1917 was a year of pivotal importance in the development of the First World War. Historian David Stevenson examines the year in context and illuminates the century that followed. Two developments in particular - the Russian Revolution and American intervention - had worldwide repercussions. Offering a close examination of the key decisions, he considers Germany's campaign of submarine warfare, America's declaration of war in response, Britain's frustration of German strategy by adopting the convoy system, and why the military and political stalemate in Europe persisted. He offers an international understanding of events, including the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the disastrous spring offensive that plunged the French army into mutiny, the summer attacks that undermined the moderate Provisional Government in Russia and exposed Italy to national humiliation at Caporetto, and the British decision for the ill-fated Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele). He analyzes the global consequences of the year's developments, describing how countries such as Brazil and China joined the belligerents, how Britain offered "responsible government" to India, and how the Allies promised a Jewish national home in Palestine. Blending political and military history, and moving from capital to capital and from the cabinet chamber to the battle front, the book highlights the often tumultuous debates through which leaders entered and escalated the war, and the paradox that continued fighting was justifiable as the shortest road toward peace.
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