A Diplomatic History of the First World War

by Zbyněk A.B. Zeman

Historical accounts of the First World War have generally reflected the traditional opinion that when diplomats fail they disappear from the stage (perhaps into military uniform), and soldiers take over. But Professor Zeman here traces the broad movements of both strategy and diplomacy and shows how those two means of winning the war - the military and the political - fitted together during the war years. Taking the reader to the nine capitals of the embattled nations, the author uses the technique of on-the-spot reportage to describe that earlier age when diplomats communicated in the language of aristocrats even though they were at The Gentlemen Negotiators.

416 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Jeff Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zeman's diplomatic history of World War 1 is divided, by chapters, into each country's diplomatic attempts and negotiations during the war. Zeman does a great job each chapter of introducing the diplomats, giving you a little sense of who they were on a personal level, and then diving full on into each of their stories throughout the war. Zeman's narrative for each country really makes you feel the tension and helplessness these diplomats must have experienced, attempting to put together what has been torn asunder.

Needless to say, one learns a lot about the diplomacy during World War 1 but the biggest takeaway for me were the references to earlier European conflicts that served as the foundation for schisms during the Great War. I found it very useful to read this book with a map of the world open so I could track the war and negotiations. The story of World War 1 is very poignant in today's political climate, and I worry for our world given the parallels of rising nationalism and international skepticism of cooperation.

[Dimitri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Divided into 9 chapters (titled after the capitals of different belligerents) this book used newly declassified sources (in the 1960s) to retell indispensable diplomacy stories such as the American entry or the Brest-Litovsk treaty, but also less heard ones such as the neutrality of Italy. I wonder how much declassified material is at hand by now to make this book outdated.