Historians and Quotes for the Great War

For an updated page of quotes:

Traces of Evil

HISTORIANS AND QUOTES for the great war

HISTORIANS

Bernd Huppauf- The Blind War- A War with no Direction- revisionist WWI

Robert Wohl- A Place in the Sun- a German Need- orthodox WWI

Norman Stone- Russia getting too strong for Germany- revisionist WWI

Imanuel Geiss-Orthodox Germany to blame

Gerhard Ritter- defence of Germany

Egmont Zechlin- revision WWI

Gerhard Schroeder- no one responsible- German revisionist WWI

Wolfgang Mommsen- German historian, Germany responsible for outbreak

AJP Taylor- revision, European international relations Europe: Grandeur and Decline

Fritz Fisher- Germany responsible for WWI because of its aggressive pursuit of its Weltpolitik

Richard Hamilton- The Origins of World War I- revisionist

Kenneth Waltz- Man, the State, and War.- examining different views on causes of war. WWI was caused by human nature- supported also by theory of Confucius.

George F. Kennan- 1894 alliance caused WWI

QUOTES

Sydney Bradshaw Fay: “A peaceable, sensible mass 500 million was hounded into war by a few dozen incapable leaders.”

Sydney Bradshaw Fay- Imperialism, nationalism, militarism and alliances- “all these things meshed together to create a collective impetus to war”.

British nation: “We want eight and we won’t wait”

Kaisar Wilhelm in Daily Telegraph, 1908: “You English, are mad, mad, mad as March hares”

After 1911 Agadir crisis Daily Mail newspaper: “Germany is deliberately preparing to destroy the British Empire. Britain alone stands in the way of Germany’s path to world power and domination”

Kaiser 1911: “When the hour comes we are prepared for sacrifices, both of blood and of treasure”

After Agadir crisis Lloyd George: “Britain’s interests were vitally affected”

Serbian Prime minister Pasic after defeating Bulgaria: “the first round is won, now for the second round- against Austria.”

Lloyd George 1934: “The nations slithered over the brink into the boiling cauldron of war without any trace of apprehension or dismay... The nations backed their machines over the precipice… not one of them wanted war, certainly not on this scale”

Revisionist Richard Hamilton- The Origins of World War I: “There was no ‘slide’ to war, no war caused by ‘inadvertence’, but instead a world war caused by a fearful set of elite statesmen and rulers making deliberate choices.”

AJP Taylor- Europe: Grandeur and Decline: “The Austrian government was not much concerned to punish the crime of Sarajevo. They wanted to punish a different crime- the crime that Serbia committed by existing as a free national state.”

Nicolas II to Kaiser 29 July 1914: “An unjust war has been declared on a wear country. The anger in Russia shared fully by me is enormous. …I beg you in the name of our friendship to do what you can to stop your allies from going too far.“

German chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg asked General Moltke after Russian mobilisation: “Is the fatherland in danger?” “Yes”

Bethmann-Hollweg: “For a scrap of paper, Great Britain is going to make a war?” (Treaty of London 1839)

“World was scared of present, Germany of future.”