Sidney B. Fay (1876–1967)

948 Before Sarajevo The Origins of the World War Volume I, Second Edition, Revised, by Sidney Bradshaw Fay (read 23 Mar 1968) This book is intriguing, objective, and puts Germany and the Kaiser in a less unfavorable light than I have ordinarily attributed to them. There seems little doubt that Austria and Russia were the least adverse to risking war which is ironic since certainly they were the least prepared therefor. If only all the powers could have foreseen the events of the next four and the next 25 years, how easily war could have been prevented! I will read volume two of this work and then will consider reading Schmitt's The Coming of the War , 1914, and even Albertini's The Origins of the War of 1914. [I never have read Schmitt's work, but in 1986 I did read Albertini's three volume work.] My only regret about the Fay book is that it was written in and before 1928. I wish it could have been revised in 1966. But apparently the new material available would have changed little therein--or so Fay says in an introduction. The underlying causes of the war are set out by Fay as {1} The System of Secret Alliances. (2) Militarism. (3) Nationalism. (4) Economic Imperialism. and (4) The Newspaper Press. An extremely interesting book.… (más)