An Improbable War? : : The Outbreak of World War I and European Political Culture before 1914 / / ed. by Holger Afflerbach, David Stevenson.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2000-2013
• MitwirkendeR: Afflerbach, Holger,; Aksakal, Mustafa,; Carter, Jimmy,; Chickering, Roger,; Dickinson, Frederick R.,; Dülffer, Jost,; Epkenhans, Michael,; Frevert, Ute,; Gienow-Hecht, Jessica C. E.,; Harbutt, Fraser J.,; Kießling, Friedrich,; Kronenbitter, Günther,; Lehmann, Hartmut,; Röhl, John C. G.,; Sanborn, Joshua A.,; Schroeder, Paul W.,; Schulz, Matthias,; Stevenson, David,; Williamson, Samuel R.,
• HerausgeberIn: Afflerbach, Holger,; Stevenson, David,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2007]; ©2007
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (380 p.)

The First World War has been described as the "primordial catastrophe of the twentieth century." Arguably, Italian Fascism, German National Socialism and Soviet Leninism and Stalinism would not have emerged without the cultural and political shock of World War I. The question why this catastrophe happened therefore preoccupies historians to this day. The focus of this volume is not on the consequences, but rather on the connection between the Great War and the long 19th century, the short- and long-term causes of World War I. This approach results in the questioning of many received ideas about the war's causes, especially the notion of "inevitability."

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgements -- Foreword -- Introduction -- Part I: European Statescraft and the Question of War and Peace before 1914 -- Chapter 1. Stealing Horses to Great Applause: Austria-Hungary’s Decision in 1914 in Systemic Perspective -- Chapter 2. Did Norms Matter in Nineteenth-Century International Relations? Progress and Decline in the “Culture of Peace” before World War I -- Chapter 3. Aggressive and Defensive Aims of Political Elites? Austro-Hungarian Policy in 1914 -- Chapter 4. The Curious Case of the Kaiser’s Disappearing War Guilt: Wilhelm II in July 1914 -- Part II: The Military Situation before 1914: Europe between Hot and Cold War -- Chapter 5. Chances and Limits of Armament Control 1898–1914 -- Chapter 6. Was a Peaceful Outcome Thinkable? The Naval Race before 1914 -- Chapter 7. Was a Peaceful Outcome Thinkable? The European Land Armaments Race before 1914 -- Chapter 8. The German and Austro-Hungarian General Staff s and their Reflections on an “Impossible” War -- Part III: Hopes and Fears of War and Peace: Subjective Expectations and Unspoken Assumptions in European Societies before 1914 -- Chapter 9. The Topos of Improbable War in Europe before 1914 -- Chapter 10. Unfought Wars: The Eff ect of Détente before World War I -- Chapter 11. “War Enthusiasm?” Public Opinion and the Outbreak of War in 1914 -- Chapter 12. Education for War, Peace, and Patriotism in Russia on the Eve of World War I -- Part IV: Culture, Gender, Religiosity, And The Coming Of War -- Chapter 13. Honor, Gender, and Power: The Politics of Satisfaction in Pre-War Europe -- Chapter 14. International Solidarity in European and North American Protestantism before 1914 and after -- Chapter 15. International Relations, Arts, and Culture before 1914 -- Part V: The Perspective from Afar: The Outbreak of War in Europe in the Eyes of Other Continents -- Chapter 16. War as the Savior? Hopes for War and Peace in Ottoman Politics -- Chapter 17. The View from Japan: War and Peace in Europe around 1914 -- Chapter 18. War, Peace, and Commerce: The American Reaction to the Outbreak of World War I in Europe -- Contributors -- Selected Bibliography -- Index of Names