A History Of The Blockade Of Germany And The Countries Associated With Her In The Great War Austria Hungary Bulgaria And Turkey 1914 1918

Many historians attribute the seemingly sudden collapse of Germany and her Central Powers allies in 1918, not to defeats on the battlefields of the western front, but to the disastrous cumulative effects of the British blockade of Germany's ports and coastline. This massive volume - kept strictly secret until as recently as 1960 - is the official history of the blockade that brought the Kaiser's proud Reich to its knees. Germany, hoping to knock out France and end the war in weeks, was ill prepared for a long conflict in which economic factors would come to play a decisive role. Totally dependent on the import of food and raw materials, Germany was supremely vulnerable to the Royal Navy choking off its lifelines. After the Battle of Jutland in 1916 had confined Germany's High Seas Fleet to port, the tightening blockade became ever more effective, progressively causing the regulation of food prices, rationing, and finally the dreadful 'Turnip Winter' of 1917 in which its hungry population was reduced to eating the eponymous vegetable, and brewing ersatz coffee from acorns. 750,000 Germans starved to death, and the collapse in civilian morale led to social revolution, mutinies in the Fleet and Army, and finally to Germany sueing for armistice terms.As we mark the centenary of the war, this previously restricted and hugely detailed record is of crucial importance to our understanding one of of the vital factors that finally brought Allied victory.

This vivid, detailed history of World War I presents the general reader with an accurate and readable account of the campaigns and battles, along with brilliant portraits of the leaders and generals of all countries involved. Scrupulously fair, praising and blaming friend and enemy as circumstances demand, this has become established as the classic account of the first world-wide war.

Tracing the history of economic sanctions from the blockades of World War I to the policing of colonial empires and the interwar confrontation with fascism, Nicholas Mulder combines political, economic, legal, and military history to reveal how a coercive wartime tool was adopted as an instrument of peacekeeping by the League of Nations.This timely study casts an overdue light on why sanctions are widely considered a form of war, and why their unintended consequences are so tremendous.

A noted World War I scholar examines the critical decisions and events that led to Germany's defeat, arguing that the German loss was caused by collapse at home as well as on the front. Much has been written about the causes for the outbreak of World War I and the ways in which the war was fought, but few historians have tackled the reasons why the Germans, who appeared on the surface to be winning for most of the war, ultimately lost. This book, in contrast, presents an in-depth examination of the complex interplay of factors—social, cultural, military, economic, and diplomatic—that led to Germany's defeat. The highly readable work begins with an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the two coalitions and points out how the balance of forces was clearly on the side of the Entente in a long and drawn-out war. The work then probes the German plan to win the war quickly and the resulting campaigns of August and September 1914 that culminated in the devastating defeat in the First Battle of the Marne. Subsequent chapters discuss the critical factors and decisions that led to Germany's loss, including the British naval blockade, the role of economic factors in maintaining a consensus for war, and the social impact of material deprivation.