(531 pages)Unusual structure -Tuchman provides eight lengthy essays on various topics affecting England, France, Germany, Russia and the US in the two decades leading up to World War I. The essays are related but not all that closely connected. She writes really well. I'd highly recommend.
Partly because - in addition to giving all kinds of perspective on that era - so much resonates with today. Concerns about expanding the franchise - what would happen with additional voters, many less interested or informed than the limited group previously able to vote - will they vote themselves unaffordable benefits, fall for demagoguery, etc.? Violence from the left, justified in various ways.
She doesn't believe - and shows - that the prewar "Le Belle Epoque" was nearly as great, or orderly, as nostalgia later recalled it. So many making the exact error today when looking back at the 1950s.
The eight essays:
"The Patricians" - upper-crust England faces changes.
"The Idea and the Deed" - very good background on Anarchism - no interest in government; Proudhon, Bakunin; bomb-throwing (with consequences discussed at length in this book for the Balkans, also in this book for Russia; Joseph Conrad's excellent novel version here). Gave me a little idea of where these folks fit in.
"End of a Dream" - the US builds up its navy, goes into Cuba and the Philippines - over the strong objection of those who felt this betrayed founding principles. This is where Puerto Rico became ensnared. Isolationism wasn't dead, but severely chipped away at - unfortunately. I didn't know much about this story line.
"Give Me Combat" - France coping with the Dreyfus affair - added a lot of useful context to items recently read - more detail on the effect on French society. Trump Derangement Syndrome resonates. Multiple newspapers and viewpoints - unabashedly partisan - seems better than today's fake veneer of objectivity.
"The Steady Drummer" - discussion of Hague peace conferences. Genuine fears emerging of mechanized warfare. But the nations don't change course.
"Neroism is in the Air" - much discussion about German culture, primarily through Richard Strauss - also Nietzsche; a tale of rising militarism. German intellectuals withdrawal tracing to 1848 failures and disappointments.
"Transfer of Power" - discussion of a topic I've wondered about - what process transitioned from aristocrats to more "modern" politics and parties? Labour didn't exist as a party - Liberals prevail in 1906 with a few Labour seats; Liberal party on its way to oblivion. More voters. More literacy - more involvement - more perceived to be at stake - voters understanding that they can vote stuff for themselves. Liberal disenchantment/disillusionment with Democracy, Enlightenment-style progress. Rise of the mob. Myth of rational voter. The "transfer of power" in England, "not a mere political transfer from the in-party to the outs but one more profound, to a new class."
"The Death of Jaurès," - discussion of the birth of socialism - the splits among those expecting capitalism to fail (Marxian prediction) and those wanting to participate in the government and pursue changes via that route.
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