World War and Society (Book Review:Society. National Strategy. War: Political and Strategic Lessons of the First World War by V.K. Belozerov, I.S. Danilenko, A.I. Emelyanov, A.Y. Kasyuk, & A.V. Soloviev)

The article reviews the concepts of the multi-author book Society. National Strategy. War: Political and Strategic Lessons of the First World War. This collective research is notable for rich original scientific apparatus and methodological proficiency. Thus, the analysis of participating countries is conducted according to a single template, which includes: the state of pre-war society in all participating countries (including the assessment of the level of credibility and efficiency of the ruling elites, crises of political regimes, attempts to save regimes by means of war, accumulated internal socio-economic and political problems); goals of engaging in war and expectations of the powerful and financial elites for the war (or lack of goals); assessment of how did different strata of society find the war; the evolution of the morale of the people during the war; problems that arose during the war (diseases, food, military resources, losses, discontent, etc.); the evolution of women’s position in society during the war, the development of a broad segment of women-workers, the extension of emancipation as one of the positive results of the war; the outcome of the war for the country (losses and gains). Special attention is drawn to the pacifist nature of the ideology of the reviewed research, demonstration of deprivation and suffering of people in all countries. The book’s authors identify the main causes of the First World War: ambitions and inefficiency of the world’s elites, the lack of a coherent strategy. As the result, the USA, thanks to their strategy, received the maximum dividends with minimal participation. At the same time, it is noted that the context of research on the nature of war should be expanded to take into account the general competition of countries and civilizations. The authors comprehensively analyze the informational and propaganda activities of the participating countries and conclude that England’s activities in this field were the most effective. Based on the methodology of this collective research, the nature of a future world war, its potential participants and their goals can be considered.

1. Belozerov V.K., Danilenko I.S., Emelyanov A.I., Kasyuk A.Y., & Soloviev A.V. (2019) Society. National Strategy. War: Political and Strategic Lessons of the First World War. Moscow: Neolit; CIS Institute of Security Problems (in Russian).

2. Belozerov V.K. (2018) The Image of the Future War in Political Ideologies and State Strategies. In: Rastorguev V.N., Nikandrov A.V., & Likhachev D.S. (Eds.). The Choice of a Long-Term Strategy in the Context of Global Instability and the Civilizational Heritage of Russia (pp. 106–123). Moscow: Institut Naslediya (in Russian).