[books i've been reading]

A Short History of 

World War One

by James Stokesbury

In Chapter One, Stokesbury looks at the events precipitating the Great War: the Moroccan Crises and Austria-Hungary's seizure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Chapter Two looks at the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the manner in which the major world powers found themselves quickly latched into a global war because of secret alliances and ill-advised promises. Chapter Three focuses on Germany's Schleiffen Plan and the subsequent battles as Germany launched into Belgium and France; in Chapter Four we see the breaking of the German advance at the Battle of the Marne and the "race to the sea" as the French, Germans, and British struggled to turn each others' flank to maneuver in the open. Stokesbury turns his attention to the eastern front in Chapter Five, examining Russia's offensive against Germany and Austria, as well as Austria's battles within Serbia and Bosnia. Chapter Six looks at the War at Sea: skirmishes in the North Sea and awkward submarine raids by the Germans. In Chapter Seven Stokesbury turns once more to the western front, highlighting the major battles as the French, British, and German sought to flatten out salients (or bulges) in their widening lines. Here trench warfare, the epitomized image of World War One, takes its toll on the soldiers involved. Chapter Eight looks at the involvement of Turkey, Italy, and the United States in the opening stages of the war. Chapter Nine focuses on the Allied disaster on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and Chapter Ten shifts to Russian offenses throughout 1916. Chapter Eleven heads back to the Western Front for a survey of 1916's bloodletting: the German offensive against the French fortress of Verdun and the Allied offensive at the Somme. Chapter Twelve switches back to the Eastern Front, examining the Austrian and Italian battles as well as Russia's gut-wrenching Brusilov Offensive. In Chapter 13 Stokesbury highlights the Battle of Jutland, and in Chapter 14 he takes a wider lens and examine the colonial campaigns in the Pacific, Africa, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. Chapter 15 examines the political woes of the various world powers involved: Britain is dealing with rebellion in Ireland, the French are struggling to survive and wage war against German, Russia is on the brink of dissolution, and Germany is internally divided and hoping that unrestricted submarine warfare will solve their problems. Chapter 16 focuses on Russia alone, examining Russia’s Provisional Government, the July Campaign, the Bolshevik Revolution, and Russia’s exiting of the war. Chapter 17 is all about Germany’s decision to allow unrestricted submarine warfare, the entrance of the United States into the war as a response, and the Allied checking of German submarine campaigns. Chapter 18 shifts once again to the Western Front of 1917: the Battle of Arras, the Second Battle of the Aisne, Messines Ridge, and Passchendaele (or the Third Battle of Ypers). Chapter 19 focuses on military developments that were changing the face of World War One: German hutier tactics, the development of tanks, and the use of aeroplanes as support craft, fighters, and bombers. Chapter 20 looks at the German Spring Offensives of 1918, and Chapter 21 focuses on the Allied counter-attacks later in the year that sent the Germans reeling home. Chapter 22 examines how the Central Powers fell, Chapter 21 covers the armistice and peace talks, and The Epilogue looks forward to what was to come: “When [Marshal Foch of France] read the peace treaty, [he] burst out, ‘This isn’t peace! This is a truce for twenty years!’ The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. Twenty years and sixty-seven days later, Great Britain and France declared war on Hitler’s Germany.” (323)