Contagion and War
Lessons from the First World War

Explains how war spreads through an original analysis of the contagion that brought countries into the First World War.

John A. Vasquez (Author)

9781108417044, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2018

412 pages, 27 b/w illus. 15 tables 80 exercises
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.4 cm, 0.8 kg

'Contagion and War adds to our knowledge of World War I and multiparty conflicts … by recognizing that temporal sequences are involved in both the start and spread of belligerency, and teasing out and exploring the mechanisms associated with them.' Richard Ned Lebow, War in History

John A. Vasquez explains the processes that cause the spread of interstate war by looking at how contagion worked to bring countries into the First World War. Analysing all the key states that declared war, the book is comprised of three parts. Part I lays out six models of contagion: alliances, contiguity, territorial rivalry, opportunity, 'brute force' and economic dependence. Part II then analyses in detail the decision making of every state that entered the war from Austria-Hungary in 1914 to the United States and Greece in 1917. Part III has two chapters - the first considers the neutral countries, and the second concludes the book with an overarching theoretical analysis, including major lessons of the war and new hypotheses about contagion. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of international relations, conflict studies and international history, especially those interested in the spread of conflict, or the First World War.

Part I. Theoretical Expectations: 1. Contagion processes in the First World War
2. Research design
Part II. Dyadic Case Analyses: History and Data: 3. 1914: the local war and the first wave
4. 1915–16: the second wave
5. 1917: the third wave
Part III. Conclusions: Lessons from the First World War: 6. The neutrals
7. How contagion actually worked.

Subject Areas: Theory of warfare & military science [JWA], EU & European institutions [JPSN2], United Nations & UN agencies [JPSN1], Geopolitics [JPSL], Arms negotiation & control [JPSF], Diplomacy [JPSD], Military history [HBW]