The Origins of the First World War

Origins of Modern Wars

by James Joll, Gordon Martel

This thoroughly revised edition has been updated to incorporate recent case studies, biographies, syntheses, journal articles and scholarly conferences that appeared in conjunction with the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in 2014.

The original version of this work, published by James Joll in 1984, quickly became established as the authoritative introduction to the subject of the war’s origins. Significantly expanded by Gordon Martel in 2007, this volume continues to offer a careful, clear, and comprehensive evaluation of the multitude of explanations advanced to explain the causes of the cataclysm of 1914, addressing each of the major interpretive approaches to the subject, with essay-like chapters addressing the alliance system, militarism and strategy, the international economy, imperial rivalries, the role of domestic politics and the ‘mood’ of 1914. This edition offers an extensive new introduction, a new conclusion (including ‘ten fateful choices’ that led to war), an entirely new chapter on the July Crisis, and a vastly expanded Guide to Further Reading.

Covering over a century of controversy and scholarship, The Origins of the First World War is a valuable resource for all students and scholars interested in this major conflict.

Genres: History, World War I, Nonfiction, War, European History, Politics, School

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 10, 1984

About the author

ames Bysse Joll FBA (21 June 1918 – 12 July 1994) was a British historian and university lecturer whose works included The Origins of the First World War and Europe Since 1870. He also wrote on the history of anarchism and socialism.

Life and career
Joll was born on 21 June 1918 in Bristol[1] and was educated at Winchester, the University of Bordeaux and New College, Oxford. He left to join the British Army in 1940, eventually serving in the Special Operations Executive. He returned to Oxford after World War II, completed his studies, and became an instructor there. He was a Fellow and Tutor in Politics from 1947 until 1950. He then transferred to St Antony's College. In 1955 he met the painter and art historian John Golding;[2] the two men formed a long relationship which lasted until Joll's death.[3]

While at Oxford, Joll wrote a book on the Second International (1955) and a book on Léon Blum, Walter Rathenau, and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, called Intellectuals in Politics (1960). In 1964 he published The Anarchists, which showed his intertwined interests in the culture, events, political philosophy, and individual personalities forming the history of a Leftist movement.

In 1967 Joll left St Antony's, Oxford to teach at the London School of Economics, as the Stevenson Professor of International History.[1] His best known work was Europe Since 1870: an International History, which appeared in 1973. He returned to biography in 1977, with his book on Italian Marxist intellectual Antonio Gramsci; he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in the same year. Several prizes in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics remain named in his honour. Later, he gave refuge to Anthony Blunt, Golding's colleague at the Courtauld Institute and former teacher, after Blunt's exposure as a former Soviet spy, for which Joll was attacked in the press.[2]

Following his retirement in 1981, he became Emeritus Professor of the University of London.

Joll died 12 July 1994 from the cancer of the larynx.[1] In his obituary notice for The Independent newspaper, the historian Sir Michael Howard, noted:

Joll's real focus was the history of ideas broadly conceived – philosophical, ethical and aesthetic, as well as political – and the interface between this and the political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He firmly believed that history was made by people rather than by dispassionate forces. But he also believed that one could not understand why people act as they do unless one also understands the influences that moulded their minds.[2]

Reviews

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on the causes of World War One that I've read. I perviously most liked Keegan's one volume account of the war, but this book only examines the causes. So basically, Joll allows for the impact of individual leaders and their decisions. However, he ably demonstrates how those freely made decisions were constrained by the constructs of that time period. Each of the following factors gets its own chapter: alliances and traditions of the old diplomacy, militarism and the arms race, domestic politics, international economy, imperialism, and finally a chapter devoted to attitudes about war pro and con. The writing is engaging, thorough, sufficient detail to fully develop his argument without being tedious. He demonstrates that there is enough blame to go around, and that each of the players caused the war in their own way. One aspect brought up by Keegan is over looked by Joll. Keegan demonstrates how communicating by telegram often caused confusion about intentions, and that often military leaders were sending out messages that differed in tone than from the diplomats creating further confusion suggesting that if they had communicated either by telephone or held a conference that the war may have been avoided. However, Joll tended to see the war as more inevitable than avoidable.

[Cool_guy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best introduction to the topic that I’ve read thus far. James Joll and Gordon Martel, who revised the latest edition, understand that history is not like a pinball machine, where individual decisions bounce off one another until an Event happens. Historical actors can only move within the parameters established for them by the past. These restrictions, whether they are material or ideological, are far larger than the sum of a series of individual choices. After the war ended, Europe’s leaders, nearly to a man, would go on to describe their role in July 1914 as if they’d on been spectators watching a run away train. At the risk of letting them off the hook, I kind of agree. By 1914, the European states had contorted themselves into a knot which could only be untangled through war. That it came in 1914 rather than 1911 or 1917 seems to me to be more the result of happenstance than of individual choices.

[Kerem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ic politikadan somurgelerin etkilerine, ulkeler arasi dengelerden ekonomik cikar gruplarina, o gunun ruh halinden kisisel kararlarin sonuclarina kadar birinci dunya savasindaki buyuk guclerin bu savasa neden suruklendiklerini cok titizce sorgulayan, tarih bilgisi ile yuklu guclu bir calisma. Belki nedenleri sorguladigi kadar o zamanki yonetici zumrenin boyle bir savasin nasil sonuclanacagi hakkinda en kucuk bir fikri olmamasini da cok guzel ortaya koyuyor. Sadece tarih meraklilarina degil herkese tavsiye ederim, hem bu konuda yazilmis en iyi kitap oldugu icin hem de gunumuzle de baglantilar kurabilmek ve dunyayi daha iyi anlayabilmek (ve belki de benzer hatalari onleyebilmek icin)...

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise yet in-depth examination of why Europe went to war in August 1914. The authors cleverly tell the tale as a series of "concentric circles" of the war's approach: the July Crisis diplomacy, the military and naval factors, the influence of the domestic politics of the various countries involved, how the economic conditions of Europe contributed (or didn't) to the breakout of war, the effect of imperial rivalries and finally, the "mood" and cultural assumptions of the peoples and leaders of Europe in that era. The result is a book that seems to examine all the important factors without drifting into either a narrative of diplomatic minutiae or an over-dependance on balance sheet charts to attempt to chart the course of the origins of the war. The writing is crisp and to-the-point throughout, and one comes away with a much firmer understanding of the underlying factors, as well as the mechanics of the breakout itself. Highly recommended.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very informative book, but be prepared for long winded paragraphs describing events in multiple countries. And if you're looking for a book to explain the role of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, this isn't it. Helpful for discussion (reading this in a seminar) and gives good insight into what the general mood was like leading to war in 1914.

[Simon Mee · Rating 5 out of 5]

While it has been kicking around for awhile, it holds up well as a supreme summary of the causes of the First World War. At worst, it provides at framework for assessing the different variables, from there you can argue the details according to your histographical or nationalist preferences.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous -- a short and penetrating study of the origins of WWI. Highly recommended

[Carly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive, definitely worth revisiting in future. Here's hoping my grade reflects my understanding!

[Ramil Kazımov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Birinci Dünya Savaşının neden çıktığı ile ilgili okuduğum en iyi kitaplardan biri.

Ben Birinci Dünya Savaşı konulu kitapları pek severim. Mesela sırada Christoper Clark - Uyurgezerler kitabı vardır. Yine de bir kitap benim için ne kadar ilgi çekici olursa olsun aslında okuduğum zamanın ve çevrenin kitapları sevip-sevmemem konusunda tuhaf bir rolu vardır. Mesela daha önce okumuş olduğum Margaret Macmillan - Barışa Son Veren Savaş kitabı dönemin sosyal ve cevresel nedenleriyle ilgili en çok sevdiğim kitaplardan biri. James Joll'un "Birinci Dünya Savaşı Neden Çıktı" kitabını okuduğum dönem bir nevi şahsi olarak hoş olmayan bir döneme denk geldi ama yine de kitabın kalitesi gözle görülür gibi. Yazar tüm nedenleri ince eleyip sık dokumuş. Ve aslında nedenlerin bizim düşündüğümüz gibi pek öyle basit olmadığını söylemek istemiş. Yine de sonda işlerin belki de farklı olabileceğini ama olmus olduğu gibi olmasının nedenlerinin de dönemin havasına uygun şekilde cereyan ettiğinin tüm olaylara etki etdiyini söylemiş.

[Bayram Erdem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitap 1914 ve hemen öncesine odaklanıyor. Daha öncesi için Margaret Macmillan'ın Barışa Son Veren Savaş kitabı okunabilir. Konuları işleyişi, anlatım dili, zengin kaynakçası, çevirisi, baskısı iyi. Bu kadar hacimli bir kitapta bölümler alt başlıklara ayrılsaydı araştırmacıların aradıklarını bulması daha kolay olabilirmiş.

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books analyses the origins from different angles like the general mood of the population, economical considerations of the various Great Powers, the alliance system and more. It is fairly balanced in my opinion with the expected good will for the British side and an only moderate bashing of the Germans. One thing he really obsesses on though is the German Emperor and at times he even gets it really wrong. So he writes: The Kaiser, with characteristic tactlessness had thanked Emperor Franz Joseph to his "brillianten Sekundantendienst" which is translated as "brilliant services as a second". The German word Sekundantendienst is far more specific than the English word second which can have various meanings. While the authors judgement of tactlessness only makes sense if he understood the word second as subordinate or inferior in position, rank, or importance this is not what Sekundantendienst means. The meaning implied here is that of a second in a duel who was a trusted person of the principal (or person dueling) who would negotiate the duel on their behalf. So, rather than putting him down as inferior, the German Kaiser was pointing out that the only man that could be trusted during that conference (duel) was the Emperor Franz Joseph. So how that can be considered tactless I simply don't understand. Nonetheless, a book worth reading though it is somewhat dated and under a spell of Fritz Fisher's book in my opinion.

[Lord_Humungus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief, scholarly work about the causes of the First World War. It's constructed thematically, with the events of the July crisis at the beginning, and outward from there, passing through internal political dinamycs, capitalism and colonialism, arms race, etc until a very general chapter about the ideas and the mood at the time.
It's a bit dry, but brief and to the point.
It has some maps, lots of bibliography, and an index, but no pictures.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite dense and difficult, though perhaps useful as a reference source. As a book to read for pleasure (if such a thing can exist on this topic), it fails miserably. Huge chunks of text, very long and tortuous sentences...I found the Wikipedia entries on the same topics to be vastly more accessible. Also, the maps are ludicrously few and poor in quality for such a geography-heavy topic.

[Umit Batmaz]

A different approach to the understanding of facts driving the world to a global conflict related to the redistribution of global power. I will suggest it if you have already enough knowledge on the world war 1 history.

[Debbie Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

World War I is always an interesting read. This is a typical historical look at the war/

[Noah Kidd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent in terms of historical detail and argumentation but sometimes tedious and poorly-formatted. Are paragraphs supposed to be a page long? Come on!

[Isabella Impalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the perfect refresher on this topic - and honestly I learned so much.


Wasn't really going to analyze this as a work of literature, but it is obviously well organized, clear, etc.

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the origins of WWI. Joll (and Martel, who revised Joll's work for this edition) starts with the July crisis and moves outwards in concentric circles to examine the various factors (economics, previous crises, domestic conflict, etc.) that created the conditions in which the decisions to go to war in 1914 were made. Some of the most significant details get lost in the thicket, but this is the place to start.

[Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a student of history, specifically of the first world war, you simply must read this book. Joll and Martel examine the origins of the first world war (both the conventional explanations and the more conspiratorially minded ones) from all angles possible. It's exhaustive but still easy-enough to get through provided you're at a decent reading level. Though let's be honest, if you're on Good Reads you're probably advanced enough to be reading this.

[Adrian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing is a little clunky, but the information is good and well-structured, diving into the details and then offering a broad overview to provide clarity on the issues. Also comes with a great resource of important documents that played key roles in the half-century leading up to the Great War.

[Lizixer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential read for the serious student of the Great War and pre-1914 European history. It examines in great detail, the various angles by which historians seek to explain what lit the fuse that led to the first World War. There are no easy answers but Joll helps the reader to come to a deeper understanding of a largely misunderstood war.

[Graham Cammock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book! You really get to understand the origins of the war, for example the Balkan wars, archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination, Austro-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia, who mobilised first, and the international alliances that destabilised the "balance of power" in Europe. There's so much more to this brilliant book. You won't regret purchasing it.

[James Geddes · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Joll takes on the complexity of historical forces at work in Europe in 1914 and does an admirable job. Joll brings a clarity and sympathy to his writing that helps the reader gain some kind of grasp of WWI- a war of unspeakable carnage and horror.

[Ida Hagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little heavy, but it is in the end a good book that enlighten a lot of the different sides and decisions that lead to the first world war.
It would have been better with more paragraphs. The writer also have a tendency to repeat himself, but I suppose that makes it stick :p

[Gail Hoskins]

Full of information, but not an easy read. Someone with a better background in WWI would probably find it more interesting.

[Albrecht Dürer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way to short to be more than a basic introduction to the Great War.

[Anthony Zupancic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prime introduction to the historiography of the origins of the first world war. Each chapter considers an existing thesis.

[Denise McDougall]

Excellent treatment of the myriad causes of WWI.