Ismee Tames

Maartje Abbenhuis

Global War, Global Catastrophe presents a history of the First World War as an all-consuming industrial war that forcibly reshaped the international environment and, with it, impacted the futures of all the world's people. Narrated chronologically, the authors identify key themes and moments that radicalized the war's conduct and globalized its impact, affecting neutral and belligerent societies alike. These include Germany's invasion of Belgium and Britain's declaration of war in 1914, the expansion of economic warfare in 1915, anti-imperial resistance, the Russian revolutions of 1917 and the United States' entry into the war. Each chapter explains how individuals, communities, nation-states and empires experienced, considered and behaved in relationship to the conflict as it evolved into a total global war. Above all, the book argues that only by integrating the history of neutral and subject communities can we fully understand what made the First World War such a globally transformative event. This book offers an accessible and readable overview of the major trajectories of the global history of the conflict. It offers an innovative history of the First World War and an important alternative to existing belligerent-centric studies.

Neutrals, Belligerents and the Transformations of the First World War

Global War, Global Catastrophe

Beginning with the extraordinary rescript by Tsar Nicholas II in August 1898 calling the world's governments to a disarmament conference, this book charts the history of the two Hague peace conferences of 1899 and 1907 – and the third conference of 1915 that was never held – using diplomatic correspondence, newspaper reports, contemporary publications and the papers of internationalist organizations and peace activists. Focusing on the international media frenzy that developed around them, Maartje Abbenhuis provides a new angle on the conferences. Highlighting the conventions that they brought about, she demonstrates how The Hague set the tone for international politics in the years leading up to the First World War, permeating media reports and shaping the views and activities of key organizations such as the inter-parliamentary union, the international council of women and the Institut de droit international (Institute of International Law). Based on extensive archival research in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Switzerland and the United States alongside contemporary publications in a range of languages, this book considers the history of the Hague conferences in a new way, and presents a powerful case for the importance of The Hague conferences in shaping twentieth century international politics.

The Hague Conferences and International Politics, 1898-1915

Christopher Ernest Barber

Annalise R. Higgins

The exact legacies of the two Hague Peace Conferences remain unclear. On the one hand, diplomatic and military historians, who cast their gaze to 1914, traditionally dismiss the events of 1899 and 1907 as insignificant footnotes on the path to the First World War. On the other, experts in international law posit that The Hague’s foremost legacy lies in the manner in which the conferences progressed the law of war and the concept and application of international justice. This volume brings together some of the latest scholarship on the legacies of the Hague Peace Conferences in a comprehensive volume, drawing together an international team of contributors.?

The Legacies of the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907

War, Peace and International Order?

An Age of Neutrals provides a pioneering history of neutrality in Europe and the wider world between the Congress of Vienna and the outbreak of the First World War. The `long' nineteenth-century (1815-1914) was an era of unprecedented industrialisation, imperialism and globalisation; one which witnessed Europe's economic and political hegemony across the world. Dr Maartje Abbenhuis explores the ways in which neutrality reinforced these interconnected developments. She argues that a passive conception of neutrality has thus far prevented historians from understanding the high regard with which neutrality, as a tool of diplomacy and statecraft and as a popular ideal with numerous applications, was held. This compelling new history exposes neutrality as a vibrant and essential part of the nineteenth-century international system; a powerful instrument used by great and small powers to solve disputes, stabilise international relations and promote a variety of interests within and outside the continent.

Great Power Politics, 1815â€“1914

An Age of Neutrals

Sara Buttsworth

This exciting new collection examines the relationships between warfare, myths, and fairy tales, and explores the connections and contradictions between the narratives of war and magic that dominate the ways in which people live and have lived, survived, considered and described their world. Presenting original contributions and critical reflections that explore fairy tales, fantasy and wars, be they "real" or imagined, past or present, this book looks at creative works in popular culture, stories of resistance, the history and representation of global and local conflicts, the Holocaust, across multiple media. It offers a timely and important overview of the latest research in the field, including contributions from academics, story-tellers and artists, thereby transcending the traditional boundaries of the disciplines, extending the parameters of war studies beyond the battlefield.

War, Myths, and Fairy Tales

Neill Atkinson

Kingsley Baird

Gail Romano

This book explores the ramifications of 1917, arguing that it was a cataclysmic year in world history. In this volume, thirteen scholars reflect on the myriad legacies of the year 1917 as a year of war, revolution, upheaval and change. Crisscrossing the globe and drawing on a range of disciplinary approaches, from military, social and economic history to museum, memory and cultural studies, the collection highlights how the First World War remains ‘living history’. With contributions on the Russian revolutions, the entry of the United States into the war, the Caucasus and Flanders war fronts, as well as on India and New Zealand, and chapters by pre-eminent First World War academics, including Jay Winter, Annette Becker, and Michael Neiberg, the collection engages all with an interest in the era and in the history and commemoration of war.

Maartje Abbenhuis

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