Scandinavia and the Great Powers in the First World War

Description

This study is among the first works in English to comprehensively address the Scandinavian First World War experience in the larger international context of the war. It surveys the complex relationship between the belligerent great powers and Northern Europe's neutral small states in times of crisis and war. The book's overreaching rationale draws upon three underlying conceptual fields: neutrality and international law, hegemony and great power politics as well as diplomacy and policy-making of small states in the international arena. From a variety of angles, it examines the question of how neutrality was understood and perceived, negotiated and dealt with both among the Scandinavian states and the belligerent major powers, especially Britain, Germany and Russia. For a long time, the experience of neutral countries during the First World War was seen as marginal, and was overshadowed by the experiences of occupation and collaboration brought about by the Second World War. In this book, Jonas demonstrates how this perception has changed, with neutrality becoming an integral part of the multiple narratives of the First World War. It is an important contribution to the international history of the First World War, cultural-historically influenced approaches to diplomatic history and the growing area of neutrality studies.

Michael Jonas is Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Lecturer of Modern History at Helmut-Schmidt-University, Hamburg, Germany, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

[A] compact and accessible volume ... [Jonas'] comparative history integrates aspects of the transnational and cultural turns as applied in new political history ... It is hoped that this book inspires Scandinavian and Finnish historians to view their national narratives in a comparative and transnational context. * First World War Studies * It is to be hoped that Jonas's studies will contribute toward integrating Scandinavian perspectives into the international history of the war. * American Historical Review * [A] welcome addition to the growing body of work on small state neutrality and wartime North-Western Europe. Students and researchers of the period will find something here to interest them ... The extensive bibliography especially will be of use to readers looking for an entry port into the wider historiography of the Nordic countries during the Great War. * European Review of History: Revue europeenne d'histoire * The book will be rewarding for both those who want to explore the wartime experiences of the region for the first time and those who have worked extensively on Scandinavia and the First World War. * Journal of Military History * The book is written clearly and students of Scandinavia in the First World War will certainly find it most instructive. * Michigan War Studies Review * Michael Jonas shows in this book a remarkable width and depth of scholarship on early twentieth century Scandinavian history. As he so convincingly points out, the big drama of 1914-1918 had both its peculiarities and long-lasting consequences for this realm of Northern Europe. * Henrik Meinander, Professor of History, University of Helsinki, Finland * This book makes clear that world wars have no "neutral states." The Scandinavian states both impacted the war and had their own histories fundamentally shaped by it. This book gives us new and critical insights into the nature of global wars. * Michael S. Neiberg, Professor of History, United States Army War College, USA * An English-language work on the history of Scandinavia in the First World War is a welcome addition to the field. Jonas has certainly expanded and complicated our understanding of the myriad faces of this global total war and has opened up all manner of avenues for future research. * European History Quarterly * [R]ewarding for both those who want to explore the wartime experiences of the region for the first time and those who have worked extensively on Scandinavia and the First World War. * JMilHis *