Germany before the War

Beyens, baron (Eugène-Napoléon), 1855-1934Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 500K words
Chapters: 50

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Germany before the war by baron BeyensAuthor: Beyens, baron (Eugène-Napoléon), 1855-1934,Language: English, Class: D501: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: World War I (1914-1918), Release Date: Mar 24, 2015

Editor's review

This book is Baron Beyens's record of observations on the situation in Germany before World War I, a free e-book from the Project Gutenberg collection. The author, a Belgian diplomat, presents the political atmosphere and social conditions of prewar Germany from a firsthand perspective. Written in English and moderate in length, it is a historical document whose value lies in offering readers an outside observer's immediate record of a crucial historical moment, helping to understand the international relations background on the eve of World War I. It should be read as a primary-source text rather than a systematic academic treatise. It suits readers interested in the origins of World War I and modern European diplomatic history as supplementary material, and also serves as general reading material in English historical texts. Because it was written early, readers should note that its judgments carry the author's personal stance and the limitations of his era, and should read it in comparison with later research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in the origins of World War I and the prewar European situation
Modern history students needing English primary sources as supplementary material for papers
Readers who enjoy diplomats' memoirs and observational notes
Readers who wish to practice reading historical texts with original English materials

Not a good fit for

Rigorous researchers seeking systematic academic argumentation and extensive annotations
Readers with weak English reading ability who struggle with specialized historical terms
Ordinary leisure readers expecting popular narrative or bestselling history writing

Reading tips

Read a concise timeline of the outbreak of World War I first, then enter the book, to help locate figures and events.
It is advisable to read in comparison with later works on the origins of World War I, noting the distinction between the author's stance and historical fact.
Read closely only the chapters related to diplomatic crises; treat the rest as general reading.
Mark content involving German political figures and the military as you read, for easy review.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book an academic monograph or a primary-source record?

It is closer to an observational record based on the author's firsthand diplomatic experience, with the character of memoir and commentary, not a systematic academic monograph. It should be treated as primary or quasi-primary material to supplement one's intuitive understanding of prewar Germany, rather than cited as conclusive research.

What historical background knowledge is needed to read this book?

It is advisable to first understand the general timeline of the outbreak of World War I, the alliance system of the European powers, and the basic circumstances of the several international crises before the war. With this background, the diplomatic figures and events in the book will be easier to understand; without it, reading may prove difficult.

Is this book in English, and is it suitable for practicing English?

The book is in English and belongs to historical texts, with sentence structures and proper nouns of some difficulty. It can be used as practice material for reading historical English, but is better suited to readers with some English foundation and an interest in historical subjects; it is not recommended as introductory English reading.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Beyens, baron (Eugène-Napoléon), 1855-1934 Author · Belgian · 1855–1934

Eugène-Napoléon Beyens, Baron Beyens (1855–1934), was a Belgian diplomat who served as Belgium's minister in Berlin. Having spent a long period in the German capital, he observed the political atmosphere and social trends of Wilhelmine Germany at close range. His representative work, Germany before the war, draws on this diplomatic experience, describing and analyzing Germany's domestic and foreign situation on the eve of the First World War; it belongs to the literature of pre-war international relations and diplomatic history. Because public information is limited, details of his life and a systematic assessment of his writing style cannot be elaborated here, but the book is often regarded as a diplomat's-eye document for understanding pre-war German-Belgian relations and the European situation.