Der Weltkrieg, I. Band / Die Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges

A detailed political and diplomatic account that traces how shifting alliance systems, colonial disputes, naval and railway rivalries, and regional crises eroded the late‑19th‑century balance and culminated in general European war. Combining documentary analysis with the author's personal involvement, it surveys episodes such as Balkan and colonial confrontations, contests over strategic infrastructure, naval competition, and failed negotiation efforts, then follows the final escalation, mobilizations, and the diplomatic exchanges that converted crisis into war. The narrative emphasizes structural forces and tactical errors that together made peaceful resolution increasingly unlikely.