Joll James - The Origins of the First World War

The Origins of the First World War

General Editor: Harry Hearder

Titles already published:

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T.C.W. Blanning

THE ORIGINS OF THE CRIMEAN WAR
David M. Goldfrank

THE ORIGINS OF THE ITALIAN WARS OF INDEPENDENCE
Frank J. Coppa

THE ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
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THE ORIGINS OF THE WARS OF GERMAN UNIFICATION
William Carr

THE ORIGINS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR, 18991902
Iain R. Smith

THE ORIGINS OF THE RUSSOJAPANESE WAR
Ian Nish

THE ORIGINS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR (Third Edition)
James Joll and Gordon Martel

THE ORIGINS OF THE RUSSIAN CIVIL WAR
Geoffrey Swain

THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN EUROPE (Second Edition)
P.M.H. Bell

THE ORIGINS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Akira Iriye

THE ORIGINS OF THE GREEK CIVIL WAR
David H. Close

THE ORIGINS OF THE KOREAN WAR (Second Edition)
Peter Lowe

THE ORIGINS OF THE VIETNAM WAR
Anthony Short

THE ORIGINS OF THE ARABISRAELI WAR (Fourth Edition)
Ritchie Ovendale

THE ORIGINS OF THE PRESENT TROUBLES IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Caroline Kennedy-Pipe

THIRD EDITION

James Joll and Gordon Martel

First published 1984 by Pearson Education Limited

Third edition 2007

Published 2013 by Routledge
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The Estate of Professor James Joll and Gordon Martel 2007

The right of James Joll and Gordon Martel to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN-13: 978-0-582-42379-4 (pbk)

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A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library

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Set by 35 in 10/13.5pt Sabon

Iam delighted to have been presented with the opportunity to keep James Jolls book alive in spite of his death in 1994 by bringing it up to date. His approach to the subject was distinguished both by his mastery of the ethos of Europe in the decades before the war and by his decision to construct the book as a series of essays on the principal interpretations of the war. His famous lecture (then essay) on the Unspoken Assumptions in the minds of those who took Europe to war is, I believe, primarily responsible for much of the scholarship on this subject over the past thirty years, while his participation in the Fischer Debate was instrumental in appreciating the value (and some of the shortcomings) of Fritz Fischers approach. Thus, his knowledge, erudition and historical instincts resulted in the outstanding synthesis that has made this book a classic.

Most of the text of the first edition was composed between 1980 and 1983; the second edition was not so much a revision as an addition of materials concerning Italy. Thus, even the most recent (1992) edition contains few references to the scholarship of the past 25 years. Certainly those years have witnessed nothing like the controversies of the previous 25, in which James Joll was so deeply engaged. There has been nothing like the debate inspired by Fritz Fischer; rather, the work of historians has extended both the range and depth of our understanding of the themes highlighted in this book. We have had numerous new biographies of many of the leading characters involved: three of Kaiser Wilhelm II (the most outstanding of which, that by John Rhl, has taken us only to 1900 in two volumes) and three of Tsar Nicholas II (including Dominic Lievens brilliant study); numerous biographies of leading politicians, ranging from John Keigers excellent study of Raymond Poincar to Katharine Lermans on Bernhard von Blows career in office; and even more numerous biographies of the diplomats and officials responsible for the conduct of foreign policy in the years before 1914. We have new studies of nationalism and schooling, trade and finance, imperialism and colonialism, strategy and strategists, socialism and pacifism, militarism and navalism, racism and youth movements. Some of these studies offer new syntheses of their particular subjects; others are based on new and detailed archival research; all of them pertain to some degree to the themes addressed in this book.

In addition to the work of Rhl, Lieven and Keiger, three works of quite different nature and scope stand out: Samuel Williamsons Austria-Hungary and the Origins of the First World War (1991), David Stevensons Armaments and the Coming of War (1996), and Keith Neilsons Britain and the Last Tsar (1995). Each of these authors have made exceptionally valuable contributions to our understanding of the causes of war and each of them has, I believe, corroborated many of the conclusions argued by James Joll in this book. This is not to overlook the value of distinguished monographs such as Annika Mombauers Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War , or M.B. Haynes The French Foreign Office and the Origins of the First World War , or D.M. McDonalds United Government and Foreign Policy in Russia 19001914 , or Keith Hamiltons Bertie of Thame: Edwardian Ambassador , or Bruce Mennings Bayonets before Bullets: The Imperial Russian Army, 18611914 , to cite only a few examples. The list, although not endless, is certainly extensive. There have been, moreover, literally dozens of important articles in a wide variety of historical journals that bear upon important aspects of the wars origins.

Early on in this work I made a strategic decision of my own: that I would not simply add a chapter of whats happened since 1991 (or 1984) and update the bibliography. The range of themes covered in the book would have made such an approach awkward and, I think, not particularly useful. Instead, I chose to attempt to integrate and refer to this work throughout the existing text. Thus, I have striven to maintain the original style and tone, revising interpretations slightly when this seemed warranted, but usually adding new details, examples or references that extended the points that James Joll had made. In this task I have received the helpful advice of many colleagues, among whom I should particularly like to acknowledge my gratitude to John Keiger, Annika Mombauer, David Stevenson and Samuel Williamson. I believe it speaks volumes for the knowledge and insight of James Joll that no significant change in interpretation has seemed necessary. If readers of this new version have difficulty discerning where the prose of James Joll ends and where mine begins I shall have succeeded in my strategy. If this new version keeps alive this remarkable book for another generation of readers I shall have succeeded in my aim. For my part, I viewed this task as an act of respect: to honour the work of one of the twentieth centurys outstanding historians.