The German White Book

The German White Book (German: Das Deutsche Weißbuch) was a publication by the German government of 1914 documenting their claims for the causes of World War I.[1][2]

The full title was "The German White Book about the outbreak of the German-Russian-French war".[lower-alpha 1] An authorized English translation appeared in 1914.[3]

The book contained extracts of diplomatic material intended to portray the war's cause to other sources.

Other combatants in the war published similar books: The Blue Book of Britain,[1] The Orange Book of Russia,[1][4] and the Yellow Book of France.[5]


The book comprised two sections:

  • "How Russia and Her Ruler Betrayed Germany's Confidence and Thereby Caused the European War"
  • "How the German-Franco Conflict Might have been Avoided"

and an Appendix with communications between Prince Lichnowsky and Sir Edward Grey.

In a report for the parliamentary investigative committee on the question of Germany's guilt in triggering World War I, Hermann Kantorowicz examined the White Book and reported that about 75 percent of the documents presented in it were falsified, with the goal of denying Germany's responsibility for the outbreak of World War I.[6]

See also

Works cited

  • Kantorowicz, Hermann; Geiss, Imanuel (1967). Gutachten zur Kriegsschuldfrage 1914 [Report on the War guilt question 1914] (in German). Frankfurt: Europäische Verlagsanstalt. OCLC 654661194. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  • Kempe, Hans (2008). Der Vertrag von Versailles und seine Folgen: Propagandakrieg gegen Deutschland [The Treaty of Versailles and its Consequences: Propaganda War against Germany]. Vaterländischen Schriften (in German). 7 Kriegschuldlüge 1919 [War Guilt Lies 1919]. Mannheim: Reinhard Welz Vermittler Verlag e.K. ISBN 978-3-938622-16-2. Retrieved 4 October 2020.

References

Notes
  1. German title: "Das Deutsche Weißbuch über den Ausbruch des deutsch-russisch-französischen Krieges
Footnotes
  1. "German White Book". United Kingdom: The National Archives. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  2. B.W. Huebsch, The German Army in Belgium: The White Book of May 1915 (1921).
  3. Germany. Auswärtiges Amt (1914). The German White-book: Authorized Translation. Documents Relating to the Outbreak of the War, with Supplements. Liebheit & Thiesen. OCLC 1158533. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. Kempe 2008, vol.7, p.18.
  5. Kempe 2008, vol.7, p.19.
  6. Kantorowicz & Geiss 1967.

Further reading

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