Gregor Dallas - 1918: War and Peace

Contents

About the Book

On the night of 7 November 1918 French troops at La Capelle, on the Western Front, noticed a soft halo develop in the fog over no mans land. They heard the rumble of cars, then perceived the vague form of a huge white flag: the Germans were crossing the line to seek peace. But who were these Germans and what exactly did they represent? By the time they had signed an armistice, four days later, not even they knew. The Kaisers Reich had collapsed and Germany faced chaos, while the war in Eastern Europe continued. This book traces the transition from war to peace across Europe. It follows the movement of armies over the northern plains, their collapse, their demoblization, and the effect this had on the material life of people. In Russia there had already been a revolution. In Germany, there were attempts to overthrow the provisional republican government. In Poland new wars broke out. At the same time, there was celebration in the West at the announcement of the Armistice. And the United States entered European politics with a new part to play. Dallas follows these dramatic events from the perspective of five capitals: Berlin, Paris, London, Moscow and Washington. In Berlin the cabarets and beer halls are open, while there is shooting in the streets. In the walled city of Paris, the peacemakers assemble to respond to the call for a League of Nations. Pantomime season opens in London, where Lloyd George holds elections and reorganizes his War Cabinet; John Maynard Keynes of the Treasury worries about debts. Contemporaries describe Moscow as a scene of desolation; but Lenin insists on setting up the Third International. Washington is divided between those who want to open America to the world, and those who would prefer the world to go away. The start of peace is more complex and fascinating than the start of war; it sets the habits and builds the patterns of life for generations to come. This book weaves politics, ideas, social life, fears, aspirations and harsh realities into a seamless reconstruction of life experienced at a great turning-point of history.

About the Author

Gregor Dallas knows something about frontiers. He is British, was born in London, received his university education in America (Berkeley and Rutgers), and now lives in France. He enjoys writing about both the famous and the unknown, and likes to put historical events in their physical place. His last book, 1815, also published by Pimlico, was on the establishment of peace in Europe at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. He is currently writing 1945, covering the peace at the end of the Second World War.

List of Illustrations

Aerial view of attack at Vermandovillers

Communications trench in the Aisne

Digging in on the side of a road

Rifle pits outside Villers-Bretonneux

The leaning virgin at Albert

The basilica at Albert

German prisoners of war, August 1918

British troops on banks of the Saint-Quentin Canal, October 1918

British enter Cambrai, October 1918

German Army tourer crosses the line

Fort de Compigne on 10 November 1918

Allied delegation after Armistice signature, 11 November

Armistice Day in Paris

Armistice Day in London

Armistice Day in Berlin

The Kaiser at Spa

The Kaiser, at Rijsden, leaves for exile

Retreating German troops at Lige

Retreating German troops at Cologne

Germans retreating across Hohenzollern Bridge, Cologne

British advancing across Hohenzollern Bridge

Americans entering Trier

German U-boats at Kiel

Returning troops advance through Brandenburg Gate

Ebert hails the troops

Massacre at Wesenburg

A Free Corps flag

General Georg von Maercker

Woodrow Wilson at Brest

Allied leaders at 10 Downing Street

John Maynard Keynes

Herbert Hoover

Dr Carl Melchior

Luis Klotz

Edvard Munchs Walther Rathenau

Count Brockdorff-Rantzau

Cartoon of Matthias Erzberger

Wilsons reception in Dover

Woman voting at British General Election, December 1918

Armistice advertisement for Kenilworth Cigarettes

Sheep grazing in Bois de Boulogne

People picnicking in Bois de Boulogne

Protection for Delacroixs statue, Luxembourg Gardens

Stonebreakers demolishing Paris walls

Flamethrowers in Berlin

Barbed wire entanglements in Berlin

Tank in Berlin

Regime loyal troops firing from behind bales of paper

Ilyinka Street, Moscow, before the war

Kuznetsky Most in the nineteenth century

Moscow women selling their possessions

Moscow citizens clearing rubble

Lon Bourgeois speaking at a plenary session, Paris Peace Conference

The Four

Ignace Paderewski

German delegates receive terms of Versailles Treaty

Hindenburg sinks at Scapa Flow

The Victory Dance

Germans sign Versailles Treaty

German officers demonstrate at Kolberg

The author and publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce illustrations:

Plates 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 29, 41, 42, 43, 44, BDIC Muse; 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, Deutsche Kriegzeitung; 31, Mary Evans Picture Library; 51, Hoover Institution of War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford, California; 39, Hulton Getty; 10, 30, 33, 36, 40, 45, 48, 53, 57, 60, Illustrated London News; 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 46, 47, 54, 55, 56, 59, Illustration; 35, Harry Kessler, Walther Rathenau (New York: Howard Fertig, 1969); 52, David King Collection; 37, 58, Kladderadatsch; 32, PA Photos; 14, Popperfoto; 38, US Army Signal Corps; 34, Woodrow Wilson Papers (Princeton University Press); 49, 50, Mikhail Zolotarev Collection.

Maps

Europe before 1914

Europe after 1918

The Western Front

Polish borders and Russia, 1919

Chronology