This book contributes to the global turn in First World War studies by exploring Australians' engagements with the conflict across varied boundaries and by situating Australian voices and perspectives within broader, more complex contexts. This diverse and multifaceted collection includes chapters on the composition and contribution of the Australian Imperial Force, the experiences of prisoners of war, nurses and Red Cross workers, the resonances of overseas events for Australians at home, and the cultural legacies of the war through remembrance and representation. The local-global framework provides a fresh lens through which to view Australian connections with the Great War, demonstrating that there is still much to be said about this cataclysmic event in modern history.

Lord Hankey (1877-1963) was a British civil servant and the first Cabinet Secretary, a top aide to Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the War Cabinet that directed Britain in World War One. Mostly derived from the author's diaries, which begin in March 1915, this study describes how Lord Hankey contributed to the development of the British system of Cabinet Government during the war years. First published in 1961, the two-volume collection is a history of the Supreme Command of the War; the conduct of the war, the development of the Supreme Command from Balfour to Lloyd George, and the emergence of the Cabinet Secretariat from the Secretariat of the War Cabinet. It contains intimate glimpses of the statesmen, sailors and soldiers who guided affairs towards 1918. This is a fascinating first-hand examination of the people who influenced the conduct of the war, and will be of particular value to students interested in its diplomatic history.

Lord Hankey (1877-1963) was a British civil servant and the first Cabinet Secretary, a top aide to Prime Minister David Lloyd George and the War Cabinet that directed Britain in World War One. Mostly derived from the author's diaries, which began in March 1915, this study describes how Lord Hankey contributed to the development of the British system of Cabinet Government during the war years. First published in 1961, the two-volume collection is a history of the Supreme Command of the War; the conduct of the war, the development of the Supreme Command from Balfour to Lloyd George, and the emergence of the Cabinet Secretariat from the Secretariat of the War Cabinet. It contains intimate glimpses of the statesmen, sailors and soldiers who guided affairs towards 1918. This is a fascinating first-hand examination of the people who influenced the conduct of the war, and will be of particular value to students interested in its diplomatic history.

This analysis of Britains war policy during the last years of the Great War argues that it was strongly affected by a mood of pessimism. The policy was revised after the defeats suffered by the allies in 1917, so much so that Britain almost "tumbled into peace" the following year.

Belgium in the First World War: the first country invaded, the longest occupied, and the last liberated. In 1914, Belgium was home to a large American colony: people working for U.S. corporations, diplomats with the American Legation and Americans in the arts - Brussels was cheaper than Paris. After the invasion, American journalists, writers and adventurers flocked to the invaded country to follow the action; in Belgium, military restrictions on travel were less stringent than in England or France. As the most industrialised country in Europe, Belgium depended upon trade and food imports to sustain its economy. The war isolated Belgium and wholesale starvation was imminent by the fall of 1914. Herbert Hoover and his Commission for Relief in Belgium raised funds to purchase and import foods to sustain Belgium and, eventually, Occupied France as well. Idealistic American volunteers (including some Rhodes scholars) supervised food distribution in the occupation zone. Along the Western Front in Belgium, hundreds of Americans served (illegally) in the British and Canadian armies. This book tells the story of the German invasion, occupation and retreat from the perspective of Americans who were there.

This book illustrates the relationship between British military policy and the development of British war aims during the opening years of the First World War. Basing his work on a wide range of unpublished documentary sources, David French reassesses for the benefit of students and scholars alike what was meant by 'a war of attrition'.

Recent research has largely destroyed the fallacy that most of the powers declared war in 1914 without any clear perception of why and to what ultimate end. War aims were the subject of frequent examination, although decisions to publicise the results depended on a number of factors affecting both national and alliance politics. This book is a collection of original essays by six distinguished scholars dealing with the problem of the major powers' political aims and military strategies during World War I. The contributors write from the viewpoint of their own special interests and research and so offer a broad spectrum of ideas on the main theme of the book.

Based on a wide range of primary sources, this book shows the way in which diplomacy, economics, finance and strategy became intertwined during the First World War. The author examines the diplomatic, economic, financial and military relations between Britain and Russia and argues that the key to understanding the alliance is the British determination to win the war and the role Russia played in achieving this aim. British strategy is shown to be more the result of her relations with her allies, especially during the first years of the war, than a quarrel between East and West. This revision of the accepted interpretation of the strategy leads to a reassessment of the views of Lloyd George, Kitchener and Grey. The author concludes that in 1917 the British interest in Russia remained as it was earlier in the war: the maintenance of a powerful ally on the eastern front.

Anglo-American relations were transformed during the First World War. Britain was already in long-term economic decline relative to the United States, but this decline was accelerated by the war, which was militarily a victory for Britain, but economically a catastrophe. This book sets out the economic, and in particular, the financial relations between the two powers during the war, setting it in the context of the more familiar political and diplomatic relationship. Particular attention is paid to the British war missions sent out to the USA, which were the agents for much of the financial and economic negotiation, and which are rescued here from underserved historical obscurity.

The First World War marks a crucial period in the history of the socialist wing of the British labour movement. This book is an account of the development of the political ideas and activities of some of the most influential British socialist thinkers of that time: Beatrice and Sidney Webb, R. H. Tawney and G. D. H. Cole. The first part of the book examines the state of the Labour movement and of socialist ideas on the eve of the conflict, then turns to the central question of the impact of the War on the dissemination of British socialist ideas.

This book gives students an informed insight into the British experience in the First World War. The contributors, all established First World War historians, have drawn on their own research and secondary sources to give a succinct account of politics, diplomacy, strategy and social developments during a period of dramatic change. Each chapter gives a concise account of its subject and the chapters are well supported by maps and tables. This is an important textbook for school students and undergraduates which bridges the gap between specialized research on the First World War and the needs of the student reader.

Because of the exceptionally high proportion of imports in Britain's food supply and the determined efforts of the enemy to sever the supply lines, efficient management of food resources was an essential element in the British national war effort. This volume was the first comprehensive study of this vital aspect of government strategy and fills a gap in the historiography of this period. This volume provides a balanced picture by drawing together the diverse elements that went into food policy: economic and social trends, international trade relations and labour issues. The author also traces the evolution of food policy during the pre-war planning period and the early part of the war, and analyses the roles of the United States and the labour organizations.

This volume covers the essential facts about Britain's role in the First World War, not only militarily but also from a domestic point of view: the political and economic organisation of Britain for war, the extension of state control, the problems set by shortages of shipping and food. The book goes beyond the military defeat of Germany and her Allies to the armistice of November 11, 1918, the Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles.

The origins of the First World War remain one of the greatest twentieth century historical controversies. In this debate the role of military planning in particular and of militarism in general, are a key focus of attention. Did the military wrest control from the civilians? Were the leaders of Europe eager for a conflict? What military commitments were made between the various alliance blocks? These questions are examined in detail here in eleven essays by distinguished historians and the editor's introduction provides a focus and draws out the comparative approach to the history of military policies and war plans of the great powers.

This volume gives students and researchers an insight into British central government in 1914, how and why it altered during the war years and what permanent changes remained when the war was over. The war saw the scope of governmental intervention widened in an unprecedented manner. The contributors to this book analyse the reasons for this expansion and describe how the changes affected the government machine and the lives of the citizens. They consider why some innovations did not survive the coming of peace while others permanently transformed the duties and procedures of government.

As the twentieth century drew to a close, people in all parts of Ireland began to recover the memory of the First World War as the last great common experience of the island as a whole. Brings together research whilst re-evaluating older assumptions about the immediate and continuing impact of the war on Ireland. Explores some lesser-known aspects of Ireland's war years as well as including studies of more traditional areas: military, social, cultural, political and economic aspects. Analyses how the experience and memory of the War have contributed to identity formation and the legitimisation of political violence. -- .

First published in 1933, this title explores the inner workings and diplomatic culture of the League of Nations in Geneva, at a time when the increasing strain of international relations was beginning to take its toll and disillusionment towards the League was growing. Written as a series of short sketches, Max Beer communicates a variety of insights into the League of Nations. Delving into the machinations and bewildering configurations of diplomatic relations that predominated, while at the same time maintaining a very human perspective, this volume represents a unique resource for students of this period in European politics.

The World Crisis is considered by many to be Winston S. Churchill's literary masterpiece. Published across five volumes between 1923 and 1931, Churchill here tells the story of The Great War, from its origins to the long shadow it cast on the following decades. At once a history and a first-hand account of Churchill's own involvement in the war, The World Crisis remains a compelling account of the conflict and its importance. In the fifth and final volume of The World Crisis, Winston Churchill turns his attention to the 'forgotten war' on the Eastern Front. His focus is the great rivalry between Russia and the Austro-German alliance during the years of the First World War, from the tensions over Bosnia and Serbia that triggered the conflict through the terrible battles on the Eastern Front to the final collapse of the Russian forces that triggered the Revolution.

Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson, an Irishman who in June 1922 was assassinated on his doorstep in London by Irish republicans, was one of the most controversial British soldiers of the modern age. Before 1914 he did much to secure the Anglo-French alliance and was responsible for the planning which saw the British Expeditionary Force successfully despatched to France after the outbreak of war with Germany. A passionate Irish unionist, he gained a reputation as an intensely 'political' soldier, especially during the 'Curragh crisis' of 1914 when some officers resigned their commisssions rather than coerce Ulster unionists into a Home Rule Ireland. During the war he played a major role in Anglo-French liaison, and ended up as Chief of the Imperial General Staff, professional head of the army, a post he held until February 1922. After Wilson retired from the army, he became an MP and was chief security adviser to the new Northern Ireland government. As such, he became a target for nationalist Irish militants, being identified with the security policies of the Belfast regime, though wrongly with Protestant sectarian attacks on Catholics. He is remembered today in unionist Northern Ireland as a kind of founding martyr for the state. Wilson's reputation was ruined in 1927 with the publication of an official biography, which quoted extensively and injudiciously from his entertaining, indiscreet, and wildly opinionated diaries, giving the impression that he was some sort of Machiavellian monster. In this first modern biography, using a wide variety of official and private sources for the first time, Keith Jeffery reassesses Wilson's life and career and places him clearly in his social, national, and political context.

Great Britain's economic blockade of Germany in World War I was one of the key elements to the victory of the Entente. Though Britain had been the leading exponent of blockades for two centuries, the World War I blockade was not effective at the outbreak of hostilities. Pre-war changes had led to the Admiralty supplanting the Royal Navy's leadership role in favour of direction from the civilian branch of government on the basis of international law. The struggle between the primacy of international law and military expediency lasted for nearly two years, as the British tried to reconcile their pre-war stance as champion of neutral rights with measures necessary for a successful blockade. Not until 1916 did the operation have the potential to be a decisive factor in the defeat of Germany, when pressure from France, the Royal Navy, Parliament, British popular opinion, and the Admiralty forced the British government to abandon its defence of neutral rights over the interests of the state. The arrival of the United States as an ally in April 1917 initiated the final evolution of the blockade. The Entente and the United States tightened the blockade with crushing effect on Germany, and by November 1918, it was evidently one of the chief factors behind the victory. This knowledge reinforced the decision to retain the blockade in the months following the armistice in order to force favourable terms from Germany. In both the war and in the peace, the economic blockade performed a critical role in World War I.

Recent scholarship has challenged the assumption that military commanders during the First World War were inflexible, backward-looking and unwilling to exploit new technologies. Instead a very different picture is now emerging of armies desperately looking to a wide range of often untested and immature scientific and technological innovations to help break the deadlock of the Western Front. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in the development of tank warfare, which both the British and the French hoped would give them a decisive edge in their offensives of 1917 and 1918. Whilst the British efforts to develop armoured warfare have been well chronicled, there has been no academic study in English on the French tank force - the Artillerie Speciale - during the Great War. As such, this book provides a welcome new perspective on an important but much misunderstood area of the war. Such was the scale of the French tanks' failure in their first engagement in 1917, it was rumoured that the Artillerie Speciale was in danger of being disbanded, yet, by the end of the war it was the world's largest and most technologically advanced tank force. This work examines this important facet of the French army's performance in the First World War, arguing that the AS fought the war in as intelligent and sensible a manner as was possible, given the immature state of the technology available. No amount of sound tank doctrine could compensate for the fragility of the material, for the paucity of battlefield communication equipment and for the lack of tank-infantry training opportunities. Only by 1918 was the French army equipped with enough reliable tanks, as well as aircraft and heavy-artillery, to begin to exercise a mastery of the new form of combined-arms warfare. The successful French armoured effort outlined in this study (including a listing of all the combat engagements of the French tank service in the Great War) highlights a level of military effectiveness within

The Great War is a landmark history that firmly places the First World War in the context of imperialism. Set to overturn conventional accounts of what happened during this, the first truly international conflict, it extends the study of the First World War beyond the confines of Europe and the Western Front. By recounting the experiences of people from the colonies especially those brought into the war effort either as volunteers or through conscription, John Morrow's magisterial work also unveils the impact of the war in Asia, India and Africa. From the origins of World War One to its bloody (and largely unknown) aftermath, The Great War is distinguished by its long chronological coverage, first person battle and home front accounts, its pan European and global emphasis and the integration of cultural considerations with political.

One of the primary triggers of the outbreak of World War I was undoubtedly the myriad alliances and suspicions that existed between the Russian, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires in the early 20th century. Yet much of the actual fighting between these nations has been largely forgotten in the West. Driven by first-hand accounts and detailed archival research, Collision of Empires seeks to correct this imbalance. The first in a four-book series on the Eastern Front in World War I, Prit Buttar's dynamic retelling examines the tumultuous events of the first year of the war and reveals the chaos and destruction that reigned when three powerful empires collided. A war that was initially seen by all three powers as a welcome opportunity to address both internal and external issues would ultimately bring about the downfall of them all.

The World Crisis is considered by many to be Winston S. Churchill's literary masterpiece. Published across five volumes between 1923 and 1931, Churchill here tells the story of The Great War, from its origins to the long shadow it cast on the following decades. At once a history and a first-hand account of Churchill's own involvement in the war, The World Crisis remains a compelling account of the conflict and its importance. In the fourth volume of his history of World War I, Churchill covers the aftermath of the conflict, between the years 1918-1922. Churchill here considers the process of demobilization after the many hard years of war, and the long negotiation of the peace and the Treaty of Versailles, as well as President Woodrow Wilson's famed 14 Points, the founding of the League of Nations and the Revolution and Civil War in Russia.