Origins of the World War.

Asymmetrical Perceptions of Power in Crises: A Comparison of 1914 and the Cuban Missile Crisis

“…Since analyzed newspaper reports, it is possible that his results simply reflect deliberate attempts by editors to manipulate public opinion during a crisis by exaggerating threats (see Fay, 1928, andSteiner, 1977: 223, for examples in the outbreak of World War I), rather than an implicit process actually operating among responsible officials and decisionmakers. To explore this possibility, the study of British and German newspaper reports in 1914 is supplemented by a study of British and German diplomats' confidential (at the time) reports of their conversations and deliberations before and during the 1914 crisis.…”

What can International Relations Theory learn from the origins of World War I?

“…Their German counterparts and some American revisionists portrayed Germany as their victim or thought responsibility equally divided among the great powers. 3 The debate about the origins of the war found a parallel in that over the consequences of the Treaty of Versailles and reparations. 4 The war guilt controversy produced considerable scholarship on Germany, and very little, by contrast, on the other great powers.…”

The Revisionist Tradition in European Diplomatic History

“…His reckless behavior had spurred the Russians into action, and the Russian mobilization in effect "meant war"; the subsequent German attack on Belgium and France must be seen as an unavoidable response. 60 Imperialism, doctrines of preventive war, or military timetables were not important. 61 Fay returned to the responsibility of Lord Grey-no one wanted war, and British policy could have prevented it, either by warning France and Russia that Britain was not on board, or by warning Germany that she was.…”