Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War (The Making of the Modern World)

On 26 August 1914 the world-famous university library in the Belgian town of Louvain was looted and destroyed by German troops. The international community reacted in horror -'Holocaust at Louvain'proclaimed the Daily Mail - and the behaviour of the Germans at Louvain came to be seen as the beginning of a different style of war, without the rules that had governed military conflict up to that point - a more total war, in which enemy civilians and their entire culture were now'legitimate'targets. Yet the destruction at Louvain was simply one symbolic moment in a wider wave of cultural destruction and mass killing that swept Europe in the era of the First World War. Using a wide range of examples and eye-witness accounts from across Europe at this time, award-winning historian Alan Kramer paints a picture of an entire continent plunging into a chilling new world of mass mobilization, total warfare, and the celebration of nationalist or ethnic violence - often directed expressly at the enemy's civilian population.

On 26 August 1914 the world-famous university library in the Belgian town of Louvain was looted and destroyed by German troops. The international community reacted in horror and the behavior of the Germans at Louvain came to be seen as the beginning of a different style of war, without the rules that had governed military conflict up to that point—a more total war, in which enemy civilians and their entire culture were now legitimate targets.
As award-winning historian Alan Kramer shows in this gripping and insightful volume, the destruction at Louvain was simply one symbolic moment in a vast wave of cultural destruction and mass killing that swept across the map of Europe at the time of the First World War. Using a wide range of examples and striking eye-witness accounts from England, France, Germany, and elsewhere, Kramer brings home the reality of the Great War, painting a picture of an entire continent plunging into a chilling new world of mass mobilization, total warfare, and the celebration of nationalist or ethnic violence—often directed expressly at the enemy's civilian population. Kramer examines the psychological impact of trench warfare, addresses the question of German atrocities (were the Germans particularly barbaric, or was savage behavior common on all sides?), and offers a disturbing summation of the war's impact on European culture.
From the Western Front to the Balkans, from Italy to the war in the East, the First World War was the most apocalyptic the world had ever known. This book tells you how and why the civilized nations of Europe descended into unprecedented orgy of destruction.

The New York Times - Simon Sebag Montefiore

This stimulating, scholarly and shrewd book is as rich in original ideas and accounts of unfamiliar aspects of World War I as it is energetic in its revisionism.

"On 25 August 1914 in the Belgian university town of Louvain, the nature of modern European war took a terrible new turn. German occupying troops torched the medieval town, slaughtered hundreds of civilians, and deliberately destroyed their entire cultural heritage, including the world-famous university library. The international community reacted in horror - 'Holocaust of Louvain' proclaimed the Daily Mail - and the behaviour of the Germans at Louvain came to be seen as heralding a different style of war - a more total war, in which enemy civilians and their entire culture were now 'legitimate' targets." "Yet the destruction at Louvain was simply one symbolic moment in a wider wave of cultural destruction and mass killing that swept the world at this time - from the Balkans in 1912, via the western front, Turkey, Italy, and eastern Europe, to the seven-year catastrophe of war and revolution in Russia. Using a wide range of examples and eye-witness accounts from across Europe, award-winning historian Alan Kramer paints a picture of an entire continent plunging into a chilling new world of mass mobilization, total warfare, and the celebration of nationalist or ethnic violence - often directed expressly at the enemy's civilian population."--Jacket Frontmatter List of Illustrations (page viii) List of Maps (page x) Abbreviations (page xi) Introduction (page 1) I. The Burning of Louvain (page 6) 2. The Radicalization of Warfare (page 31) 3. The Warriors (page 69) 4. German Singularity? (page 114) 5. Culture and War (page 159) 6. Trench Warfare and its Consequences (page 211) 7. War, Bodies, and Minds (page 230) 8. Victory, Trauma, and Post-War Disorder (page 268) Conclusion (page 328) Historiographical Note (page 339) Appendix: Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (1907) (page 347) Notes (page 349) Bibliography (page 394) Sources and Acknowledgements for Illustrations (page 416) Index (page 419) Taking the burning of Louvain library by German troops in 1914 as his starting point, award-winning historian Alan Kramer offers a vivid new account of the wave of cultural destruction and mass killing that swept across Europe in the second and third decades of the 20th century Alan Kramer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [394]-415) And Index.