The Balkan Wars: 1912-1913

by Jacob Gould Schurman

"There has broken out and is now in progress a war which is generally regarded as the greatest of all time-a war already involving five of the six Great Powers and three of the smaller nations of Europe as well as Japan and Turkey..." So opens this second edition of the classic history published mere months after the first in 1914 and prompted by the rapidly devolving global political situation. Students of World War I and war reportage will find a stunning immediacy and a journalistic urgency in this recounting of a war that turned out to be but a mere skirmish preceding a much larger conflagration, told by a diplomat on the scene: the author, a former philosophy professor, served as U.S. minister to Greece and Montenegro during the Balkan Wars. AUTHOR BIO: JACOB GOULD SCHURMAN (1854-1942) was born on Prince Edward Island and educated in Britain and Germany, but spent much of his life in the service of government and education in the United States. In 1892, he was named Cornell University's third President, and during his 28-year tenure advanced the causes of academic freedom and intellectual liberalism. His wide-ranging diplomatic missions-embarked upon during his years as Cornell's president-took him around the globe to postings in the Pacific, Europe, and China.

Genres: History, War, World War I

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Jacob Gould Schurman was a Canadian-born American educator and diplomat, who served as President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany.

Reviews

[Ангел Златков · Rating 4 out of 5]

Погледът на един американец върху ситуацията на Балканите в началото на XX век и върху причините за избухването на Балканските войни. Авторът е безпристрастен в разсъжденията си, а освен това е имал и щастието не само да посети Гърция, България и Сърбия по време на войните, но и да говори лично с министър - председателите на трите държави.
Ценно е, че книгата е писана веднага след Балканските войни, а изданието, което аз прочетох, е от периода на Първата световна война и съдържа разсъждения на автора върху евентуалното развитие на войната.
Разбира се, за един американец е трудно разбираем проблемът в Македония, затова и разсъжденията му по него нямат много прилика с реалността, а по-скоро са плод на пропагандата, с която е бил облъчван в Гърция и Сърбия. Но смятам че можем да му го простим. : )

Много ценна книга, горещо препоръчвам.

[Calzean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting part of this book was that it was written in 1914 and updated in 1916 and so did not have any knowledge of the outcome of WWI. Schurman had been the US Ambassador to Greece in 1912-1913 so I assume the book was aimed at informing his fellow North Americans what started WWI.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

For those unsure of the pre WW1 geography of The Balkans this is at times rather confusing. that said it is nonetheless easy enough to get the gist of the cause and repercussions of the two Balkan wars and the seeds of the wars that arose as a result of the break up of Yugoslavia; let alone the tragedy of WW1 attendant upon the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie on 28th June 1914. After the humiliating defeat of the Ottoman Turks in 1912 and the consequent loss of army strength it is incredible that the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 was so spectacularly unsuccessful.

[Vasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short introduction on the two Balkan wars. Note that the book is written in close proximity to the unfolding events by an American diplomat who was in the Balkans and had the opportunity to talk to the prime ministers of some of the countries who were involved.
I found the explanation of the events that led to the second Balkan war and how Albania was created, quite interesting.

[Niki Bajrami · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few history book that I've read that give you that ad hoc perspective in the actual state of things.

[Jack Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent coverage of the conflicts and some hilarious predictions for the future given our hindsight.

[Margianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another piece of the puzzle.... If you want to understand the Balkans situation prior to the Great War... why Bulgaria joined the Central Powers and fought her Balkan neighbors... what the deal was with Albania... Turkey's loss of the European lands it brutally occupied for hundreds of years... read this book and you'll have a better understanding of the Great War. There are other books written on the subject - but many reviewers have complained of the bias from the authors. This book was written by an American diplomat prior to US involvement in European affairs (ie NATO).

[Bcoghill Coghill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to read a book on WWI published before the conclusion of the conflicts.
Not an academic book but confused me because I don't know the geography or history enough to understand all that is written. However, since I have read much of what was written of the conflict in my lifetime it illustrates a slice of the history of this area. But, it is just a slice and there is much context, some of which the author discusses and some of what I guess is assumed.

[Anıl Bülent · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book doesnt contain not detailed course of the Balkan Wars. The author clearly have a western point of view and he doesnt really know what really went down through out the wars. He does not write anything about the muslim refueges nor the war crimes the Koalition States did undergoing the war. If you like a westernized and closed view on history this book will amaze you, but if you want to have more true and acedemic view of the events you should look at more up to date works.

[RealDeadpool,The · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise

Pleasant short introduction. Informative up to a point regarding the self-titled timeframe and more.
Fun to gain insight on a far too underated conflict if you ask me.
Or rather overlooked.

[Matt Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, short summary of the wars leading up to World War I.