It is extraordinary that so many historians, especially authors of school history textbooks, have blamed concepts, theories and policies (alliances, nationalism, empires, arms and naval races, etc.) rather than individuals for the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. This is not true of the Second World War.

The war was not caused by the common people of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Serbia, France, Russia, Britain or Belgium, for example. It was caused by individual members of some of the governments and the armed forces. They had a number of things in common. They were almost all right-wing, monarchist, aristocratic, nationalist, militarist and anti-democratic old men.

The book is not aimed only at academics and serious students, but people who wish to know more about the individuals who caused the First World War and discuss their relative blame. It is to be hoped that the subject will continue to promote and provoke reasoned debate.

Part 1 is an introduction to many aspects of the subject, including some of the best-known previous analyses of the causes of the war from 1919 to 2014. Part 2 contains considerable source material on about one hundred individuals from most of the combatant nations. Of course, it is not complete, but it should assist the work of future scholars who wish to produce superior accounts to mine.

J.S. Dunn/Jeffrey Stephen Dunn has a Masters and a Doctorate in History. He was a teacher in state schools for over thirty-five years. Apart from history and politics, his interests include serious music, sport, Shakespeare, travel and education.

His first book, ‘The Crowe Memorandum: Sir Eyre Crowe and Foreign Office Perceptions of Germany, 1918-1925’ was based upon his doctorate and was published in May 2013 by Cambridge Scholars Press.

Parts One and Two available now on Amazon Kindle.

To recieve news about upcoming events please enter your contact details below.