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Book Review - Herrmann

The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War​

World War I's incredible breadth and wealth of subjects and events allows for an historian to take myriad approaches. In David Herrmann's The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War, he focuses on the evolution of European military balance by researching some of the lesser recognized events, such as the Moroccan Crisis. This book is exhaustively researched, and while dry at times, it provides the reader with a much richer understanding of how European nationalism created an all-encompassing global war. Herrmann successfully describes the militarization of Europe unique from some of the more well-known WWI historians, such as Barbara Tuchman or John Keegan.

The book was a bit tough to read at times because many of the events and details were unfamiliar and difficult to put into context. For instance, in his book Quest for Decisive Victory, Robert Citino focuses on one specific conflict at a time, explains exactly what happened, the lessons learned and how it tied into the bigger picture. Citino presents a relatively straightforward account of the dealings leading to WWI, and by tying each chapter to a particular event, his book is more direct (although lacks the level of detail that Herrmann presents). On the other hand, Herrmann writes about many of the lesser known events, conversations and happenings that preceded WWI -- while there is a vast amount of information there, I found it difficult to separate what was most important, or how these events actually led to WWI. In one aspect, he references things that other writers miss or gloss over, but the amount of information and detail hinders putting all the information into context. Personally, I found the chapter summaries to be much more concise and informative than the minute details that fill out the rest of the chapter. Overall, this book is essential to better understand some of the nuances of militarization before WWI, and the facts that it presents will broaden horizons.

Herrmann's goal in this book is to compare different nations in their quest to expand their war-making capability. There are many books that discuss the weaponry buildup, but a majority of them focus on one country's experience in isolation (i.e., the British and the Dreadnought, the Americans and the Maxim, etc.). Herrmann makes the point that without an international context it is difficult to compare Europe militaries. For instance, someone could get very knowledgeable about new artillery being designed in France, but the point is moot without understanding Germany or Italy's offensive and defensive capabilities. Comparison, especially in a military context, is crucial to understanding because war is the ultimate comparison. With this in mind, Herrmann makes a point to address power differentials and how development is a product of regional context. He includes excerpts from memoirs of generals and politicians, as well as the thoughts and notes of foreign observers on the field to make the most independent assumptions of military might.

This reliance on comparison and perception contrasts event-centric writings that go from event to event, explain what happened, why it was important, and then moves on. However, this book lacks a level of emotion and humanity by focusing on development and tactics while severely limiting any discussion about the soldiers themselves. While he might make a general comment about an army being "undisciplined" or a violent soldier protest, he treats these events as if they were a damaged weapons system, and not the complex humanity it is. Decision making by politicians and generals is important, but the war is fought by soldiers, and excluding the cultural development in the era limits the book's relatability.

The breadth of Herrmann's empirical research is obvious, as shown in the hundreds of endnotes and ten-page bibliography. Some of the points he included are amazingly detailed, and this helps to understand the complications that led to war. Pre-WWI generals and politicians were inundated with new facts and technologies, and this book really brings out the vast amount of change going on in the decade before the outbreak. There were hundreds of military expenditure bills proposed, weapons were getting more complex and dangerous and the climate of competition between generals, politicians and foreign advisors forced many hurried decisions. Maybe this was unintended, but the vast amount of information included in the book puts into context the decisions that European leaders had to make in a dramatically changing world, and as a reader, I wondered if I would have been capable of sifting through all this information.

There are two schools of thought in reference to WWI generals. For a few decades after the war, historians portrayed them as out of touch and "slaughter happy." In recent years, historians have moderated their criticism to show that the generals meant well, but were unable to capitalize after fighting to a stalemate. Herrmann takes the middle ground on this issue by elucidating on the problems faced by those making decisions -- some problems, such as weapon parity, were endemic to all countries, while some were country-specific due to poor leadership or poor choices. His ability to differentiate the two provides a better perspective on how each country's leaders either succeeded or failed within the context of their situation. By bucking the traditional trends and charting his own path, Herrmann lets the evidence guide him, rather than following a theme and filling in the gaps with selective information.

The amount of data and research in this book is admirable and it is a necessary read for any historian attempting to better understand the origins of WWI. In addition, Herrmann's purpose of writing in a manner that compares the armies to each other provides a fascinating insight into the interactions of Europe's armies. By focusing on some of the crises that are less well-recognized, such as the crises in Morocco, he shows how close Europe came to war, time and again. While perhaps some of the writing is dry and overly detailed, Herrmann's book brilliantly supplements the narrative on the origin of WWI by providing vast information within a comparative perspective.