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Summary
Summary
Now, one hundred years after the first guns of August rang out on the Western front, historian William Philpott reexamines the causes and lingering effects of the first truly modern war. Drawing on the experience of front line soldiers, munitions workers, politicians, and diplomats, War of Attrition explains for the first time why and how this new type of conflict was fought as it was fought; and how the attitudes and actions of political and military leaders, and the willing responses of their peoples, stamped the twentieth century with unprecedented carnage on--and behind--the battlefield. War of Attrition also establishes link between the bloody ground war in Europe and political situation in the wider world, particularly the United States. America did not enter the war until 1917, but, as Philpott demonstrates, the war came to America as early as 1914. By 1916, long before the Woodrow Wilson's impassioned speech to Congress advocating for war, the United States was firmly aligned with the Allies, lending dollars and selling guns and opposing German attempts to spread submarine warfare. War of Attrition skillfully argues that the emergence of the United States on the world stage is directly related to her support for the conflagration that consumed so many European lives and livelihoods. In short, the war that ruined Europe enabled the rise of America.
Author Notes
William Philpott is Professor of the History of Warfare in the Department of War Studies at King's College, London. He is a specialist in the operations on the Western Front and has published extensively on the subject. He is the author of Three Armies on the Somme: The First Battle of the Twentieth Century .
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
A rigorous look at the grinding war machine involved in the making of the Great War, both at home and on the battlefield.Author of the authoritative Three Armies of the Somme (2010), Philpott (War Studies/ King's Coll., London) plunges into the complicated factors that allowed the war of attrition, which had been used effectively since ancient times, to "come into its own" during World War I. The clash of the powerful industrialized armies created a three-year stalemate within the trenches of the western front in France, rather than a swift, decisive victory anticipated by the Central Powers by Christmas 1914. As such, the fighting required the strategic coordination of four other "fronts" in order to defeat the enemy: the maritime front, whereby Britain and Germany would contest superiority of the seas, most effectively through economic blockade; the home front, encompassing raw material resources and maintaining the wills of the populations to support the war; the diplomatic front, involving war and peace negotiations, including the introduction of President Woodrow Wilson's appeals to "peace without victory" in 1917; and the "united front"i.e., the ability of the cohorts to work together, as the Allies managed to do more effectively than the Central Powers. Philpott looks at how each engaged country addressed each front, from the shift from short-term thinking to long-term slog, as the old-style generals were learning that, as British Secretary for War John Seeley noted, "the armies have outgrown the brains of the people who direct them." The author also addresses the "essential and practical" construction of the trench systems; the diversion of war materiel to the Middle East to fight Turkey, which was allied with Germany; and the manipulation of press and propaganda while mobilizing manpower and morale.An astute examination by an expert war historian that sifts through the collective "theatres of attrition" in this unprecedented slaughter. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Choice Review
Readers looking for books about WW I that do not discuss battles will appreciate this title. Philpott (King's College London) contends that this was a war of attrition on five fronts: battle, maritime, home, diplomatic, and "united" (forming a cohesive alliance). In all five, the Allies had far more resources than did the Central Powers and used them more effectively. Given the book's title, one would expect a substantial number of statistics. How did the Allies and Central Powers match up in 1914 in terms of human resources, agricultural output, manufacturing capacity, raw materials, and other categories? How were these resources enhanced as the war progressed? When did they start to degrade for the different powers? When did attrition speed up, and what was the point at which it turned against the home front? Some of the answers are in the book, but they can be hard to find. This is a history of the war in general terms rather than about attrition. Although the book was written for general readers, they need to know details about the war to appreciate it fully. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Karl A. Roider, Louisiana State University
Table of Contents
| List of Abbreviations | p. ix |
| Note on Military Organisation | p. xi |
| Prologue: Seizing the Hindedburg Line | p. xiii |
| Introduction: 'the War is Everything' | p. 3 |
| 1 Ready and Willing | p. 13 |
| 2 Into Battle | p. 37 |
| 3 Stalemate | p. 61 |
| 4 A People's War | p. 95 |
| 5 Mobilising Manpower | p. 113 |
| 6 Waging War | p. 135 |
| 7 War Machines | p. 165 |
| 8 Controlling the Seas | p. 195 |
| 9 Attack | p. 211 |
| 10 Counterattack | p. 231 |
| 11 Allied Hopes | p. 255 |
| 12 The Will to Victory | p. 285 |
| 13 Germany's Last Cards | p. 301 |
| 14 Victory on All Fronts | p. 323 |
| Epilogue: 'The Great War for Civilization'? | p. 341 |
| Notes | p. 355 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 383 |
| Index | p. 385 |