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    The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End
    The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End
    The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End

    Written by Robert Gerwarth

    Narrated by Michael Page

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    In The Vanquished, a highly original and gripping work of history, Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. In large part it was not the fighting on the Western Front that proved so ruinous to Europe's future, but the devastating aftermath, as countries on both sides of the original conflict were savaged by revolutions, pogroms, mass expulsions, and further major military clashes. If the war itself had in most places been a struggle mainly between state-backed soldiers, these new conflicts were predominantly perpetrated by civilians and paramilitaries, and driven by a murderous sense of injustice projected onto enemies real and imaginary. In the years immediately after the armistice, millions would die across central, eastern, and southeastern Europe before the Soviet Union and a series of rickety and exhausted small new states would come into being. It was here, in the ruins of Europe, that extreme ideologies such as fascism would take shape.

    As absorbing in its drama as it is unsettling in its analysis, The Vanquished is destined to transform our understanding of not just the First World War but of the twentieth century as a whole.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 15, 2016
    ISBN9781515980377

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    Reviews for The Vanquished

    4/5

    75 ratings8 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Comprehensive review of under-covered aspects of early 20th century conflict. Excellent narration!
    • 5/5
      A well-written and vivid account of the immediate post-war period of 1917-1923 in East-Central Europe. Covers the most significant issues and conflicts with appropriate detail, emphasising the rise of revolutionary and nationalist paramilitarism and the great extent of hardship and brutal atrocity. For many countries, this period was even more severe than the Great War preceding it, and has left a deeper scar in national memory. This period’s significance, for Gerwarth, is that its upheaval, extremism, and diplomacy laid the foundation for the Second World War. The book’s scope is tightly reined and so, to its absolute merit, over a third of the book’s length is comprised of endnotes and bibliography, meaning that there is plentiful further reading to be perused by anyone interested in the hundreds of micro-topics tackled. For an overview, this is everything I would hope for in history-writing, and the fact that it is highly engaging and smartly structured is an added bonus.
    • 5/5
      Very readable and well argued outline of the “revolutions” that took place in the Ottoman Empire, Eastern and Central Europe from 1917, as a result directly or indirectly of the Great War.Although I was aware of the largest two events discussed, the 1917 Russian Revolution and the 1922 breakup of the Ottoman Empire, there were useful descriptions of these and events in Germany, together with succinct details of the political changes in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy, before returning to the situation in Germany and Hitler’s unsuccessful 1923 attempt in Munich to emulate Mussolini’s 1922 coup.Later chapters usefully précis’s the creation of the Middle Eastern Arab nations from the Balfour agreement that provided for a Jewish homeland, and the Greek invasion of Anatolia and creation of the Turkish state from the core of the Ottoman Empire.There was also discussion of fascinating subjects that had previously completely passed me by, such as irredentism (a political and popular movement whose members claim (usually on behalf of their nation) and seek to occupy territory which they consider "lost" (or "unredeemed"), based on history or legend), especially in relation to Italy’s and Greece’s attempts to increase its European territory and create a colonial empire.The balance between detail and overview in a synthesising work of history like this is difficult, and at times it did feel as if Gedwarth was providing too many names and descriptions of changing political alliances, but this is a minor issue for a book covering events in so many countries. There are also a few useful maps at the beginning of the book and about thirty photos showing key personalities and events, together with copious notes and substantial bibliography.Overall I really enjoyed and learned from this book, which helps expand my understanding of recent European history.
    • 5/5
      Great stuff: puts lots of meat on the bones of my assumption that 'WWI led to WWII,' by showing how revolution, civil war, and the collapse of empires destabilized huge swathes of central and Eastern Europe. Also, despite the blurbs, not all that 'epic.' In fact, pleasantly short, the kind of book I might have time to re-read, just so it really sinks in.
    • 3/5
      Many stories some more interesting than others; short on analysis. I found details of goings on in Bulgaria to remote and outside the mainstream of history; the chapter on Russia I could have written myself; the Goldilocks item was on the Greek invasion of Asia Minor where I was well-versed in the outline but this filled in a lot of detail, especially the direct responsibility of Venizelos. My audio version marred by the all-too-common mangling of foreign names (e.g. Venízelos instead of Venizélos) - why can't they take a bit of trouble to find out if they don't know!Peacemakers 1919 by Margaret MacMillian covers similar ground more systematically.
    • 4/5
      If I was just going to rate this book simply from my own perspective I might only give it 3.5 stars, as I'm intellectually quite saturated in the historical and ideological issues that Gerwarth is dealing with. However, most readers are not and this examination of how the political structures of 1914 were reduced to rubble, opening the door to the pursuit of pure national states as the ultimate end of politics, and all the ensuring horrors that resulted from that political philosophy is to be welcomed. This is besides Gerwarth's consideration of the hard-minded attitudes provoked by the excesses of Bolshevik political takeover and the simple resentment resulting from the loss of social and ethnic predominance experienced by many people in the collapse of the great European empires. Perhaps if the great economic crash of 1929 had not occurred enough time could have been bought to build a better political order, but it didn't, leaving us with a world where we're still working through the damage done by the Great War. Gerwarth notes towards the end of his history that Adolph Hitler was a great admirer of Kemal Ataturk, for how he built a nation state that was "radically secular, nationalist and ethnically homogeneous" and that successfully faced down the established powers; the nation-state is a jealous god and is still the main god of this world.
    • 5/5
      Some books make a significant impression and this certainly fits under that heading. It covers the sides that lost in WWI, hence 'The Vanquished' in the title, between 1918-1923 however, it starts before the end of the war in 1917 with the Russian implosion, 'peaks' around 1923'ish, and to a much lesser degree extends into the 1930's, and even some references into more or less today.We have recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Armistice but don't tell that to Russia, Italy, "Finland", the Baltic states, Austria, Hungary, "Yugoslavia", "Czechoslovakia", Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Anatolia and a host of other areas that didn't exist as nations. Then there's the remnants in the middle-east including Palestine/Israel, Syria, Iraq and so on. The loss of life and hatred tribalistic driven slaughter in internecine conflicts was truly a revelation, horrific, and depressing.It's clear reading this book how woefully informed we in the victorious states are about the awful catastrophes listed copiously in this book. Yes the initial Versailles treaty and its many subsequent treaties were catastrophic as were Wilson's 14 points often unrealistic and destructive. The 1929 crash and the subsequent depression fuelled the likes of the well known band of autocrats - Hitler, Mussolini, Salazar, Franco and so on.I decided to read a book on WWI as Heather and I were taking a Centenary Tour of the 1918 Armistice 100th anniversary, in situ in NE France and in Flanders/Belgium. Accordingly I decided to read an appropriate book and this seemed different but fitting. If I could refer to our trip as a 'homage' then this book certainly more than complemented our visits to the war sites and graves including Heather's grandfather and its own way reading it a homage too.One feels little comfort after reading this book and some alarm with the political direction taking form in the world. It further reinforces my personal conviction in voting for middle position politics in the seemingly somewhat vain hope of avoiding tribalistic, win at all costs, giving the finger to other POV's parties.Have a good life!
    • 5/5
      A great book, and very well written. The author, who was born in Berlin and is 40, teaches at a Dublin university, and wears his learning very lightly. Almost as well done as Dominic Lieven;s book, He uses Harry Kessler as a primary source and that alone is amazing, I had no idea that the war went on for so long, and he talks about all of the parties who lost as being crazy, including the Ottoman empire in their battle with the Greeks. Anti- Semitism is a global phenomenon.