The Outbreak of World War I

Catalog description

The course will study one of the great detective stories of the twentieth century, focusing on this question: Who was responsible for the outbreak of World War I? Students will develop techniques of close contextual analysis of diplomatic documents from the period, and the class will attempt to reach consensus on an answer to the question stated above. The course will cover the various options of conflict resolution available to the Great Powers of Europe in 1914, and students will attempt to discover why the options that were selected resulted in war rather than peace.