The book explores the complex interplay between idealism and terror during pivotal moments in history, specifically the French Revolution of 1789 and the Russian Revolution of 1917. Mayer critiques the contemporary dismissal of violence in favor of a belief in peaceful progress through human rights and capitalism. By revisiting these revolutions, he challenges the notion that violence is an outdated or ineffective means of enacting change, highlighting its significant role in shaping modern society.
Arno J. Mayer Ordre des livres (chronologique)
Arno Mayer est un historien axé sur l'Europe moderne, dont l'œuvre examine la tension entre la modernisation économique rapide et un ordre politique en retard. Il postule que "La Crise de Trente Ans" entre 1914 et 1945 est née du choc entre une société industrielle dynamique et une structure de pouvoir aristocratique rigide. Mayer analyse comment les efforts de l'aristocratie pour conserver le pouvoir ont conduit aux principaux conflits du XXe siècle. Ses analyses offrent une perspective distincte sur les origines des Guerres Mondiales et de l'Holocauste.
Der Krieg als Kreuzzug
- 701pages
- 25 heures de lecture
In this classic work which analyzes the context in which thirty years of war and revolution wracked the European continent, the great historian Arno Mayer emphasizes the backwardness of the European economies and their political subjugation by aristocratic elites and their allies. Mayer turns upside down the vision of societies marked by modernization and forward-thrusting bourgeois and popular social classes, thereby transforming our understanding of the traumatic crises of the early twentieth century.