The Road Less Traveled: The Secret Battle to End the Great War, 1916-1917

by Philip Zelikow

Overview

This revealing historical examination looks at the pivotal few months in the middle of the First World War, when all sides—Germany, Britain, and America—believed the war could have been concluded and changed the course of history.​

Two years into the most terrible conflict the world had ever known, the warring powers faced a crisis. There were no good military options. Money, men, and supplies were running short on all sides. The German chancellor secretly sought President Woodrow Wilson's mediation to end the war, just as British ministers and France's president also concluded that the time was right. The Road Less Traveled describes how tantalizingly close these far-sighted statesmen came to ending the war, saving millions of lives, and avoiding the total war that dimmed hopes for a better world.
 
Theirs was a secret battle that is only now becoming fully understood, a story of civic courage, awful responsibility, and how some leaders rose to the occasion while others shrank from it or chased other ambitions. "Peace is on the floor waiting to be picked up!" pleaded the German ambassador to the United States. This book explains both the strategies and fumbles of people facing a great crossroads of history.
 
The Road Less Traveled reveals one of the last great mysteries of the Great War: that it simply never should have lasted so long or cost so much.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541750951
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	03/16/2021
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	490,276
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Phillip Zelikow is the White Burkett Miller Professor of History and J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, both at the University of Virginia. A former career diplomat, he was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission. He worked on international policy in each of the five administrations from Reagan through Obama.
 
Philip Zelikow lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

 

Table of Contents

Introduction Two Roads Diverged 1

Chapter 1 Wilson Makes a New Peace Move 17

Chapter 2 The British Are Tempted 48

Chapter 3 The Germans Secretly Seek a Compromise Peace 81

Chapter 4 The British Debate Reaches Breaking Point 107

Chapter 5 How to End a Great War 137

Chapter 6 "Peace Is on the Floor Waiting to Be Picked Up!" 153

Chapter 7 What Is Wilson Trying to Do? 180

Chapter 8 Peace Without Victory? 211

Chapter 9 Roads Not Taken 233

Epilogue And That Has Made All the Difference 261

Acknowledgments Notes 285

Index 321

Editorial Reviews

01/04/2021

Historian and former diplomat Zelikow (coauthor, To Build a Better World) meticulously chronicles the five-month period from late 1916 to early 1917, when Britain, Germany, and the U.S. tried to negotiate an end to WWI. Focusing on the period immediately preceding the collapse of the Russian monarchy and America’s entry into the war, Zelikow examines the shuttle diplomacy and secret cables sent between British prime minister H.H. Asquith, German chancellor Bethmann Hollweg, U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, and their top diplomats. Zelikow highlights David Lloyd George’s rise to the British premiership in December 1916 and public calls for a fight to “the finish” as one of the major hindrances to an agreement, as well as Germany’s “catastrophic” decision in early 1917 to push for unrestricted U-boat warfare, which in turn caused Wilson to cut diplomatic ties with the German empire. In Zelikow’s view, Wilson’s action was a betrayal of his “peace without victory” mantra, and ultimately forced the U.S. to go to war. Deeply researched and scathingly critical of the war’s foremost political figures, this history offers an intriguing look at what might have been. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Marvelous. What a well-wrought and haunting book this is.   Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918  almost came to be averted.   He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences."—John M. Cooper Jr, Emeritus Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison

"I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow’s research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history’s most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft. "—David M. Kennedy, Stanford University, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War and Over Here: The First World War and American Society.

“Enthralling … a masterpiece … a page-turning narrative, based on meticulous archival scholarship yet a pleasure to read, the characters deftly drawn, the locations vividly realized. … This is an instant classic of diplomatic history.”—Niall Ferguson for Times Literary Supplement

"The failure of Germany, Britain, and France halfway through World War I to reach a compromise peace mediated by Woodrow Wilson proved as disastrous for subsequent world history as the outbreak of the war itself.  Philip Zelikow's enthralling narrative, with all the tautness of a mystery and based on thorough multinational research, unravels the earnest hopes, miscalculated tactics, and narrow political ambitions that all played a tragic role. Today's policy makers should ponder the lessons."
 —Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University

“In The Road Less Traveled, Zelikow brilliantly tells the diplomatic story of what he calls ‘the lost peace’ of August 1916–January 1917.”—The New York Journal of Books

“[The Road Less Traveled] offers an engaging and detailed account of the secret peace negotiations among the warring nations ….  Zelikow, chronicling the futility of these efforts with the keen eye of a former diplomat … does not shy away from attributing blame where he identifies missed or bungled opportunities in the past.  But [the book] also speaks to the present.” —Foreign Policy

“This fine and lucid scholarship has the additional benefit of the eye of an experienced practitioner.”—Foreign Affairs

“(A) well-researched, well-written book... Focusing on the personalities and policies of the leaders of each of the Great Powers, Zelikow tells a gripping tale of the road not taken.”—The Telegraph UK

“Despite the immense literature about World War I, there is, Zelikow attests, no history until now about this tragic impasse, making this supremely well-written work essential.”—Booklist

“Zelikow shines fresh light on a major historical crossroads…. Outstanding revisionist history demonstrating what could have been a far more peaceful 20th century.”—Kirkus (starred review)

“Deeply researched and scathingly critical of the war’s foremost political figures, this history offers an intriguing look at what might have been.”—Publisher's Weekly

“Zelikow proves an effective storyteller with an easy, uncomplicated narrative that makes for good reading of solid, honest scholarship reminiscent sometimes of Barbara Tuschman’s The Guns of August.”—New York Journal of Books

“Zelikow has written an important book. … The professor plays the part of a detective, constructing a well-written and well-argued account of a tragically missed opportunity.”—The National Interest

“The history of the almost-peace of 1916-17 is complex, multilayered, and poorly understood. Drawing on a wealth of source material from the archives and documentary repositories of the warring powers, Zelikow has skillfully unearthed the dispiriting tale of overmatched officials, missed cues, foregone initiatives, personal biases, political gamesmanship, and the powerful momentum of war. In The Road Not Taken, Philip Zelikow has given us a riveting, sometimes maddening, and ultimately heartbreaking account of the Great War's greatest might-have-been.”—Journal of Military History

“Through haunting depictions of forfeited opportunities, Zelikow reveals in his gripping history just how close several diplomats came to ending World War I two years before its resolution… With his rich archival study and ingenious recombination of documents, Zelikow relates a thorough, chronological tale of incompetence, missed signals, and misunderstandings in World War I.” —Parameters, The US Army War College Quarterly

From the Publisher

03/01/2021

For the better part of 1916, the administration of Woodrow Wilson sought to convene a peace conference to end World War I. Since the conference never took place, and the United States joined the war in April 1917, the story of the aborted peace conference faded from historical consciousness. Zelikow (history, governance, Univ. of Virginia; To Build a Better World) carries out a meticulous examination of this series of largely forgotten negotiations. Interestingly, the initial impetus for negotiated peace originated with German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, whose request to President Wilson to act as mediator came at a time when a few members of the British government were also looking for a path to negotiated peace. Zelikow argues that the failure of the peace initiative was due not only to the intransigence of belligerents, but also to the often-chaotic diplomatic actions of President Wilson and his confidant Colonel Edward M. House. VERDICT This thought-provoking history is based on vast primary sources, and while the narrative sometimes bogs down in excessive detail, Zelikow's sharp account brings World War I into focus and raises a number of fascinating "what if" scenarios. Recommended for all extensive history collections.—Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll.

Library Journal

★ 2020-12-15
An expert but disturbing account of a noble diplomatic failure.

Zelikow, who served as a diplomat for every presidential administration from Reagan to Obama, shines fresh light on a major historical crossroads. He shows how, had the war ended in 1916, it was possible that the 20th century would have proceeded without communist Russia or Nazi Germany. A mostly successful politician, Woodrow Wilson’s efforts were hobbled by an incompetent State Department and ignorance of diplomacy. His foreign policy advice came mostly from his friend Edward “Colonel” House, a wealthy Texan who traveled widely and, unlike Wilson, got along with everyone. With the fighting stalemated, Wilson sent House to Europe to propose peace. Neither side wanted to offend the U.S., and while most sought to end the fighting, no one dared commit publicly. Wilson was encouraged to schedule a conference, but he never demanded it. Zelikow is convincing in his disagreement with numerous historians who maintain that negotiations were impossible because neither side would compromise. In reality, powerful British leaders and the German chancellor took the idea seriously. Zelikow’s skillful account of the following year makes for frustrating reading: Wilson could have forced a conference but didn’t. In November 1916, when a financially exhausted Britain proposed selling bonds without collateral in America, Wilson vetoed it, producing panic. One British official, remarked, “If Wilson desired to put a stop to the war…such an achievement is in his power.” On Jan. 22, 1917, Wilson delivered his famous “peace without victory” speech. Though the reaction from the press was “overwhelmingly positive,” it consisted of high-sounding platitudes lacking action items. Readers may be surprised to learn that Germany’s Jan. 31 note announcing unrestricted submarine warfare also included a summary of peace terms, urging Wilson’s action. Offended by the first note, Wilson broke off relations, a decision the author believes was ill-advised. In the two months before America declared war, Wilson continued to muse about achieving peace, but the chance for negotiation with Germany had passed.

Outstanding revisionist history demonstrating what could have been a far more peaceful 20th century.

Kirkus Reviews