The role of the Anglo-German naval race in fostering continental hostilities has long been an accepted part of the narrative of the origins of World War I. In doing so, she covers well-trodden ground. In the first part of the book, Macmillan details the progressive construction and ossification of the alliance system and how “what seemed defensive from one perspective was a threat from another” (p. In this way, MacMillan takes the reader through a logical and persuasive account of the outbreak of the war – providing you with an understanding of how both the alliance system and prevailing ideologies interacted with the events leading up to the outbreak of the war in such a way as to make seemingly unintelligible developments comprehensible. The book is ordered in three parts the first explaining the diplomatic alignment of Europe during the years preceding the outbreak of war the second focusing the prevailing cultural and ideological milieu in the early years of the twentieth century and the third detailing the successive crises in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of war. Macmillan manages to synthesise a consideration of the environmental and structural factors in the years before 1914 with a sympathetic and engaging examination of the particular motivations and characters of the men who took Europe to war in 1914. The book does not tell a new story of the origins of World War I, but it does tell a more intimate one. The War that Ended Peace can truly be termed a masterful work of scholarship, detailing the origins of the war in both outstanding breadth and depth. It is therefore an appropriate time for Politics in Spires to review Professor MacMillan’s recent book on this origins of the First World War, The War that Ended Peace. Below is an interview with Margaret Macmillan and a review by her interviewer, Katharine Brooks. This month, which sees the centenary anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, is a time of reflection and remembrance for Europe.
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