The Fischer Controversy, Documents and the ‘Truth’ About the Origins of the First World War
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10074852 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Annika Mombauer (The Open University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 48 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 290-314 |
| Publication date | 2013-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022009412472711 |
| OpenAlex | W2015485792 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
This article focuses on the ‘document-driven’ nature of the Fischer controversy and the conviction of both the Fischer school and its critics that utilizing ever more archival documents would inevitably unearth ‘the truth’ about the origins of the First World War. It argues that the controversy left a lasting legacy precisely because of its positivist focus on documents as artefacts capable of revealing an indisputable ‘truth’ about the causes of the war, which shaped all subsequent debates. It further contends that the topic has sidestepped postmodern attempts to relativize history, because in an emotive debate that has for decades been defined by war-guilt allegations and apologia, the concept of historical truth is still held valid by historians participating in the debate. The article concludes by arguing that, as the First World War no longer affects contemporary politics, war-guilt no longer needs to concern those seeking to explain its causes. The shift from contemporary history to a history divorced from our own experience might lead historians finally be able to identify document-based probabilities, if not an undisputable truth, about how the war started
Conviction · Emotive · Epistemology · Just war theory · Political science · Politics · Positivism · Postmodernism · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · History · Law · Philosophy · World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact
Game Theory, Diplomatic History and Security Studies
A General Explanation of the Cuban Missile Crisis
The First World War and International Relations Theory
Hayden White’s Metahistory and the Irony of the Archive
Transnationalism and the History of Historiography
Guilt or Responsibility? The Hundred-Year Debate on the Origins of World War I
| Citations per year | 0.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2019 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |