The Lost History of 1914 Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began

by Beatty, Jack

• ISBN13: 9780802778116
• ISBN10: 0802778119
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-02-14
• Publisher: Walker Books

Summary

Hundreds of books have been written about World War I, dozens of which are about the causes of the Great War. Jack Beatty-whose father fought in the war, giving him a very personal connection to it-has written a highly original chronicle of events in 1914 in each of the major countries involved, showing clearly that, far from being inevitable as so many historians have argued, the conflict that consumed so many lives was highly accidental in nature. "My book draws a new map, uncovering paths to peace long buried under the avalanche of war," Beatty writes. "I hope readers will come away thinking that nothing was inevitable about what George Kennan later called 'the great seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century.' I mean "lost history" in two senses. "Lost" as in "forgotten," and "lost" as in "did not win." In Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, England, Mexico, America, and other participant countries, Beatty examines pivotal events ignored or overlooked by most historians, whose accidental outcomes bore heavily on the outbreak of the war. His original perspective sheds new light on a defining event in the twentieth century.

Author Biography

Jack Beatty grew up listening to his father's memories of serving in WWI as a sailor on a ship torpedoed in the Bay of Biscay. He is a news analyst for "On Point," the public affairs program on National Public Radio, and the author of The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America, and Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900. He lives in New Hampshire.

Table of Contents

"Many historians consider WWI to have been inevitable. Not so, maintains Beatty, a news analyst on NPR’s On Point (Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865–1900), in this delightfully contrarian account. If one of any number of events had turned out differently, the war might not have been launched. Had war been delayed a month, for instance, civil war over the bitter Irish Home Rule controversy might have embroiled Britain. Russian leaders agreed that war would provoke revolution, as it had in 1905. Yet in 1914, all mysteriously and disastrously changed their minds. With far less reason, says Beatty, Germany’s leaders also feared revolution; many urged a military coup that would have preoccupied the army. Every European belligerent disliked President Wilson’s quirky support of Mexican rebels under Pancho Villa (he later reversed himself). This led to Germany’s January 1917 Zimmermann telegram (which was intercepted by the British) promising Mexico’s dictator U.S. territory in exchange for invading its northern neighbor. Beatty maintains that this, not Germany’s announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare, tipped the balance in America in favor of war. Readers may find some arguments more convincing than others, but they will thoroughly enjoy Beatty’s thoughtful, often discomforting opinions." --Publishers Weekly