S. V. Kretinin Book review: März, Peter. After the resulting catastrophe. Germany, Europe and the First World War. Böhlau Publishing: Cologne, Weimar, Vienna, 2014. 295 p. (März, Peter. Nach der Urkatastrophe: Deutschland, Europa und der Erste Weltkrieg. Böhlau: Köln, Weimar, Wien, 2014. 295 s.)

Abstract: The article presents a review of the new book by the German historian Peter März, a recognized specialist in the history of World War I. His work is predicated on the basic idea of the interrelation and continuity of European history between the modern and the contemporary times. The starting point is set with the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, which ended the first pan-European war. The next important time mark is the end of the War of the Spanish succession and the Peace of Utrecht of 1714. According to März, the established system of international relations continued until the period of the Revolution and Napoleonic France. In 1815 began a new chapter of European history resulting from the decisions of the Vienna congress. The author considers that the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 determined the shape of Europe in the XXth century until the events of 1990: the end of the Cold war and the collapse of the Communist regimes. The structure of the reviewed book combines chapters both traditional for a general work on the history of World War I, as well as methodologically innovative sections. The book presents a prominent general research on the history of World War I and its consequences for Europe on the whole, and Germany in particular. On the basis of modern publications, the author draws a striking picture of the global catastrophe of 1914-1918. Among the undeniable merits of this book are its limpidity in the written language and the clearly identified methodological accents.

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