/LC.GIF&client=easterncarolinaedu)
With our backs to the wall : victory and defeat in 1918 / David Stevenson.
| Author/creator | Stevenson, D., 1954- |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2011. |
| Description | xxi, 21 unnumbered pages, 688 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Deadlock, 1914-1917 -- On the defensive, March-July 1918 -- On the attack, July-November 1918 -- The new warfare: intelligence, technology, and logistics -- The human factor: manpower and morale -- Securing the seas: submarines and shipping -- The war economies: money, guns, and butter -- The home fronts: gender, class, and nation -- Armistice and after. |
| Abstract | With so much at stake and so much already lost, why did World War I end with a whimper--an arrangement between two weary opponents to suspend hostilities? Most histories of the Great War focus on the avoidability of its beginning. This book brings a focus to its ominous end--the Allies' incomplete victory and its tragic ramifications. In the most comprehensive account to date of the conflict's endgame, David Stevenson approaches events from a truly international perspective, examining the positions and perspectives of both sides, as well as the impact of the Russian Revolution. Alongside military and political developments, he adds new information about the crucial role of economics and logistics. The Allies' eventual success, Stevenson shows, was due to new organizational methods, and to increased combat effectiveness resulting partly from technological innovation. These factors, combined with Germany's disastrous military offensive in spring 1918, ensured an Allied victory--but not a conclusive German defeat.--From publisher description. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (p. 547-658) and index. |
| LCCN | 2011011916 |
| ISBN | 9780674062269 (cloth : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 0674062264 (cloth : alk. paper) |