.
Weeks 15-16 MacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World.
I see history as the laboratory requirement for understanding human beings, especially our inclination to assume we are what we say and think we are. I consider it the mission and daunting challenge of history to illuminate the present by attempting explanations of how the past created it, a sort of "psychoanalysis" of our species, bringing the unconscious into our conscious awareness, because what we don't know can hurt us. What appears to be fate is actually very complicated and obscure history.
I look forward to sharing these musings with my colleagues in any forum - informal or formal (Faculty Development Day). Having given history workshops for Texas elementary and secondary teachers in association with Region X Education Service Center, I will offer my services again on this topic. I will also propose this topic to History Forum, an informal discussion group open to current and former students as well as to our community.
Paving to Road to Hell: The Origins of World War I
Bibliography
Aksakal, Mustafa. The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World
War. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Clark, Christopher. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914.
New York: Harper Perennial, 2014.
Martin, Clark. Modern Italy, 1871-1995.
New York: Longman, 1996.
Gregory, Ross. The Origins of American Intervention in the First World War.
New York: Norton, 1971.
Hewitson, Mark. Germany and the Causes of the First World War.
New York: Berg, 2004.
Keiger, John. France and the Origins of the First World War.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.
Langhorne, Richard. The Collapse of the Concert of Europe: International Politics, 1890-1914.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1980.
Lieven, DCB. Russia and the Origins of the First World War.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.
MacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World.
New York: Random House, 2001.
Steiner, Zara. Britain and the Origins of the First World War.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1987.
Tuchman, Barbara. The Guns of August.
New York: Macmillan Company, 1962.
Williamson, S. Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War.
New York: St. Martin's Press, 1981.