An example of this problem was the publication of The True Story of The Great European War, by C.M. (Charles McClellan) Stevens. Stevens had previously written books about the Dreyfus affair in France, the world's fair in Chicago, and ancient empires.
This book was first published around September 7, 1914, the day that an advertisement for it appeared in The Chicago Daily Tribune. But an on-line version of the book includes a "Later Stages of the War" time line that runs through December 16, 1914.
My hardcover copy of the book and the on-line version have almost identical contents, except for the "Later Stages" timeline at the very end of the on-line version. Then, in 1915, this material was republished with several new chapters, a new title (Causes and Battles of the Colossal War in Europe), and a new author (Charles Maxwell).
My hardcover copy of The True Story of The Great European War ends with a diary-style entry for August 27, 1914, so I'm guessing that this was the version that was available in early September 1914.
This hardcover copy includes an impressive collection of material about the first month of the war. It also tries to capture the immediate impact of the war, on subjects ranging from emotions to finances.
The book starts with a poem by William F. Kirk that is titled "The Deluge." This poem looks at the war as the latest example of man not learning the lessons of past wars, and includes the following lines:
Gone all of our illusions and the dreams of peace we wrought,Stevens used poetry throughout the book to try to explain the reasons for the war and its impact, in ways that weren't possible with prose.
Forgotten all the lessons that the blood-smeared sword has taught..,
The gentler, nobler part of man and all that knowledge brings
Are banished from the Present to appease the lust of kings.
The poems use elegant phrasing, emotional insights, pauses in thought, and metaphors to get closer to the truth about an unprecedented historical event.
But the author could still appeal to the emotions through prose. There are many comments about the negative effects of the war, and the shortcomings of the people who made the decisions to start the war. There are many expressions of anger, sadness, and futility, such as this statement:
Butchery by day and night on the water, on the land and in the air, prayers asking the Creator of the world to help them in their killing, seventeen millions of armed men ready for the game of murder, industry dead, agriculture dead, science, progress, every good power on earth, paralyzed.But the author tried to balance the emotions with facts, as he stated on the title page:
And that is war.
"Facts, Explanations and Descriptions of the World-Staggering Crash of Events, Gathered Impartially from Every Source of Reliable Authority on Both Sides of the Great Conflict."
The book is almost an anthology of writings about the first month of the war, with many quotations from other writers.
In Stevens' pursuit of information about the war, he became very concerned about censorship. He felt that people had the right to know the reasons for such an unprecedented event, and how the war was being conducted. People needed to know what was being done to win, and end, the war.
The book includes much detail about how Americans in Europe struggled to get back home after the war broke out. It came across as a strong metaphor for the general breakdown of society, with chaos far from the actual battlefield.
You might feel sorry for these Americans, even though their sufferings were not nearly as bad as those of the people in Europe whose daily lives had been disrupted by the war. Especially the people in Belgium, who thought that their neutral status would be respected by the different countries who had declared war.
There are good descriptions of the early battles, both on the eastern and western fronts. These descriptions show that Germany had obviously done a lot of planning for war, as its troops swept through Belgium and Luxembourg in a big arc towards France.
These battle descriptions show how battles played out in small towns and villages and how the local residents were affected. The descriptions also show how Germany was giving more priority to the western front than to the eastern front.
One of the most valuable parts of the book is a section titled "Diplomatic Documents Leading Up to War."
This section includes the communications between different countries that exactly spelled out the proposals and responses in the debate over how justice would be served following the June 28, 1914 assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
In these documents, you can see the exact reasoning used by Austria and other countries for their actions. You're present at the crucial tipping points that had such serious consequences.
The reporting of the events in World War I tested people's knowledge of European geography. Stevens addressed these concerns in a section titled "Geographical Description of War-Torn Towns." This section gives informative short descriptions of the many towns, rivers, mountains, and valleys that were involved in the war.
The historical background has the right level of detail, including information about:
- The centuries-long struggle over the Alsace-Lorraine area that borders France and Germany.
- The three royal families in England, Germany, and Russia (and how the leaders of those countries were related through Queen Victoria of England).
On the other hand, he seemed fascinated by the different and often innovative weapons that were being deployed in the sea, on the ground, and in the air. He wrote about how battle tactics had changed because of the hidden power of submarines; the long range of the new artillery; and the communications benefits of wireless telegraphy.
Similarly, the author seemed both appalled and intrigued by the general conduct of the war. His descriptions, like those of many other writers, often had the tone of sports reporting.
In the same vein, he had a lot of criticism for Germany, but at the same time seemed impressed by its military strength and planning. He included a reasonable amount of information about Germany's side of the conflict.
Stevens wrote a lot about the economic requirements and effects of the war. There are good descriptions of the administrative challenges and processes of the war, such as supplying the front lines of troops. He also wrote a section titled, "What It Costs to Kill a Man" (about $20,000, based on analyses of several wars fought between 1870 and 1905).
The war would affect the workforces of the participating countries in different ways:
Russia calls a million sixteenth century peasants from the fields, and Germany mows them down. Another million take their place. Death again...And when it is all over, those who are left will go back to their fields.The world economy would be greatly affected, he wrote, and the United States would have opportunities to meet the demand for products and materials that could no longer be supplied by the warring countries in Europe.
But Germany, France, England, particularly England and Germany, where will they turn when the million dead are shoveled under bloody soil? The bricks and mortar of industry may be still standing, but where will credit be found? And what will the millions of starving factory hands be doing?
Stevens pointed out that World War I broke out in spite of recent efforts to pursue international peace:
- International peace conferences in the capital of Netherlands (The Hague) which had produced guidelines for settling international disputes.
- An American Peace Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
- A $10 million donation by Andrew Carnegie to a group that would formally study war and how to avoid it.
The True Story of The Great European War was published around September 7, 1914, when it was advertised in The Chicago Daily Tribune. Front page headlines in that day's Daily Tribune included:
- Kaiser Directs Nancy Attack; Germans Desert Four Towns / GERMANS SEEK TO PUT ALLIES IN GREAT TRAP / Army from South Tries to Drive Enemy Onto Right Wing. / INVADERS PASS PARIS?
- Germans' Invasion of France Pictured as a Swarm of Ants. / Correspondent Later Sees Battle and Says French Couldn't Kill Them Fast Enough to Stop Onrush.
- RUSSIA TAKES A REGIMENT OF AUSTRIANS / Czar's Army Surrounds Enemy and Compels Its Surrender / ATTACK GERMANS TOO
Online versions:
Newspaper information from Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/)
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