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The Cambridge History of the First World War
The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume 2, The State
Volume 2 of The Cambridge History of the First World War offers a history of the war from a predominantly political angle and concerns itself with the story of the state. It explores the multifaceted history of state power and highlights the ways in which different political systems responded to, and were deformed by, the near-unbearable pressures of war. Every state involved faced issues of military-civilian relations, parliamentary reviews of military policy, and the growth of war economies; and yet their particular form and significance varied in every national case. Written by a global team of historical experts, this volume sets new standards in the political history of the waging of war in an authoritative new narrative which addresses problems of logistics, morale, innovation in tactics and weapons systems, the use and abuse of science; all of which were ubiquitous during the conflict.
793 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2014
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April 9, 2020
The second volume of The Cambridge History tells the story of the WWI as a test of state and imperial power.
The war tested the legitimacy of the states which led it. They had to provide manpower and weapons needed to win the cause, and at the same time ensure that the war effort did not reduce the population to hunger, poverty, and depression.
As the book examines, the Central Powers failed this test; consequently, the major powers of these alliance – Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire – tottered. The Allies, with the exception of Russia, won the war while maintaining acceptable standards of living among their people.
In this volume, the authors also analyze how the Great War transformed the structure of the state and its relationship to civil society.
WWI was the most striking example of suspension of bureaucratic, legal, and political rules and of radical concentration of power in the hand of military leaders.
This abnormal aside-setting of bureaucratic and parliamentary rules in the struggle for survival had a lasting effect on all belligerent countries, and in many of them – Russia, Turkey, India, Korea, China – it continued long after the peace treaties were officially signed.
The authors in volume II show how the different functions of the state were changed by and during the war. Whether temporary or permanent, those transformation affected every country – the state before the war wasn’t the state after the war. The concentration of the national resources under the state’s control, the growth of its authority and functions continued after the Armistice.
The second book of the Cambridge History of The First World War explores the complex history of state power and presents the ways in which different governmental systems adapted to and were transformed by the war. The volume is an in-depth study, better developed and organized than the first volume, and is recommendable for understanding the survival of parliamentary regimes in some countries, their replacement with dictatorship in others, and the issues of military-civilian relations, affected by ubiquitous transitional developments.
The war tested the legitimacy of the states which led it. They had to provide manpower and weapons needed to win the cause, and at the same time ensure that the war effort did not reduce the population to hunger, poverty, and depression.
As the book examines, the Central Powers failed this test; consequently, the major powers of these alliance – Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire – tottered. The Allies, with the exception of Russia, won the war while maintaining acceptable standards of living among their people.
In this volume, the authors also analyze how the Great War transformed the structure of the state and its relationship to civil society.
WWI was the most striking example of suspension of bureaucratic, legal, and political rules and of radical concentration of power in the hand of military leaders.
This abnormal aside-setting of bureaucratic and parliamentary rules in the struggle for survival had a lasting effect on all belligerent countries, and in many of them – Russia, Turkey, India, Korea, China – it continued long after the peace treaties were officially signed.
The authors in volume II show how the different functions of the state were changed by and during the war. Whether temporary or permanent, those transformation affected every country – the state before the war wasn’t the state after the war. The concentration of the national resources under the state’s control, the growth of its authority and functions continued after the Armistice.
The second book of the Cambridge History of The First World War explores the complex history of state power and presents the ways in which different governmental systems adapted to and were transformed by the war. The volume is an in-depth study, better developed and organized than the first volume, and is recommendable for understanding the survival of parliamentary regimes in some countries, their replacement with dictatorship in others, and the issues of military-civilian relations, affected by ubiquitous transitional developments.
Displaying 1 of 1 review