The First World War : An Agrarian Interpretation. This item is unavailable.The First World War : An Agrarian Interpretation

In this book Offer presents a new interpretation of World War I, weaving together the economic and social history of the English-speaking world, the Pacific basin, and Germany, with the development of food production and consumption. In the special field of United States history, Offer shows the effect of American agricultural power on world politics, both before and after Word War I. He describes how the social institutions of American agriculture undermined farming in Britain, and forced the British Empire to rely increasingly on overseas imports of food. Detailing the role of agrarian production and comsumption in British and German defense, Offer examines the moral and legal implications of setting up whole societies as strategic targets.

This is a completely new interpretation of the First World War. Dr. Offer weaves together the economic and social history of the English-speaking world, the Pacific Basin, and Germany, with the development of food production and consumption. The roots of Germany's defeat went back to the late-Victorian decline of British agriculture and the development of Canada, Australia, and the United States as agrarian exporters, while the agrarian interests of America and Australia were crucial in shaping the peace. The book examines the relation between economic and military power, and legal and moral questions of selecting civilians as a strategic target.