In this exceptionally original and captivating book, Robert Gerwarth invites us to rethink the true legacy of World War I. For the Western Allies, November 11, 1918, has always been a significant date, marking the end of a war that had obliterated a generation and the vindication of their tremendous sacrifices with the complete collapse of the main enemies: the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman Empires.
However, for much of the rest of Europe, it was a day of little consequence, as one country after another sank into nightmarish conflicts. The period immediately after the war proved to be largely catastrophic for the future of Europe, as countries from both warring camps were ravaged by revolutions, pogroms, mass deportations, and new significant military conflicts.
While in most places the Great War was a confrontation between state military forces, in these new conflicts mainly civilians and paramilitary groups were involved. Millions of people died in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe to form the USSR and a series of weak and exhausted new states.
Everywhere there were people seeking to take revenge on real and imagined enemies, as their lives were poisoned by a sense of injustice. Just a decade later, the rise of the Third Reich and other totalitarian regimes provided them with the opportunity they sought.
Tomlinson Prize for Best Book of 2016 by the Times Literary Supplement.
