JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 6, 2016 — Sean McMeekin, an internationally acclaimed author and modern historian, spoke on the unexpected events leading to the first world war at the 20th annual Carls-Schwerdfeger History Lecture Oct. 3.
McMeekin explained the naval race between Greece and Turkey dominated conversations of the day as world powers feared the start of a third Balkan war.
鈥淣o one was expecting Sarajevo,鈥� McMeekin said. 鈥淭he beginning of the first world war then became about the 鈥渋mportance of contingency...of unexpected events that had not been foreseen.鈥�
A wrong turn and a three second stop allowed an untrained assassin to step into a stationary vehicle 鈥渁t point blank range, firing off two shots,鈥� McMeekin said, killing the heir to the throne of Austria, Hungary. 鈥淭he Emperor himself was suddenly turned into a fire-breathing war monger by this act of terrorism...traced to Serbia.鈥�
The Austrian ambassador then manipulated Kaiser Wilhelm II into the 鈥渂lank check statement鈥� that promised Germany would back Austria, McMeekin said. What followed鈥攖he deterioration of alliances between Germany and Austria and Britain, France and Russia鈥攕aw the effect of the unexpected until Germany was 鈥渄ragged kicking and screaming...into a world war.鈥�
鈥淭he one thing I think you have to remember about the Germans in the 20th century is that generally speaking, they were very, very good at making war but really bad at diplomacy,鈥� McMeekin said.
After the lecture, McMeekin answered questions from the audience and held a book signing. Author of six books on East European and Eurasian history, he won the 2015 Arthur Goodzeit Book Award from the New York Military Affairs Symposium for "The Ottoman Endgame: War, Revolution, and the Making of the Modern Middle East, 1908-1923."
McMeekin is a professor of history at Bard College in New York and previously taught at Ko莽 University in Istanbul, Bilkent University in Ankara, and Yale University.