Stealing Horses to Great Applause: The Origins of the First World War Reconsidered

by Paul W. Schroeder

Stand-out theoretical and empirical explanation of the origins of the First World War by one of the great historians of international diplomacyStealing Horses to Great Applause presents arguably the finest considerations yet of the origins of the First World War. Breaking with accounts which focus on the actions of a single state or the final countdown to hostilities, Paul W. Schroeder describes the systemic crisis engulfing the Great Powers.They were more interested in colonial plunder overseas (stealing horses to great applause, in the old Spanish adage) than the traditional statecraft of European peace-making. Preserving the balance of power required preserving all the essential actors in it, including a tottering Austria-Hungary. This the British in particular failed to recognise. The Central Powers may have started the War but that does not mean they in any real sense caused it. In the end Schroeder recalls the verdict of Shakespeare's Romeo and All are punished.Stealing Horses to Great Applause includes appraisals of Niall Ferguson and A. J. P. Taylor, and an extensive unpublished final paper rethinking the First World War as "the last 18th-century war."With an introduction by Perry Anderson.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

Published February 18, 2025

About the author

A specialist in modern European and international diplomatic history, Paul W. Schroeder was professor emeritus of history at the University of Illinois. Initially ordained as a Lutheran pastor, Schroeder left the ministry in 1954 to attend graduate school, receiving his Ph.D in history from the University of Texas at Austin in 1958.

Among Schroeder's awards was a Fulbright (1956–57), a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (1973), and designation as University of Illinois Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences (1992). He was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (1983–84), a visiting research fellow at Merton College, Oxford (1984), and a visiting scholar at the Mershon Center for International Security at Ohio State University (1998).

Reviews

[Pinko Palest]

not sure what to make of this. It is a refreshingly revisionist book. But there are certain subtexts I did not feel comfortable with. Since this is almost solely about diplomatic history, it also means that there is a lot of ground that is not covered here and which has quite some bearing on the questions asked. Still, fascinating and readable

[Mathieu Gaudreault · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a great book of many essays about european politics leading up to the Great War\World War One.

The author donsen,t says the Central Powers specially Austria-Hungary were innocent kind contries but reaserts the real history that yes the Central Powers started World War I but did not cause it.

The author mentions alot the situation the situation of the Austrian Empire, its uneasy position in Central Europe, its endless compromises , also its self interests mostly for self preservation.

Basicaly between 1890-1914, the post Bismarck era the Austro -Hungarian empire whas the sick men of Europe(at this time the Ottoman has mostly been kicked out of Europe only holding to Thrace(the Istanboul two shores aka the Golden Horn) .

All the great , medium and small powers(specially Serbia who wanted to unite all souther Slavs) wanted some parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even Whilemine Germany had an ambivalency about its only reliable ally, somehow satellite and rival in the Balkans.

In the end, a terrorists organization backed by elements of the goverment and secret services of Serbia did put the final straw on the Austro-Hungarian empire camel back . The Austro-Hungarian empire did end not by a whimper(as Great britian hoped it would do) but with a bang.

This books does give food for taught that multi nationals organs for decisions as whas in its primitive form the Metternich congress of Vienna is better in avoiding war than the Zero Sum realpoliticks thas is unfortunalety the norm is all human history.