17 42 Causes and Prevention of War Stephen Van Evera WORLD WAR I WHO IS RESPONSIBLE It is January 1919 The last echoes of history s greatest war have stilled but the debate over responsibility for the war has just begun That debate will soon occur at the Cambridge Peace Conference convened right here at MIT with the purpose of divining the causes of the war and offering recommendations to prevent future wars You are the official representative of your country at this Peace Conference In a five minute speech to the Conference please 1 Assign responsibility for the war What country and or what factor for example what aspect of the general situation was most responsible 2 Explain and defend your own country s actions leading up to the war 3 You can also offer suggestions on preventing future wars if you are so moved After your speech the representatives of other states will have some time to rebut your arguments After these comments the next five minute presentation will be heard In your speech you may wish to refer to The international situation for example to the balance of power to alliances to military strategies and plans to widespread perceptions about war etc The domestic situation in your country or other countries for example to nationalism to civil military relations to the goals or abilities or shortcomings of national leaders to democracy or autocracy etc The events of the 1914 July crisis and the role your country played in these events Your job is to advocate a point of view in your speech not to present the matter from all sides Your presentation therefore need not be judicious or even handed But if you take excessive liberties with the facts you risk public humiliation at the hands of critical questioners who are not fooled by your fancy footwork Please provide an outline of your speech to your audience You can present this outline on a blackboard in a 1 page handout or by PowerPoint A good format for your speech is sum up your argument quickly at the outset so your audience knows where you are going then proceed through the body of the argument Further advice keep your argument simple Make a single point or a very few key points Don t make every argument you can only make the strongest ones Too many arguments confuses an audience Please hold your remarks to five minutes The President of the Conference may cut you off if you run over We recommend that you practice your speech a couple of times to the mirror or better still to a friend before giving it Countries facing judgment at the Conference are Germany Britain France Russia AustriaHungary and perhaps Serbia and or the United States MIT OpenCourseWare http ocw mit edu 17 42 Causes and Prevention of War Spring 2009 For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use visit http ocw mit edu terms