During World War II, an Italian Senator who was forced to resign his post by Mussolini. This was the man who in 1925 published his three-volume work on the causes of the First World War.  At 2280 pages, Senator Albertini provides the serious student of history with a detailed, inside glimpse at European power politics reaching back into the mid 19^th century.  In these volumes he exposes to the light of day the most minute diplomatic dispatches as well as his own personal discussions with many of the diplomats who had key roles in the lead up to the First World War. 

Reading diplomatic dispatches, letters and notes is never fascinating in the best of times, and with the distance of time, it is often difficult to remember or place correctly the individual players.  German Foreign Ministers of the Kaiser come and go; diplomats of the Czar long forgotten are suddenly brought back to light and the internal wrangling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between the pro-German factions and the landed Magyars who are at direct logger heads with the Austrian Foreign office can be mind numbing. Added to the pile of information are the even more obscure Italian officials who want so badly to be taken seriously by the “great” European powers and are generally scorned, mistrusted and pushed aside and you have a web of intrigue that is difficult to follow without copious notes or a mind trained to a unusually high level of boredom.

            Yet the volumes can also at times read like a great mystery tale, but one in which you know the outcome and which, at times, you want at times to reach back in time to throttle, berate and besiege the players so that the terrible bloody outcome can somehow be avoided. At times you begin to see the engine of history moving forward, picking up speed and moving in what seems to be an unstoppable manner to the conclusion which chewed up the lives, future, and fortune of so many tens of millions of individuals.  At times you must put the book down as you shake your head with the knowledge of future events which seem so clear nearly a hundred years later, but which were so shrouded at the time.  The book can be infuriating and at times you hope there is a God with a sense of Justice, with a capital “J”.  You hope there truly is a day of reckoning for so many individuals, such as:

In World War One, the Italian and Hapsburg forces fought a grueling war in the Southern Alps of Northern Italy.  Fighting was year-round, with the troops having to charge and fight in deep snow and across raging rivers with few chances for leave or rest.  The battles continued for nearly three years and cost both sides about 500,000 killed and many more maimed for life.  In the end, the battles were in vain for the Italians, as at the Paris peace talks in 1919, the French and British reneged on their pledges which enticed the Italians to enter the war.  The American President, Wilson stood aside and felt that to honor the pledges would be to disgrace his 14 Point Program.

This excellent little book (which was the basis for the Italian film, Many Wars Ago), at points seems to be an Italian version of Catch-22; was the author concocting examples of military idiocy or was the Italian army really that poorly led and equipped?  Unfortunately, those parts which seem to be the most absurd are likely completely accurate.  The idea that one would create suits of armor for infantrymen and then have them walk toward the enemy lines in full daylight and expect the bullets to bounce off the armor is simply crazy to anyone who has any experience with firearms.  Yet, that is exactly what one general did to his men, not once, but twice. But, as the General said, they died for Italy.

The author served in the Sassari Brigade during the war and was decorated for valor several times.  The Brigade was drawn from the peasants of Sardinia and was noted for its bravery.  After the war, Lussu was involved in anti-Fascist politics and was briefly held in the prison on the island of Lipari for shooting a Blackshirt.  In 1929, he escaped and lived in Paris, Switzerland, fought against Franco in Spain and returned to Italy in 1943 to join the partisans. He served as a cabinet minister from 1945-47 and in 1945 this book was published in Italy, where it has never gone out of print.

This is a fine read, written by an intelligent observer of mankind who was respected by his troops. It shows the futility of the war and the honest feelings of the men who had little to gain from the war.  An excellent read.

It has often been said that the Versailles Treaty imposed by the victors in 1919 ensured that there would be a Second World War.  Normally, this phrase is used to describe the harsh terms imposed on Germany who was partially occupied, saddled with a huge war indemnity, and assigned sole responsibility for the war.  This book, while not breaking any major new ground, does bring to one place, the other factors which lead to two decades of revolution, riots, murders and bloody political struggles in the lands formerly ruled by the Russian, German, Ottoman and Austrian empires as well as the unsatisfied demands of Italy.

This is one of those rare books which gives excellent descriptive detail of a battle that is little known, but which had a major impact on World War I.  There were actually two sieges of the fortress city of Przemysl; the first unsuccessful while the second did much to break both the physical and morale back of the Hapsburg army. Largely forgotten today, these sieges helped to bring to a head the nationalistic feelings of the mixed communities in the area and was a precursor to the killing fields by the Nazi and Soviet regimes.

When the introduction of a book describes the author as “nearly as good a specimen as ever worshiped Mars”, you know you are in for a book which not only describes the day to day life in the trenches of World War I, but also a perspective from a warrior who went on to symbolize the ideal for the inter-war philosophy of the “heroic struggle” which so motivated many of the youth of Germany after the war and led to the rise of Nazism.

It is difficult to write an interesting book on politics when 1) the national politics in question cover a country unfamiliar to the reader and 2) included individuals from an obscure past, yet Professor Craig managed to create a history that is lively and very informative.  We tend to think of Prussia as a militarized state, going back to the time of Frederick the Great, and yet there were several attempts by both the civilian and military leadership to exert civilian control over the military (primarily the officer corps).  Each attempt failed due to either poor and uncoordinated political moves, foreign wars or the revolution of 1848.