1913 - "The Year Before the Sky Fell In"

[IrishGunner]

An interesting Economist article; thought provoking?

http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21578978-world-1913-was-worryingly-similar-world-today-year-sky-fell

[paul wood]

I'm not sure about the article but might be worth looking at the book. However, in my opinion the best book for this period and the events leading up to WWI is "the Sleepwalkers" by Christopher Clarke. The detail is amazing and there are a lot of Balkan sources previously ignored in earlier accounts. If you haven't read it, get a copy.

Paul

[Trooper_D]

Thank you, IrishGunner and Paul, for pointing me in the direction of what would seem like required reading in preparation for next year! I imagine that other GMICers have similar recommendations and I, for one, would welcome seeing them.

[Brian Wolfe]

The study of politics has, in my opinion, been greatly over looked in the rush to learn more about the conflicts following the failure of diplomacy. While not as “exciting” to the public in general, politics has always been and is today pivotal to the understanding of how we arrived at the state of war. I find articles and books such as mentioned in these posts most interesting indeed and absolutely indispensable in understanding the bigger picture.

The way people today look at armed conflicts and at times seem to only concentrate on the narrowest slice of history a bit alarming in that repetition of the past is almost unavoidable. It’s like a divorce; everyone wants the dirty little details of the marriage gone wrong and information about the settlement. Few are really interested in the actual root causes of the break up in the first place. I suppose this and politics tend to be a lot less exciting and much harder to glorify than the accounts of the events of the battlefield.

I’ve often thought when I’ve read a book or watched a documentary about the events leading up to the First World War if we are not in a similar period. It can be most unnerving to think so.

Thanks to both Irish Gunner and Paul for a thought provoking post and I, for one, will look into purchasing the books mentioned.

Regards

Brian

[IrishGunner]

I’ve often thought when I’ve read a book or watched a documentary about the events leading up to the First World War if we are not in a similar period. It can be most unnerving to think so.

Regards

Brian

Brian, I think this is what troubles me most right now as we approach the anniversary of WWI. There will be a lot of commemorations - honoring the sacrifices on the battlefield - studies on the intricacies of the battles - exposes on the personalities. The same old worn out "reasons" for the war will be trooped before the colors. However, few will look at the deep and systematic issues that caused the war in the first place beginning more than a decade before. We had a good discussion going earlier under this forum on the 1912-1913 Balkan Wars and my premise remains, that the Great Powers could have avoided the war if they had in fact wanted to avoid it...the signs were there to be read.

Today, as I continue my education to become a history teacher, I'm amazed at how little interest there is in discussion on the "causes" of any historical event. Remember the names, the dates, the places, and maybe an effect or two...that's it. Many say that kids just can't make the connection to why it matters today. I think this is the greatest mistake. (I really think some teachers don't attempt it in the first place because "it's work"...but that's another debate). There are many lessons to be learned in history. And the lessons to be learned from the 18th and 19th century revolutions and the First World War are very important. For I too sometimes wonder if we aren't on the verge of a revolution or a catastrophic event. It may be even worse; because I don't think any person (or nation) in a position of "power" truly wants an event on the scale of WWI to occur...but as Shakespeare wrote, "What is past is prologue."

[Brian Wolfe]

I could not be more in agreement.

An interesting point that has been so true from the beginning of history is that the last person to glorify war and the first to look to prevent the next one is the soldier who fought the last one.

Regards

Brian