The Great War
An essay by David Berlinski
From Claire—Today the Cosmopolitan Globalist publishes an essay by my father, David Berlinski, on the origins of the First World War. We decided to publish it today having noticed, yesterday, that there was not a word on the front page of The New York Times or the Washington Post about the gathering crisis in Europe. (None today, either.) We wondered if this inattention to the news from abroad might be a function not of provincialism but of time. Perhaps it has been so long since the First and Second World Wars that few remember quite what, exactly, these circumstances recall.
The historical literature about the First World War is vast, my father writes, but profoundly unsatisfying. Historians understand very well how the war came about, but they cannot fully fathom why. There is a moral, however, that is pertinent to contemporary events, and it is this. Things can go badly very quickly, and when they do, they can go very badly.
As you read the essay, you’ll notice how many aspects of the crisis in 1914 are echoed in contemporary affairs. Even if you believe yourself already familiar with the story, you’ll be struck by this.
You may find it valuable to combine the essay with this interesting podcast in which Richard Haass interviews the historian Margaret MacMillan on the proper application of history as a guide to contemporary challenges:
It is often said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. But history is open to a wide variety of interpretations, and historical precedents can be used to justify wise and unwise policies alike.
We propose a podcast between now and the New Year to discuss this essay and the parallels between this era and the modern world. The title of the podcast will be Prewar. We’d like to invite one or perhaps two of our subscribers to join us on that podcast. Would you like to be that subscriber? Send us an email.
Read David Berlinski’s essay here.
The Cosmopolitan Globalist Book Club
Robert Zubrin enthusiastically recommended this 50th anniversary edition of the classic account of the Korean War, which Colin Powell described thus:
This Kind of War has been studied by two generations of soldiers. Fehrenbach describes good decisions and bad ones with insight and expertise. But what he does best of all, and what is so memorable, is his eloquent, sometimes painful description of the GIs who must bear the burden of those decisions. That is the awful beauty of this book—it cuts straight to the heart of all the political and military errors, and reveals the brave souls who have to bleed and die for mistakes made. A timely reissue of a military classic.
Order your copy now to be sure you’ll have time to read it.
And of course, subscribe now to be sure you’ll be invited.