IB History Perspectives Europe

Description of perspective and then some historians its associated with and characteristics

Germany to blame for WW1, knowingly provoked a war to gain dominance

Fritz Fischer, with the septemberprogramm and other German archive material as evidence

Blame for WW1 shared, alliance network a large reason behind the war

Christopher Clark, Margaret MacMillan, with more, often focusing on the efforts of the July crisis and the period of peace and reconciliation in early 1914

Capitalism and its systems to blame for ww1, leaders only pawns within the system

Marxists such as Lenin, Trotsky, etc…, arguing that rapid industrialisation and economic changes needed new markets and new resources to keep growing, and thus forced a war. 

Treaty of Versailles too harsh, particularly the reparations, humiliated Germany and made attempts at revenge inevitable

orthodox historians, including Keynes, who was present at Versailles and negotiated the reparations

Hitler an opportunist, WW2 was accidental

AJP Taylor and other revisionists, often building on Fischer. Argued that Hitler did not want war, only pursued power opportunistically as any other European power. Also argued that the Versailles treaty was simultaneously too harsh and not harsh enough.

Hitler and the Nazis a small band of criminals who planned the war

The Nuremburg thesis, and the one most commonly adopted by western media and leaders. All blame was on Hitler, and it was assumed he had planned for war. 

Clean Wehrmacht myth

a myth propagated after ww2 especially by west Germany and America that it was the SS who committed war crimes, and that the Wehrmacht (regular German army) was innocent and Honourable. Particularly promoted by Halder, von Manstein, and Guderian

USSR expansionism responsible for the Cold War, breaking promises of Yalta, USA forced to protect Europe and democracy

orthodox American historians, the “official” version of the Cold War. Herbert Feis and Thomas A. Bailey.

USSR and USA share responsibility (but more on USA), blundered into war. Containment a false justification, both powers imperialist. Used devastation of USSR post-WW2 and nukes on Japan as evidence.

revisionist school, William Appleman Williams and Gar Alperovitz (and Norman M. Naimark nowadays). Grew in popularity especially during the Vietnam war, but had been around since 1959.

USSR and USA equally to blame for the Cold War, some members argue it was inevitable for a rivalry to emerge

post-revisionist, John Lewis Gaddis (originally, he’s become more orthodox), Ernest May