The First World War was a war of extraordinary intensity and one which has shaped the history of the twentieth century. It was the first conflict in which aeroplanes, submarines, and tanks played a significant role, the first in which casualties on the battlefield outnumbered those from disease. The USA's entry into the war and the part it played in the peace settlement signalled the arrival on the world stage of a new great power. The victors at Versailles took nationalism as one of their guiding principles; they also aimed at instituting their vision of liberalism and even democracy; the political consequences are still being played out. In this extensively illustrated book, an international team of experts explores the war in all its different aspects. From its causes to its consequences, from the Western Front to the Eastern, from the human consequences assessed. Chapters on economic mobilization, the impact on women, the role of propaganda, and the rise of socialism establish the wider social context of fighting which took place at sea and in the air and which ranged on land from the Flanders trenches to the Balkan mountains and the deserts of the Middle East. While the war was fought on many fronts and in many different ways, the unifying experience of participants was that of the trenches. The legacy of 'the war to end wars' in poetry and prose, in collective memory and political culture is with us still, eighty years after that first Armistice Day.
| ISBN | 0192893254 | | Pages | 368 | | ISBN13 | 9780192893253
(What's this?) | | Volumes | 1 | | Publisher | Oxford University Press | | Weight (grammes) | 798 | | Imprint | Oxford Paperbacks | | Published in | Oxford | | Format | Paperback | | Series title | Oxford Illustrated History | | Publication date | 09 Nov 2000 | | Height (mm) | 246 | | Library of Congress | 97004497 | | Width (mm) | 189 | | DEWEY | 940.3 | | Spine width (mm) | 21 | | DEWEY edition | DC21 | | Academic level | General |
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Introduction; 1. The Origins of the War; 2. The Strategy of the Central Powers 1914-1917; 3. Manoeuvre Warfare: The Eastern and Western Fronts 1914-1915; 4. The Strategy of the Entente Powers; 5. The Balkans 1914-1918; 6. Turkey's War; 7. The War in Africa; 8. The War at Sea; 9. Economic Warfare; 10. Economic Mobilization: Money, Munitions, and Machines; 11. Women, War, and Work; 12. The Challenge to Liberalism: The Politics of the Home Fronts; 13. Eastern Front and Western Front, 1916-1917; 14. Mutinies and Military Morale; 15. War Aims and Peace Negotiations; 16. Propaganda and the Mobilization of Consent; 17. Socialism, Peace, and Revolution 1917-1918; 18. The Entry of the USA into the War and its Effects; 19. The German Victories, 1917-1918; 20. The War in the Air; 21. The Allied Victories, 1918; 22. The Peace Settlement; 23. Memory and the Great War; Further Reading; Illustration Sources; Index
"A remarkable series of essays of a variety of issues raised by the Great War.... Highly recommended for most libraries."--Library Journal"Editor Strachan has commissioned 20 historians to summarize present thought about the July 1914 crisis, the military course of the war, the social and economic strains it exerted in all the belligerents, and its conclusion in revolutions and treaties. The war shattered illusions of every kind, starting with the belief that it would be brief; the accounts of why it was not are pithily rendered, reinforced by powerful illustrations of the western front's moonscapes, among other scenes of the war. Strachan's writers also assess the war outside Europe and the nascent nationalisms it unleashed. Readers will find this comprehensive work a captivating introduction to the Great War."--Gilbert Taylor in Booklist"Strachan has chosen wisely, and offers a well-conceived...introduction. In all, a worthwhile contribution to WWI literature."--Kirkus Re
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