German entry into World War I
Germany entered into World War I on August 1, 1914, when it declared war on Russia. In accordance with its war plan, it ignored Russia and moved first against France–declaring war on August 3 and sending its main armies through Belgium to capture Paris from the north. The German invasion of Belgium caused Britain to declare war on Germany on August 4. Most of the main parties were now at war. In October 1914, Turkey joined the war on Germany's side, becoming part of the Central Powers. Italy, which was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary before World War I, was neutral in 1914 before switching to the Allied side in May 1915.
Historians have vigorously debated Germany's role. One line of interpretation, promoted by German historian Fritz Fischer in the 1960s, argues that Germany had long desired to dominate Europe politically and economically, and seized the opportunity that unexpectedly opened in July 1914, making Germany guilty of starting the war. At the opposite end of the moral spectrum, many historians have argued that the war was inadvertent, caused by a series of complex accidents that overburdened the long-standing alliance system with its lock-step mobilization system that no one could control. A third approach, especially important in recent years, is that Germany saw itself surrounded by increasingly powerful enemies – Russia, France and Britain – who would eventually crush it unless Germany acted defensively with a preemptive strike.[1]
History of Germany during World War I
Anglo-German naval arms race
Causes of World War I
Historiography of the causes of World War I
Diplomatic history of World War I
History of German foreign policy
International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)
Central Powers
Allies of World War I
covering all major countries
Home front during World War I
Afflerbach, Holger. "Wilhelm II as Supreme Warlord in the First World War." War in History 5.4 (1998): 427–49.
Albertini, Luigi. The Origins of the War of 1914 (3 vol 1952).
vol 2 online covers July 1914
Albrecht-Carrié, René. A Diplomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (1958), 736pp; basic survey.
Balfour, Michael. The Kaiser and his Times (1972)
online
Berghahn, V. R. Germany and the Approach of War in 1914 (1973), 260pp; scholarly survey, 1900 to 1914
Brandenburg, Erich. (1927) From Bismarck to the World War: A History of German Foreign Policy 1870–1914 (1927) .
online
Buse, Dieter K., and Juergen C. Doerr, eds. Modern Germany: an encyclopedia of history, people and culture, 1871–1990 (2 vol. Garland, 1998.
Butler, Daniel Allen. Burden of Guilt: How Germany Shattered the Last Days of Peace (2010) , popular overview.
excerpt
Carroll, E. Malcolm. Germany and the great powers, 1866–1914: A study in public opinion and foreign policy (1938) ; 862pp; written for advanced students.
online
Cecil, Lamar Wilhelm II: Emperor and Exile, 1900–1941 (1996), a scholarly biography
Clark, Christopher
online
Coetzee, Marilyn Shevin. The German Army League: Popular Nationalism in Wilhelmine Germany (1990)
Craig, Gordon A. "The World War I alliance of the Central Powers in retrospect: The military cohesion of the alliance." Journal of Modern History 37.3 (1965): 336–44.
online
Craig, Gordon. The Politics of the Prussian Army: 1640–1945 (1964).
Craig, Gordon. Germany, 1866–1945 (1978)
online free to borrow
Evans, R. J. W.; von Strandmann, Hartmut Pogge, eds. (1988). . Clarendon Press. ISBN 978-0-19-150059-6. essays by scholars from both sides
The Coming of the First World War
Fay, Sidney B. The Origins of the World War (2 vols in one. 2nd ed. 1930). , passim
online
Fischer, Fritz. "1914: Germany Opts for War, 'Now or Never'", in Holger H. Herwig, ed., The Outbreak of World War I (1997), pp. 70–89.
Fromkin, David. Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914? (2004).
Geiss, Imanuel. "The Outbreak of the First World War and German War Aims," Journal of Contemporary History 1#3 (1966), pp. 75–91
online
Gooch, G.P. Franco-German Relations 1871–1914 (1923). 72pp
Hale, Oron James. Publicity and Diplomacy: With Special Reference to England and Germany, 1890–1914 (1940)
Hamilton, Richard F. and Holger H. Herwig, eds. Decisions for War, 1914–1917 (2004), pp 70–91, a scholarly summary.
Hensel, Paul R. "The Evolution of the Franco-German Rivalry" in William R. Thompson, ed. Great power rivalries (1999) pp 86–124
online
Herwig, Holger H. "Germany" in Richard F. Hamilton, and Holger H. Herwig, eds. The Origins of World War I (2003), pp 150–87.
Herwig, Holger H. The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914–1918 (1997) pp 6–74.
Herweg, Holger H., and Neil Heyman. Biographical Dictionary of World War I (1982).
Hewitson, Mark. "Germany and France before the First World War: a reassessment of Wilhelmine foreign policy." English Historical Review 115.462 (2000): 570-606; argues Germany had a growing sense of military superiority
Hewitson, Mark. Germany and the Causes of the First World War (2004), thorough overview
Jarausch, Konrad (1973). Von Bethmann-Hollweg and the Hubris of Imperial Germany. Yale University Press.
Jarausch, Konrad H. "The Illusion of Limited War: Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg's Calculated Risk, July 1914." Central European History 2.1 (1969): 48–76.
online
Jarausch, Konrad Hugo. “Revising German History: Bethmann Hollweg Revisited.” Central European History 21#3 (1988): 224–43, historiography
in JSTOR
; Martel, Gordon (2013). The Origins of the First World War (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317875352.
Joll, James
Kapp, Richard W. "Divided Loyalties: The German Reich and Austria-Hungary in Austro-German Discussions of War Aims, 1914–1916." Central European History 17.2-3 (1984): 120-139.
Kennedy, Paul. The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism 1860–1914 (1980) pp 441–70.
excerpt and text search
Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers (1987), pp 194–260.
online free to borrow
Kennedy, Paul. The Rise and Fall of British Naval mastery (1976) pp 205–38.
Kennedy, Paul M. "Idealists and realists: British views of Germany, 1864–1939." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 25 (1975): 137–56.
online
McMeekin, Sean. July 1914: Countdown to War (2014) scholarly account, day-by-day
MacMillan, Margaret (2013). . Random House. ISBN 9780812994704.; major scholarly overview
The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914
Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the coming of the Great War (Random House, 1991) see Dreadnought (book), popular history
excerpt
Mayer, Arno. "The Primacy of Domestic Politics", in Holger H. Herwig, ed., The Outbreak of World War I (1997), pp. 42–47.
Mombauer, Annika. "German War Plans" in Richard F. Hamilton and Holger H. Herwig, eds. War Planning 1914 (2014) pp 48–79
Mombauer, Annika and Wilhelm Deist, eds. The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany (2003)
Murray, Michelle. "Identity, insecurity, and great power politics: the tragedy of German naval ambition before the First World War." Security Studies 19.4 (2010): 656–88.
online
Neiberg, Michael S. Dance of the Furies: Europe and the Outbreak of World War I (2011), on public opinion
Otte, T. G. July Crisis: The World's Descent into War, Summer 1914 (Cambridge UP, 2014).
online review
Paddock, Troy R. E. A Call to Arms: Propaganda, Public Opinion, and Newspapers in the Great War (2004)
. The Great Naval Race: Anglo-German Naval Rivalry 1900–1914 (2005)
Padfield, Peter
Papayoanou, Paul A. "Interdependence, institutions, and the balance of power: Britain, Germany, and World War I." International Security 20.4 (1996): 42-76.
Pratt, Edwin A. The rise of rail-power in war and conquest, 1833–1914 (1915)
online
Rich, Norman. "The Question Of National Interest In Imperial German Foreign Policy: Bismarck, William II, and the Road to World War I." Naval War College Review (1973) 26#1: 28-41.
online
Rich, Norman. Great Power Diplomacy: 1814–1914 (1991), comprehensive survey
Ritter, Gerhard. The Sword and the Sceptre, Vol. 2 – The European Powers and the Wilhelmenian Empire 1890–1914 (1970) Covers military policy in Germany and also France, Britain, Russia and Austria.
Scheck, Raffael. "Lecture Notes, Germany and Europe, 1871–1945" (2008) , a brief textbook by a leading scholar
full text online
Schmitt, Bernadotte E. "Triple Alliance and Triple Entente, 1902–1914." American Historical Review 29.3 (1924): 449–73.
in JSTOR
Schmitt, Bernadotte Everly. England and Germany, 1740–1914 (1916).
online
Scott, Jonathan French. Five Weeks: The Surge of Public Opinion on the Eve of the Great War (1927) pp 99–153
Seligmann, Matthew S. "'A Barometer of National Confidence': A British Assessment of the Role of Insecurity in the Formulation of German Military Policy before the First World War.” English Historical Review 117#471, (2002), pp. 333–55,
online
Stowell, Ellery Cory. The Diplomacy of the War of 1914 (1915) 728 pages
online free
Stuart, Graham H. French foreign policy from Fashoda to Serajevo (1898–1914) (1921) 365 pp
online
Tucker, Spencer C., ed. The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia (1996) 816pp.
Verhey, Jeffrey. The Spirit of 1914: Militarism, Myth, and Mobilization in Germany (2006)
excerpt
Vyvyan, J. M. K. "The Approach of the War of 1914." in , ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: Vol. XII: The Shifting Balance of World Forces 1898–1945 (2nd ed. 1968) online pp 140–70.
C. L. Mowat
Watson, Alexander. Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I (2014) pp 7–52.
excerpt
Wertheimer, Mildred. The Pan-German League, 1890–1914 (1924)
online
Williamson Jr., Samuel R. "German Perceptions of the Triple Entente after 1911: Their Mounting Apprehensions Reconsidered" Foreign Policy Analysis 7.2 (2011): 205–14.
Woodward, E.L. Great Britain And The German Navy (1935) 535pp; scholarly history
online
"British Entry into World War I: Did the Germans Have Reason to Doubt that the British Would Declare War in 1914?" in Paul du Quenoy ed., History in Dispute Vol. 16: Twentieth-Century European Social and Political Movements: First Series (St. James Press 2000; Gale E-Books) 10pp summary of debate