Dance of the Furies

Michael S. Neiberg

Published by Harvard University Press 2011

Dance of the Furies

Europe and the Outbreak of World War I

Michael S. Neiberg

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061170

Overview
Contents

About this book

The common explanation for the outbreak of World War I depicts Europe as a minefield of nationalism, needing only the slightest pressure to set off an explosion of passion that would rip the continent apart. But in a crucial reexamination of the outbreak of violence, Michael Neiberg shows that ordinary Europeans, unlike their political and military leaders, neither wanted nor expected war during the fateful summer of 1914. By training his eye on the ways that people outside the halls of power reacted to the rapid onset and escalation of the fighting, Neiberg dispels the notion that Europeans were rabid nationalists intent on mass slaughter. He reveals instead a complex set of allegiances that cut across national boundaries.

Neiberg marshals letters, diaries, and memoirs of ordinary citizens across Europe to show that the onset of war was experienced as a sudden, unexpected event. As they watched a minor diplomatic crisis erupt into a continental bloodbath, they expressed shock, revulsion, and fear. But when bargains between belligerent governments began to crumble under the weight of conflict, public disillusionment soon followed. Yet it was only after the fighting acquired its own horrible momentum that national hatreds emerged under the pressure of mutually escalating threats, wartime atrocities, and intense government propaganda.

Dance of the Furies gives voice to a generation who found themselves compelled to participate in a ghastly, protracted orgy of violence they never imagined would come to pass.

Author information

Neiberg Michael S. :

Michael S. Neiberg is Professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi and Harold K. Johnson Visiting Professor at the US Army War College from 2010-2012.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
INTRODUCTION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. A CLAP OF THUNDER IN THE SUMMER SKY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	10
2. BACK GROUND TO SARAJEVO, 1905–1914 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
3. THE DELIVERY OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ULTIMATUM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	66
4. DRIFTING INTO WAR AGAINST HER WILL Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
5. THE COMING OF A GREAT STORM Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
6. OUR FAMILIES WILL B E THEIR VICTIMS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	150
7. HARDENING ATTITUDES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
8. AN EVIL DANCE OF THE FURIES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
CONCLUSION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	285
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	287

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 330
Illustrations
- Other: 36 halftones

eBook

Published: August 1, 2011
ISBN: 9780674061170