Reading Through War #5: The Sleepwalkers - Christopher Clark

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Cambridge historian Christopher Clark tackles the thorny question of how the Great War happened. Clark goes to great lengths to provide the perspectives of all the participants and avoids the blame game common in these discussions. Human agency is considered; there were many powerful personalities involved, but they were often nullified within the complex systems of the modern state. 

Traditionally, when the origins of the First World War are taught one goes to imperialism, nationalism, and militarism. Clark never denies the importance of these long-term causes, but he also avoids easy answers. If Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower analyzed the cultural symptoms that led to world war, The Sleepwalkers takes a more forensic approach.

The international situation from 1900-14 was fluid, alliances were shaky and could shift at any moment. Those in power had trouble making sense of all the variables. Germany had dreams of world empire but realized diplomatic isolation in Europe would paralyze them. Great Britain and Russia were tentative Allies but still competing for resources in Central Asia. Both Russia and Austria-Hungary struggled with the Balkans and the decline of the Ottoman Empire and managing the power vacuum. When national passions and geopolitical goals start to coalesce, war becomes more likely. 

Or take the case of Serbia. Emerging as one of the strongest powers in the Balkans, a violent coup in 1903 brought in a more liberal constitution, but civilian leaders lived in terror of inflaming rogue elements in the military. Instability in the Balkans threatened to draw in the Great Powers. While the Austria-Hungarian Empire was often portrayed as a dysfunctional state with too many internal problems, Clark argues the Hapsburg Empire worked well in administrating a diverse population with dozens of languages. The assassination of the Archduke brought the situation to a head, a moment that activated the alliance system.

Clark painstakingly follows the decisions made by each nation based on perceived interests. This is where The Sleepwalkers both clarifies and complicates things. The decision-making processes in every country were different, factors of personal diplomacy, agendas within bureaucracies, and false perceptions all enter the equation. All sides believed the conflict would be brief, famously over by Christmas. Either total victory or defeat, but stalemate was not considered likely. They sleepwalked into catastrophe.

For a forensic investigation of the diplomatic missteps that led to war, The Sleepwalkers will provide a detailed picture, although the descriptions of these systems within them can get laborious. The lack of humanity and psychological insight is the book's main weakness. Tuchman is stronger on getting the cultural temperature, larger powerful forces were in play. Taylor is more enthralled with the workings of systems and the power players within them.

I recall a history course and the Professor talking about pre-WWI aristocracy and their enthusiasm for massive hunts, sometimes slaughtering animals by the hundreds over the course of a day. Massive displays of arms and taxidermy in their estates. There was a fascination with violence and mass slaughter among those who started the war. Clark never interrogates such questions. 

The Sleepwalkers achieves its goal of explaining how Europe went to war but left this reader wanting on the why question. Gambling With Armageddon by Martin J. Sherwin suggested war was avoided during the Cuban Missile Crisis due to nothing more sheer luck, the systems were thwarted, but that was not the case in 1914. 

Christopher Clark. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914. New York: Harper, 2012.

Reading Through War #4: The Proud Tower - Barbara Tuchman

The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914 by Barbara Tuchman provides a kaleidoscopic view of the West before the Great War, moving across politics, intellectual currents, and artistic life. The specter of 1914 hangs over the book, and it raises a familiar question: Was the rupture inevitable or a series of contingent decisions that might have gone differently? The tension between inevitability and human agency looms over the book. While Tuchman avoids any explicit answer on this question, one gets a sense from the book that the rapid pace of political, social, and technological change was all heading towards a massive shock. 

Structured as a collection of essays, The Proud Tower focuses on modernity and change. England's partition class was losing its grip, while France was polarized over the Dreyfuss Affair. Germany was flush with dreams of becoming a world power, Tuchman chooses composer Richard Strauss as its personification. America was also finding its way to world power after the 1898 Spanish-American War. Yet beneath all the empire building and technological leaps sat a deep unease. Anarchists wanted to remake society from top to bottom, while the Socialists promised a political program to remedy class inequality, but fractured over goals and method. 

Tuchman leans into atmosphere more than argument, texture in favor of interpretation. She paints mini portraits of many figures from English Prime Minister Arthur Balfour to Naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan. The litany of profiles can be a bit much and there's a tendency to substitute anecdote for biography. The sections on England are traditional political history focused on personalities, while an essay on the Hague falls into dry diplomatic history. Her chronicle of Strauss and Germany really shines as a portrait of artistic genius/megalomania and the restlessness of a nation careening towards catastrophe. 

What lingers most is Tuchman's sense of time and place. She allows the reader to live in the cultural climate and understand historical actors dealing with rapid change. The prose is refined even though it under explains at times. She does an admirable job of suggesting why some of the main players in Europe embarked on war in 1914, ensuring the reader will know the landscape when embarking on a deeper study. 

Reading Through War #3: Gambling with Armageddon - Martin J. Sherwin

In retrospect the Cuban Missile Crisis reminds us of the fragility of decision-making systems under extreme pressure. Gambling With Armageddon avoids the mythmaking that many of President Kennedy's group of advisors, given the futuristic name "Ex-Comm", were cool rationalists. At certain points every member pushed for an invasion of Cuba, which had a high probability of triggering a chain reaction leading to nuclear catastrophe. Everyone was prepared for war and seemingly made their own peace with that decision.

The political pressures of the Cold War led to the existential moment of the crisis. Kennedy and his advisors always had domestic politics on their minds, any hint that concessions were made must never see the light of day. Khruschev insisted the missiles placed in Turkey and Europe were like a loaded gun to the head of the Soviet Union, placing missiles in Cuba reciprocated the feeling for Americans.  Khruschev got the missiles out of Turkey and secured the long-term survival of Castro. Kennedy got the missiles out of Cuba and salvaged his legacy as a master of managing a crisis.

The crisis also showed how technology limited the actions of both sides. In a compressed time frame, each side had to consider their options and possible consequences. A nuclear exchange would destroy civilization, nullifying all human achievements. Sherwin contends we got lucky and still live on borrowed time. If even the most rational individuals barely dodged a bullet, what if unbalanced or delusional minds are in control? 

The 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still ends with an alien intelligence warning humanity they might have to intervene if Earth continues its self-destructive path, which is oddly comforting, a superintelligence protecting us from ourselves. But no insurance policy against nuclear war exists, we are stuck with ourselves. 

Sherwin credits political cartoonist Herb Block to summing up the crisis best.