The Great Class War
1914-1918
Pauwels, Jacques R.
Publisher: Lorimer, Canada
Year Published: 2016
Pages: 632pp ISBN: 978-1-4594-1105-0
Library of Congress Number: D511.P3913 2016 Dewey: 940.3'11
Resource Type: Book
Cx Number: CX19457
In this critical, revisionist account, historian Jacques Pauwels shows how the First World War was rooted in class strife that begin with the French Revolution in 1789 and continued long past the war itself. As Pauwels sees it, war seemed to offer major benefits to the European upper classes of the early twentieth century, who felt threatened by the seemingly irresistible process of democratization or, as they saw it, the "rise of the masses." War was expected to serve as an antidote to social revolution, causing workers to abandon socialism's focus on overthrowing the established order via international worker solidarity in favour of nationalism and militarism.
Abstract:
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Table of Contents
Foreword: The Great War in Dali-Vision
Part One: The Long Nineteenth Century, "Mother" of The Great War
Chapter 1. The Revolutions of 1789, 1830, and 1848: First Steps toward Democracy
Chapter 2. The Nobility and the Bourgeoisie: A Counterrevolutionary Symbiosis
Chapter 3. Socialism and Democratization
Chapter 4. Nationalism and "Social Imperialism"
Chapter 5. Nietzsche and Social Darwinism: Ode to War
Chapter 6. Imperialist Friends and Foes on the Road to a Great War
Chapter 7. Bourgeoisie, Aristocracy, Church, and Socialists Confront War and Revolution
Chapter 8. Fear and Tensions in the Belle Epoque
Chapter 9. Reactionary and Bellicose Policies
Part Two: The Great Class War, 1914 - 1918
Chapter 10. August 1914: Enthusiasm and Resignation (1)
Chapter 11. August 1914: Enthusiasm and Resignation (2)
Chapter 12. The End of Politics
Chapter 13. Gentlemen and Plebeians on the War Path
Chapter 14. Fall 1914: Disillusion
Chapter 15. Friends and Enemies
Chapter 16. Militaria 1914: Aborted Plans
Chapter 17. Human Moles in the "Lovely Land of War"
Chapter 18. Militaria 1915: The Great Offensives
Chapter 19. From the Dolomites to the Dardanelles
Chapter 20. Tired of War
Chapter 21. Militaria 1916: Materiel and Human Material
Chapter 22. Disgruntled Soldiers and Civilians
Chapter 23. Militaria 1917: Catastrophes at Caporetto and Elsewhere
Chapter 24. 1917: The Year of Troubles
Chapter 25. The Yanks are Coming!
Chapter 26. Revolution in Russia, on the Way to Revolutions in Asia
Chapter 27. Militaria 1918: German Spring Offensive, Allied Final Offensive
Chapter 28. Revolution, Counterrevolution, and Reforms
Chapter 29. Versailles: Peace or Armistice?
Part Three: The Long Shadow of the Great War
Chapter 30. Via Fascism to a second World War, 1918-1945
Chapter 31. Class War from 1945 to the Present
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Subject Headings
