Are there any good books about the politics that lead to the beginning of World War One?

by Quirinius_Faust

I have to write a pre-scientific paper for school and I chose

"The (power) politics behind the outbreak of World War One with an emphasis on Germanies and Austrias plans/politics."

I already found enough books detailing what happened, who was involved and the likes, but I can't seem to find anything specific about this subject.

So now I am in need of a book that explaines the (political) motivations behind Austrias/Germenies actions around that time. Preferably one that is available in German, but only English is fine too.

I hope this makes sense/is understandable. If it isn't I will try to explain it in more detail.

Also, I wasn't compleatly sure if I should post this here or in a politics subreddit, so if I made a mistake, please tell me.

Thanks

RascalMultitude

The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan.

Here's a piece done on the book by The Guardian.

Bodark43

An excellent recent book is Chris Clark's Sleepwalkers. It is quite thorough in describing the complex politics of Austria, and its relations with Serbia. It's available in German with the equal title Die Shlafwandler, translated by Norbert Juraschitz

There is a famous book in English, Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, that describes a lot of the German aspects, but has very little on the Austrians ( the Archduke Ferdinand assassination has a very small place). Tuchman very much had Germany driving towards a war. It seems as though Clark tries to change his point of view from Tuchman's , and focus away from Germany. This makes it perhaps easier to advance his thesis that there was a kind of cooperative "Scheißbauen" by everyone involved.

elos_

If you want works that specifically deal with Germany and Austria's motivations:

  • The Origins of the First World War: Controversies and Consensus by Annika Mombauer

  • The origins of the First World War: Diplomatic and military documents by Annika Mombauer

  • The Origins of World War I by Richard Hamilton and Holger Herwig

These works are 'general' histories but they have extensive parts about the opening war with extensive detail:

  • The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary by Holger Herwig

  • The First World War: To Arms, Volume I by Hew Strachan

  • Dreadnought by Robert Massie

macsenscam

Quigley's Tragedy and Hope goes very deep into the subject, moreso than is usual in history books. His detailing of economic aspects is fascinating and unique.

rj218

I'll second The War That Ended Peace by MacMillan.

However, I would also add: The Long Fuse by Laurence Lafore. Also, Dreadnought by Robert Massie (really readable, but focuses on Anglo-German relations). Finally: July 1914 by Sean McMeekin this covers the immediate reaction after the assassination, pretty thorough on Austria.