مدافع أغسطس
 First edition cover | |
| المؤلف | Barbara W. Tuchman |
|---|---|
| البلد | United States |
| اللغة | English |
| الصنف | Military history, narrative history |
| نـُشـِر | 1962 (Macmillan) |
| نوع الوسائط | Print (Hardcover) |
| الصفحات | 511 |
| OCLC | 30087894 |
| 940.4/144 20 | |
| تب. مك.كونگ | D530 .T8 1994 |
The Guns of August (1962) (published in the UK as August 1914) is a volume of history by Barbara W. Tuchman. It is centered on the first month of World War I. After introductory chapters, Tuchman describes in great detail the opening events of the conflict. Its focus then becomes a military history of the contestants, chiefly the great powers.
The Guns of August thus provides a narrative of the earliest stages of World War I, from the decisions to go to war, up until the start of the Franco-British offensive that stopped the German advance into France. The result was four years of trench warfare. In the course of her narrative Tuchman includes discussion of the plans, strategies, world events, and international sentiments before and during the war.
The book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction for publication year 1963,[1] and proved very popular. Tuchman later returned to the subject of the social attitudes and issues that existed before World War I, which she had touched upon in The Guns of August, in a collection of eight essays published in 1966 under the title The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890–1914.[2]
, a constant offensive, and retaining the initiative. Joffre, in particular, refused to consider going on the defensive/or even to slow the offensive, even when the realities of the battlefield demonstrated that his approach was not working.
- Failure to consider political backlash: many war planners did not take into consideration the political and treaty-based consequences of their offensive actions. As Tuchman argues, the German leaders in particular refused to consider the consequences of moving their armies into Belgium despite that country's neutrality. Despite Moltke's concerns, German generals insisted on moving through Belgium because they needed to maneuver. They failed (or refused) to realize that by invading Belgium, they effectively forced Britain to declare war because of existing treaties and national honor.
- Outdated forms of wartime etiquette: although the technology, aims, methods, and plans of World War I were significantly different from earlier wars, military leaders in occupied territories continued to have an expectation of a form of martial etiquette from civilians, regarding co-operation and obedience of instructions, as a reciprocal part of non-combatant status; which increased resentment between the citizens of the opposing nations. To illustrate, Tuchman repeatedly uses quotes from the diaries of German generals who commandeered the homes and supplies of civilians. One recurrent theme in their diary entries was that they simply could not understand why the property owners refused full co-operation, in line with traditional wartime courtesy. In a somewhat comical passage, Tuchman even quotes from a general who criticized the master of a Belgian house for failing to sit with him at dinner and observe proper mealtime etiquette despite the fact that the Germans had violated his country's neutrality, taken over his house, and stolen or destroyed much of his property. Similar problems occurred in the practical application of submarine, and later aerial, warfare.
Overall, Tuchman argues that while some of the war's major combatants looked forward to a war, specifically Germany and Austria-Hungary, all of them expected it to be a short one, and none of them desired or anticipated a prolonged war. Likewise, she argues that even successes, such as the First Battle of the Marne, a French victory, were to some extent accidental victories that were won despite, and not because of, military leadership or strategy.
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الوقع الثقافي
The book was an immediate bestseller and was on the bestseller list of The New York Times for 42 consecutive weeks.[3] The Pulitzer Prize nomination committee was unable to award it the prize for outstanding history because Joseph Pulitzer's will specifically stated that the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for History must be a book on American history. Instead, Tuchman was given the prize for general nonfiction.
According to the cover notes of an audio version of The Guns of August, "[President John F. Kennedy] was so impressed by the book, he gave copies to his cabinet and principal military advisers, and commanded them to read it."[4] In his book One Minute to Midnight about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Michael Dobbs notes the deep impression Guns had on Kennedy. He often quoted from it and wanted "every officer in the Army" to read it as well. Subsequently, "[t]he secretary of the Army sent copies to every U.S. military base in the world.[3] Kennedy drew from The Guns of August to help in dealing with the crisis in Cuba, including the profound and unpredictable implications a rapid escalation of the situation could have.[5][6] Robert S. McNamara, United States Secretary of Defense during Kennedy's presidency, recalled that "[e]arly in his administration, President Kennedy asked his cabinet officials and members of the National Security Council" to read The Guns of August.[7] McNamara related that Kennedy said The Guns of August graphically portrayed how Europe's leaders had bungled into the debacle of World War I, and that Kennedy told later his cabinet officials that "We are not going to bungle into war."[7]
The British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, who had served on the Western Front during the First World War, was also profoundly affected by the book.[8] In his diary for Monday, 22 October 1962, he wrote:
Washington, in a rather panicky way, have been urging a NATO 'alert' with all that this implies (in our case, a Royal Proclamation and the call up of Reservists). I told him that we do not repeat not agree at this stage. N. [General Norstad] agreed with this and said he thought NATO powers would take the same view. I said that 'mobilization' had sometimes caused war. Here it was absurd since the additional forces made available by 'Alert' had no military significance.
Graham Allison, a political scientist who covered the Cuban Missile Crisis in Essence of Decision, noted the effect of the Tuchman's book on Kennedy, but also its implications for the proper study of decision-making and warfare. Allison created an entire model of decision-making, which he called the Organizational Process Model, based on such issues as those covered by Tuchman, a model that directly countered game theory and other rationalistic means of explaining events.
After Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, representatives from over 90 countries attended the state funeral on November 25. They included 19 presidents, prime ministers, and members of royal families, including French President Charles de Gaulle, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, Belgium's King Baudouin, West German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, Britain's Prince Philip, and Greece's Queen Frederika. NBC News producer Reuven Frank recounted in his autobiography that everybody in the control room had read the book and gasped when seeing the many heads of state marching on foot.[9] The funeral saw the largest gathering of presidents, prime ministers, and royalty at a state funeral since that of King Edward VII.[10] In all, 220 foreign dignitaries from 92 countries, five international agencies, and the papacy attended the funeral.[11][12]
تكمان في السردية
While she did not explicitly mention it in The Guns of August, Tuchman was present for one of the pivotal events of the book: the pursuit of the German battle cruiser Goeben and light cruiser Breslau. In her account of the pursuit she wrote, "That morning [August 10, 1914] there arrived in Constantinople the small Italian passenger steamer which had witnessed the Gloucester's action against Goeben and Breslau. Among its passengers were the daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren of the American ambassador Mr. Henry Morgenthau."[13] As she was a grandchild of Henry Morgenthau, she is referring to herself, which is confirmed in her later book Practicing History,[14] in which she tells the story of her father, Maurice Wertheim, traveling from Constantinople to Jerusalem on August 29, 1914, to deliver funds to the Jewish community there. Thus, at age two, Tuchman was present during the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau, which she documented 48 years later. --->
تحوله إلى فيلم
The book was the basis for a 1964 documentary film, also titled The Guns of August.[15] The 99-minute film, which premiered in New York City on December 24, 1964, was produced and directed by Nathan Kroll and narrated by Fritz Weaver, with the narration written by Arthur B. Tourtellot. It used film footage found in government archives in Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin, and Washington, DC.[16][17][18]
المراجع
ملاحظات معلوماتية
الهامش
- ^ 1963 Winners, The Pulitzer Prizes.
- ^ Yardley, Jonathan (March 16, 2009). "Jonathan Yardley Reviews 'The Proud Tower,' by Barbara Tuchman". The Washington Post.
- ^ أ ب Dobbs, Michael (2008). One Minute to Midnight. pp. 226–227.
The President was so impressed by the book that he often quoted from it, and insisted his aides read it. He wanted 'every officer in the Army' to read it as well. The secretary of the Army sent copies to every U.S. military base in the world.
- ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. (2008) [1962]. The Guns of August. Stewart, Ian (narrator) (Playaway Audiobook ed.). Recorded Books/Playaway. back cover. ISBN 978-1-4361-7732-0.
Winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1963 established The Guns of August on the literary landscape, but Tuchman's best publicity came from her most devoted fan, President John F. Kennedy. He was so impressed by the book, he gave copies to his cabinet and principal military advisers, and commanded them to read it.
- ^ "Vietnam and the Presidency: Interview with Jimmy Carter" (PDF).
- ^ Blight, James G.; Nye, Joseph S., Jr. & Welch, David A. (Fall 1987). "The Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited". Foreign Affairs. 66 (1).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Excerpt online. - ^ أ ب McNamara, Robert S. (1995). In Retrospect. Vintage Books. p. 96.
- ^ Hennessey, Peter (2000). The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders Since 1945. Penguin Books.
- ^ Frank, Reuven (1991). Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 190. ISBN 0-671-67758-6.
- ^ Duscha, Julius (November 26, 1963). "Mighty World Rulers Pay Humble Tribute". The Washington Post. p. A1.
- ^ The Torch is Passed. New York. Associated Press. 1963. p. 93.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ United Press International; American Heritage (1964). Four Days. New York: American Heritage Pub. Co. pp. 140–141.
- ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. (1962). The Guns of August. New York: The Macmillan Company.
- ^ Tuchman, Barbara W. (1981). Practicing History. New York: Albert A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-52086-6.
- ^ Bart, Peter (February 22, 1965) "Reign of Comedy as King in Hollywood Nears End" The New York Times
- ^ "The Guns of August (1964 documentary film)". IMDb (Internet Movie Database).
- ^ مدافع أغسطس at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ^ "The Guns of August (1964 documentary film, 1h 40min)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22.
وصلات خارجية
- [[:openlibrary:works/{{{id}}}/|مدافع أغسطس]] on Open Library at the Internet Archive