Customer Reviews

Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918 (New Approaches to European History)

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The theme of this well-balanced, well-arranged book is not the German military effort but political and social developments on the home front. In the end, these were to prove almost as decisive as the greater military strength of the Entente powers and the United States in bringing about Germany's defeat. As the author shows, Germany was a deeply divided society going into the war, and the "civic peace" proclaimed in August 1914 among the nation's bitterly opposed social classes and political interests was not to last long. The attempt to sustain a war effort against France, Great Britain and Russia - with only the hopelessly incompetent Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally - necessitated huge sacrifices on the home front. Ultimately, the majority of the German population was not willing to keep making those sacrifices, particularly on behalf of a political system that had evolved by late 1916 from the semi-authoritarianism of the pre-war Kaiserreich into a pure military dictatorship. Adolf Hitler later came to power exploiting the myth of the "November criminals" - that is, those who led the German revolution of November 1918 and who, in his eyes, traitorously inflicted a defeat on Germany that need never have taken place. However, as Chickering shows in some detail, the truth is that Germany was certain by mid-1918 to lose the war anyway. This is a book for readers who are interested more in the political than the military aspects of the First World War. It holds no surprises but is authoritative and efficiently written.

In a relatively short volume, the author gives a lucid, restrained survey of a complicated and controversial topic. Coverage is of all phases of the war affecting Germany--military, social, economic, and political--though relatively short shrift is given to military matters, so this book is not for World War I military "enthusiasts"--unless they want to go beyond what occurred in combat. A particularly good feature of the book is the wealth of references to the vast amount of scholarly work done on the war in English and German over the last half century. The author's comprehensive "Suggestions for Further Reading" will serve well either the novice historian or the layperson interested in particular aspects of Germany and the Great War.

This book combines a look at the WW I battlefield with events on the German homefront very well. Chickering focuses on the homefront and details very well the reaction to mobilization and the events of the war, as well as the defeat. One of the best chapters of the book is on the myth of the stab in the back. This book really is a necessary read if one also wants to understand the "other half" of the European Civil War, WW II.

Imperial Germany and the Great War is a masterful combination of the political, social, and cultural history of the war with the relevant military events. I know of no single book that covers so much territory in so little space. Anyone interested in the what was going on behind the lines will find the answers here!

I bought this book on the strength of a review in History Today, in order to prepare a unit of work for a course I hadn't taught for 20 years. The book has got three advantages: it gives a very useful bibliographical appendix (good for those who are 20 years behind); it is full of interesting information (the bits about agriculture, the Hamsterfahrten and the 1915 Schweinmord stick in the mind); and - coming from the previous point, it is just a bloody good read. This is great, comprehensive, open-minded history. Three months ago I had grave doubts about embarking on German history again; now I'm all for it.

Admittedly, I purchased this book not realizing that it doesn't focus much on military matters, but on economic and social elements of the German home front during WWI. Military developments are covered only broadly. And there is no dramatic narrative here: it reads more like a textbook, containing charts, graphs and statistics showing different characteristics of Imperial German society during WWI.

But Chickering's book is not without value to the reader whose primary interest is military history. There are decent maps that give overviews of the major operations of the war, and there is a very useful section in the back under "Military Affairs" in "suggestions for further reading."

Also, congrats to the author for sidestepping the issue of what he calls
"the place of Imperial Germany in the incubation of National Socialism," and instead focusing throughout upon "the death of Imperial Germany at war." He successfully sticks to this theme and gives us a close up look at the deterioration of Imperial German society and the descent into constitutional crisis culminating in the abdication of the Hohenzollerns.

As a self taught historian of The Great War, I think this book is excellent.