In A Very Short Introduction, I found many aspects Chapter 6, “The United States Enters the War,” to be very interesting. For one, I cannot believe that Germany was willing to risk unrestricted submarine warfare when they were almost certain that this would be the catalyst for the US to enter the war. Yes, the Germans figured that the US would not be able to gather together her military forces in time, but it was still a huge risk. Even with the worsening living conditions and the growing war weariness in Germany, her leaders kept pushing in an ultimately fatal move. A Very Short Introduction sums up the huge risks of unrestricted submarine warfare in an ominous prediction made by a German statesman: “and if it is not trumps, we are lost for centuries” (72). Still, the German military leaders pressed forward with their policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, provoking the US to enter the conflict, which ultimately sealed Germany’s fate.  

I do wish we were doing a bit more reading from the German standpoint. History portrays this country as the “bad guy” of both world wars, often detracting from the suffering experienced by peaceful German civilians. As A Very Short Introduction States, “Mortality among [German] women and small children had increased 50 per cent,” (74). This was before the US even entered the war, when the situation undoubtedly worsened. In spite of this, the German government persisted with the war efforts. I think it would be fascinating to read the war from German citizens’ perspectives, to see if they stood by their leaders or just wanted the war to end. Though I do not know for sure, I would bet that the general attitude favored peace over war.