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Review of Niall Ferguson's "Bitterness of War". Part 1

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There area unit individuals round the world World Health Organization still care regarding the degree of British responsibility for the eruption of war I. particularly for them, the book "Bitterness of War" by the Scottish student and economic expert Niall Ferguson was translated into Russian.

The publisher positions this book as a form of latest read of the primary war. however if you browse "Bitterness of War" as one thing essentially new, you'll be discomfited. to start with, the book was written quite twenty years past, that is sort of plenty even for such not shining new and contemporary discoveries of the subject as war I. Second, the book is anglo-centric. Ferguson fights individual myths and misconceptions regarding war I, however these area unit all English myths and notions. we glance at the history from Russia, we have a tendency to area unit troubled regarding the Second war, we have a tendency to argue to the rhythm regarding the Soviet-German non-aggression written agreement and its secret protocol. However, there area unit individuals within the world World Health Organization area unit still curious about debating whether or not nice United Kingdom was white and downy in 1914 and whether or not it's true that the war was caused solely by the terrible FRG. Or is it true that the German force suppressed every kind of individuality, shot troopers right and left, however in European nation, on the contrary, troopers and officers were all proactive, patriotic, skillful and savvy. of these area unit quite previous arguments. the very fact that the role of england in 1914 was very ambiguous, written since that year 1914. which discipline within the British army was supported by shootings, that was even quite within the Kaiser's Army, and wrote quite once. notwithstanding, Ferguson's book, although obsolete, although not sensational in the slightest degree, however still curious.

Ferguson attracts quite a few sources, and, additionally to quite obvious (the book contains quotations from the foreseeable Remark, Hashek, Junger), there don't seem to be the foremost common. for instance, "Bitterness of War" lists, retells and quotes the endless anti-utopian books, that were intimidated by British people before the war. The authors of boulevards and not terribly novels time when time delineates the defeat of the European nation. For instance, "German troops for many weeks on the QT consider the territory of the dominion and nightlong capture London. The foremost illustrious author of such AN anti-utopia was William LeChe, World Health Organization "in his bestseller" Invasion of 1910 ". (published in 1906 within the Daily Mail) pictured the undefeated invasion of British people Isles by the forty,000 German army, in the middle of horrors like the "Battle of Royston" and therefore the "bombing of London". Another necessary topic for such novels was the ever-present German spies. Panicking and spy prose were parodied by Woodhouse and Milne:

"Okay, darling. In short," Ray replied, viewing her with a delicate look. - Last Tuesday, a person with a hair affixed lopsidedly got off the train at the Basingstock station and asked for a buffet. This junction rectifier American state to believe that a despicable conceive to deprive USA of our domination within the air was being ready.
- And even within the face of those facts, the govt. denies that there area unit German spies in England! - I cried out bitterly.

Having delineate all the magnificence of panicking and spy literature, Ferguson makes a disputed, however quite obvious conclusion: "we will assume that the primary war began (at least in part) as a result of it absolutely was expected.

Ferguson then issues to the scourging of British policy, explaining what British people diplomats did wrong. on the approach, the author discusses the essence of the race and whether or not it essentially ends up in war. "The expertise of the conflict shows that AN race will deter 2 military-political alliances from direct confrontation and may lead to the elimination of 1 of the enemies while not resulting in a complete war. On the contrary, the events of the thirties of the XX century prove the danger of under-equipping: if European nation ANd France when 1933 had armed on an equal footing with FRG, it'd are a lot of tougher for Adolf Hitler to persuade their military leaders of the likelihood of remilitarizing the Rhine zone or to require the chance of war with geographical area.

To be continued in the next part