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Diplomatic history of World War I

The diplomatic history of World War I covers the non-military interactions among the major players during World War I. For the domestic histories of participants see home front during World War I. For a longer-term perspective see international relations (1814–1919) and causes of World War I. For the following (post-war) era see international relations (1919–1939). The major "Allies" grouping included Great Britain and its empire, France, Russia (until 1917), Italy (from 1915) and the United States (from 1917). Opposing the Allies, the major Central Powers included Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and Bulgaria. Other countries (Belgium and Japan, for example) also joined the Allies. For a detailed chronology see timeline of World War I.

Non-military diplomatic and propaganda interactions among the belligerents aimed to build support for one's cause or to undermine support for one's enemies.[1][2] Wartime diplomacy focused on five issues:

1) "The principal object of the three allies should be to break German power and its claim to military and political domination;"

2) "Territorial modifications are to be determined according to the principle of nationality;"

3) Russia should annex certain parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

4) "France should take back Alsace-Lorraine, adding to it if she likes part of Rhenish Prussia and of the Palatine;"

5–7, provisions for new territory for Belgium and Denmark, and the restoration of the Kingdom of Hanover.

8) Austria should become a triple monarchy, upgrading the kingdom of Bohemia.

9) "Serbia should annex Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dalmatia, and northern Albania;"

10–11. Territory should be added to Bulgaria and Greece.

12) "England, France, and Japan should divide the German colonies;"

13) "Germany and Austria should pay a war indemnity."

Allies: Britain, 37%; France, 26%; Italy, 19%; Russia, 24%; United States, 16%.

Central Powers: Austria-Hungary, 24%; Germany, 32%; Turkey unknown.

The total direct cost of war, for all participants including those not listed here, was about $80 billion (in 1913 US dollars) Since $1 billion in $1913 = about $25 billion in 2017 US dollars the total cost comes to about $2 trillion in 2017 dollars. Direct cost is figured as actual expenditures during war minus normal prewar spending. It excludes postwar costs such as pensions, interest, and veteran hospitals. Loans to/from allies are not included in "direct cost." Repayment of loans after 1918 is not included.[34]: 1, 21–37  The total direct cost of the war as a percent of wartime national income:


The amounts listed below are presented in terms of 1913 US dollars, where $1 billion then equals about $25 billion in 2017.[34]: 21–37 


In 1914 Britain had by far the largest and most efficient financial system in the world.[36] Roger Lloyd-Jones and M. J. Lewis argue:


The two governments agreed that financially Britain would support the weaker Allies and that France would take care of itself.[38] In August 1914, Henry Pomeroy Davison, a Morgan partner, traveled to London and made a deal with the Bank of England to make J.P. Morgan & Co. the sole underwriter of war bonds for Great Britain and France. The Bank of England became a fiscal agent of J.P. Morgan & Co., and vice versa. Over the course of the war, J.P. Morgan loaned about $1.5 billion (approximately $27 billion in today's dollars) to the Allies to fight against the Germans.[39]: 63  Morgan also invested in the suppliers of war equipment to Britain and France, thus profiting from the financing and purchasing activities of the two European governments. Britain made heavy loans to Tsarist Russia; the Lenin government after 1920 refused to honor them, causing long-term issues.[40]


In late 1917 Colonel House, President Wilson's representative, took the lead in organizing Allied non-military actions.[41] Operating under the authority of the Supreme War Council, new committees had specialized tasks. The Inter-Allied Finance Council handled the issues of distributing money among the Allies. The United States had virtually all the available money by 1917, and made all the decisions. It loaned large sums to the main players, including loans to England that were redistributed to smaller allies.[42] There were related councils dealing with purchases food, and shipping, including the Allied Council on War Purchases and Finance, the Inter–Allied Food Council, the Inter-Allied Meat and Fats Executive, the Inter-Allied Scientific Food Commission, the Inter–Allied Maritime Council, and the Inter–Allied Transport Council, among others.[43]

Albertini, Luigi. The Origins of the War of 1914 (3 vol 1952).

vol 2 online covers July 1914

Bond, Brian. "The First World War" in C. L. Mowat, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: Vol. XII: The Shifting Balance of World Forces 1898–1945 (2nd ed. 1968) pp. 171–208.

online

Albrecht-Carrié, René. (1958). A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna. – 736pp; basic survey;

online

Godden, Christopher. "The Business of War: Reflections on Recent Contributions to the Economic and Business Histories of the First World War." Œconomia. History, Methodology, Philosophy 6#4 (2016): 549–56.

online

Gooch, G.P. Before the war; studies in diplomacy (2 vol 1938). Long scholarly essays on major diplomats; vol 1: Landsdowne, 1–86; Delcassé, 87–186; Bülow. 187–284; Iswolsky, 285–364; Aehrenthal, 365–455. ; vol 2: Grey, 1–133; Poincaré, 135–200; Bethmann Hollweg, 281–85; Sazonoff, 287–369; Berchtold, 371–447. vol 2 online

vol 1 online

Hall, Richard C. ed. War in the Balkans: An Encyclopedic History from the Fall of the Ottoman Empire to the Breakup of Yugoslavia (2014)

Herwig, Holger H., and Neil M. Heyman, eds. Biographical Dictionary of World War I (Greenwood, 1982); includes prime ministers and main diplomats.

Higham, Robin and Dennis E. Showalter, eds. Researching World War I: A Handbook (2003)

Hollander, Neil. Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I (2014), popular history;

excerpt

. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers Economic Change and Military Conflict From 1500–2000 (1987), stress on economic and military factors

Kennedy, Paul

Keylor, William R. (2001). The Twentieth-century World: An International History (4th ed.).

Klingaman, William K. 1919, The Year Our World Began (1987) world perspective based on primary sources by a scholar.

Laidler, Harry W. Socialism in thought and action (1920) covers wartime roles in many countries .

online

Langer, William L. Encyclopedia of world history: ancient, medieval, and modern, chronologically arranged (1968).

Marks, Sally (2002). . pp. 121–342.

The Ebbing of European Ascendancy: An International History of the World 1914–1945

Marquis, Alice Goldfarb. "Words as Weapons: Propaganda in Britain and Germany during the First World War" Journal of Contemporary History 13#3 (1978), pp. 467–98.

online

Martel, Gordon, ed. (2008). A companion to international history 1900–2001. – chapters 9–21 pp. 118–282. essays by experts;

excerpt

Mowat, C. L. (1968). (2nd ed.). – 25 chapters; 845pp

The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 12: The Shifting Balance of World Forces, 1898–1945

Mowat. R.B. A History Of European Diplomacy 1914–1925 (1927) ; scholarly history 452pp

online free

Rich, Norman. Great power diplomacy. Since 1914 (2003) pp. 1–40.

Sontag, Raymond James. European Diplomatic History 1871–1932 (1933) pp. 209–54.

online free

Stevenson, David. The First World War and International Politics (1988), thorough scholarly coverage

Stevenson, David. "The Diplomats" Winter. Jay, ed. The Cambridge History of the First World War: Volume II: The State (2014) vol 2 ch 3, pp. 66–90.

Strachan, Hew. The First World War: Volume I: To Arms (Oxford UP, 2003), thorough scholarly coverage to 1916

Taylor, A.J.P. The struggle for mastery in Europe 1848–1918 (1954) pp. 532–68 ;

online free

Tooze, Adam. The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916–1931 (2014) emphasis on economics .

excerpt

Tucker, Spencer, ed. The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1999); 783pp, comprehensive

Vyvyan, J. M. K. "The Approach of the War of 1914." in C. L. Mowat, ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: Vol. XII: The Shifting Balance of World Forces 1898–1945 (2nd ed. 1968) pp. 140–70.

online

Winter, Jay, ed. The Cambridge History of the First World War (2 vol. 2014) v 2 "Diplomats" pp. 62–90

Zeman, Z.A.B. A Diplomatic History of the First World War (1971); also published as The gentleman negotiators: the diplomatic history of World War I

online

at Brigham Young U.; contains the full texts of the key treaties, declarations, speeches, and memoranda.

The World War I Document Archive

Links to other sites, by county