Book Reviews : Staatskunst und Kriegshandwerk. Das Problem des "Militarismus" in Deutsch land. Band II. By GERHARD RITTER. (Munchen: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1960. Pp. 393. Bound copy: DM. 30—.)

• Date: 01 September 1961
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296101400335
• Published date: 01 September 1961
• Author: Fritz T. Epstein
• Subject Matter: Articles

796

and

Maynard

M.

Hufschmidt

contribute

a

technical

yet

fascinating

report

on

how

a

research

group

of

economists

and

engineers

at

Harvard

have

utilized

digital

computers

and

mathematical

models

in

the

determination

of

planning

rivers

system

projects

along

a

cost-benefit

basis.

R.

G.

Gustavson

points

out

opportunities

for

graduate

study

and

research

in

the

resources

field.

He

calls

attention

to

recent

advances

in

our

understanding

of

certain

problems,

but

he

admonishes

lest

we

&dquo;foul

up

our

nest&dquo;

by

adding

substances

to

the

water,

soil,

and

atmosphere

through

pollutants

and

side

chemical

reactions.

Concluding

the

volume

Harold

L.

Enarson

emphasizes

the

possibilities

of

inter-university

cooperation

for

research

into

resources.

He

submits

three

&dquo;models

of

the

possible&dquo;:

(1)

inter-university

corporations;

(2)

memoranda

of

agreement

among

cooperating

institutions;

and

(3)

special

institutes

of

natural

resources.

The

volume

contains

an

unusually

helpful

and

suggestive

table

of

contents,

but

the

volume

unfortunately

is

handicapped

visually

by

less

than

standard-size

type.

Arizona

State

University

Ross

R.

RICE

Staatskunst

und

Kriegshandwerk.

Das

Problem

des

"Militarismus"

in

Deutsch-

land.

Band

II.

By

GERHARD

RITTER.

(Munchen:

R.

Oldenbourg

Verlag,

1960.

Pp.

393.

Bound

copy:

DM.

30—.)

The

first

volume

of

Ritter’s

monumental

work

on

the

problem

of

&dquo;militarism

in

Germany&dquo;

dealing

with

the

period

between

1740

and

1890,

was

published

in

1954

and

reviewed

in

this

journal

(Vol.

8,

Dec.

1955,

p.

644).

At

this

time

it

was

said

that

&dquo;the

book

is

an

absolute

’must’

for

every

historian

who

wishes

to

understand

German

history

of

the

18th

and

19th

centuries.&dquo;

The

same

must

be

said

for

the

second

volume,

a

masterly

expose

of

German

militarism

in

the

Wilhelminian

period

during

peace-time

(1890-1914)

as

contrasted

with

the

phenomenon

of

militarism

in

France,

England,

and

Russia.

The

apogee

of

German

military

planning

in

the

period

of

Wilhelm

II

was

the

Schlieffen

Plan.

In

the

interval

between

the

publication

of

volumes

I

and

II

Professor

Ritter,

as

a

precursor

to

Volume

II,

has

published

his

study

of

the

Schlieffen

Plan

(German

edition,

1956;

English

edition

with

a

foreword

by

B.

H.

Liddell

Hart

[London:

Oswald

Wolff,

1958] ).

The

study

threw

light

on

the

development

of

Schlieffen’s

operational

ideas

and

the

military

questionability

and

political

monstrosity

of

his

famous

plan.

The

sub-title

of

the

volume

under

review

reads:

The

Principle

Powers

of

Europe

and

the

Wilhelminian

Reich,

1890-1914.

There

is,

however,

a

small

incongruity

between

the

first

part

of

the

volume

discussing

in

broad

terms

the

relationship

of

the

military

establishment

and

foreign

policy

in

France,

England,

and

Russia

where

the

period

of

the

first

world

war

is

included,

whereas

the

second

part

of

the

book

dealing

with

Germany

ends

with

1914.